Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass - Glass: Book of Longing
List Price:
Our Price: $15.20
You Save: $4.79 (24%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $8.90 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Leonard Cohen, Philip GlassComposer: Philip Glass
Conductor: Michael Riesman
Orchestra: Philip Glass and Musicians
Performer: Philip Glass and Musicians
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2007-12-11
Music Label: Orange Mountain Music
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Prologue - I Can't Make the Hills
- I Came Down from the Mountain
- A Sip of Wine
- Want to Fly
- The Light Came Through the Window
- Puppet Time
- G-d Opened My Eyes
- You Go Your Way
- I Was Doing Something
- Not a Jew
- How Much I Love You
- Babylon
- I Enjoyed the Laughter
- This Morning I Woke Up Again
- I Want to Love You Now
- Don't Have the Proof
- The Night of Santiago
- Mother Mother
- You Came to Me this Morning
- I Am Now Able
- Roshi's Very Tired
- Epilogue - Merely A Prayer
Free Music Notes for Glass: Book of Longing
Free Music Review: A winning combination
Hit: 5 Stars
Philip Glass has based his career on the moral and artistic benefits of collaboration. His collaboration with poets has been especially fruitful. An earlier example is the Hydrogen Jukebox song cycle set to poems by Allen Ginsberg, which also included Wichita Vortex Sutra recited by Ginsberg and accompanied by Glass on the piano.
Book of Longing represents another achievement in this genre, involving 22 poems by Leonard Cohen, some read by Cohen and others sung by members of the Philip Glass ensemble. Of the read poems, one, the prologue ("I can't make the hills") includes a somber accompaniment throughout, while most of the others are unaccompanied counterpoints to instrumental solos. Some of the sung poems have been recorded as songs by Cohen but Glass provides completely new melodies for them. So much for the background.
Structure is always clear and instructive in Glass's narrative compositions. The cycle tells a story with a message. The story is a kind of incomplete biography, a life in process. Much but not all of it is autobiographical on Cohen's part but this is not the point. It is the biography of a well-drawn character of many facets, to which we can all relate on some level, especially if in our dark moments we feel shame for what we believe are our flaws and failures, and euphoria at what we see as successful accomplishments.
The poems that bookend the cycle give a clue to the nature of the biographical journey presented to the listener. The poem of the prologue is despondent and announces the destructive seductions of passion and substance abuse, while the epilogue ("Merely a prayer") resolves these troubles with a redemptive arrival at a place of peace. Along the way, the character veers between sensuality and spirituality, pathos and humor.
The poetry may not be Shakespeare, but some of it is so perceptive it cuts like a knife, and most is so heartfelt that it brings the character alive. Not long before, Glass composed a kind of cantata on the life and death of Sri Ramakrishna, to music of incomparable transcendent beauty. But Cohen is also not Ramakrishna, so Glass has tuned his music precisely to the flawed and immediate humanity of this character. In so doing, he transforms the words into profound and penetrating examinations of a wide range of emotional states. The songs thus vary from the hilarious take on reincarnation ("My mother isn't really dead"), to the richly melodic and almost-romantic tryst between a soldier and a prostitute ("Night of Santiago"), to a kind of desperate cry for help ("Babylon"), to a euphoric description of enlightenment through meditation ("The light came through the window"). But the song I treasure most is the hauntingly beautiful "A sip of wine."
These songs are not meant to be heard once; their musical and emotional impact increases with each listening. Songs that seemed merely pleasant to me on first listening have become treasures as my appreciation matures. I suggest that listeners take the time to explore their depths before making any judgments.
Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Symphony No. 6, Plutonian OdeRelease date: 2005-11-07; Music CD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
Glass: KeplerRelease date: 2011-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $21.37
Price in other shops:
Leonard Cohen - Songs From The Road (CD/ DVD)Release date: 2010-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $13.14
Price in other shops:
Philip Glass - Glass: Symphony No.7 'Toltec'Release date: 2009-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Book of Longingby Leonard Cohen
Ecco; Published: 2006-05-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.12
Price in other shops:
Philip Glass: Solo PianoRelease date: 1989-08-07; Music CD
Best price: $7.03
Price in other shops:
Beautiful Losersby Leonard Cohen
Vintage; Published: 1993-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.73
Price in other shops:
Philip Glass - Songs & Poems for Solo Cello - Wendy SutterRelease date: 2008-02-12; Music CD
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops:
Book of Longingby Leonard Cohen
PBS; Ecco; Published: 2007-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.78
Price in other shops:
Leonard Cohen - Old IdeasRelease date: 2012-01-31; Music CD
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops: