Philip Glass Sucks

As a conductor and arranger, I have always been baffled by the fact that some musicians don't seem to want to hear their music played. For example, Philip Glass, who is one of my favorite composers, does not sell his printed music for performance. You can sometimes rent it, but that is expensive and ensures that his music will only be performed by groups with the money to do so.

How sad. I wanted to get his saxophone ensembles for my students to play, but they are not available - even to rent. And I would have loved to see how the music fits together and possible transcribe his work for Brass Ensemble.

As an arranger, I have found that there are some folks that just won't allow their music to be arranged for other ensembles. John Williams of Star Wars fame comes to mind. WIlliams will almost never allow his music to be arranged. This is a bummer, because his stuff is great and I would love to try and interpret it in my own way.

I like the attitude of composer Jennifer Higdon, who said:

“I’m not the kind of composer that feels they have to protect their works and have them sound just like I “originally conceived them”… I’m all for the music getting used in whatever way will best serve the community of musicians and audiences. It’s supposed to be about communicating, and if that’s happening, that is all that matters to me.”