Leonard Cohen/Philip Glass - Book of Longing

Title: Book of Longing Artist: Leonard Cohen/Philip Glass Release Date: 2007 Re-Released On: 12/11/2007 Label: Orange Mountain Music Duration: 88:31 Album Type(s): live, lyrics/libretto UPC: 801837004328 Genre: Folk Styles: Singer/Songwriter, Minimalism Moods: Literate, Reflective, Cerebral, Intimate, Poignant, Sensual, Wistful, Austere, Autumnal, Bittersweet, Complex, Gloomy, Melancholy, Romantic, Sardonic, Somber, Weary, Wry, Sad Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 8 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 2

1. Book of Longing, song cycle~Prologue - I can't make the Hills [Live]
2. Book of Longing, song cycle~I Came Down from the Mountain [Live]
3. Book of Longing, song cycle~A Sip of Wine [Live]
4. Book of Longing, song cycle~Want to Fly [Live]
5. Book of Longing, song cycle~The Light Came Throught the Window [Live]
6. Book of Longing, song cycle~Puppet Time [Live]
7. Book of Longing, song cycle~G-d Opened My Eyes [Live]
8. Book of Longing, song cycle~You Go Your Way [Live]
9. Book of Longing, song cycle~I Was Doing Something [Live]
10. Book of Longing, song cycle~Not a Jew [Live]
11. Book of Longing, song cycle~How Much I Love You [Live]
12. Book of Longing, song cycle~Babylon [Live]
13. Book of Longing, song cycle~I Enjoyed the Laughter [Live]

1. Book of Longing, song cycle~This Morning I Woke Up Again [Live]
2. Book of Longing, song cycle~I Want To Love You Now [Live]
3. Book of Longing, song cycle~Don't Have The Proof [Live]
4. Book of Longing, song cycle~The Night of Santiago [Live]
5. Book of Longing, song cycle~Mother Mother [Live]
6. Book of Longing, song cycle~You Came to Me this Morning [Live]
7. Book of Longing, song cycle~I Am Now Able [Live]
8. Book of Longing, song cycle~Roshi's Very Tired [Live]
9. Book of Longing, song cycle~Epilogue - Merely a Prayer [Live]

Year Type Label Catalog # 2007 CD Orange Mountain Music 43

No other editions were found for this album.

In May 2006, Leonard Cohen published his first collection of poetry in 22 years, -Book of Longing, having previously used some of the material as songs on his most recent albums, Ten New Songs (2001) and Dear Heather (2004). The book touched on many of the themes he had explored throughout his writing career, including spiritualism (he had spent part of his time between books as a postulant at a Buddhist monastery), eroticism, and self-deprecating humor. On June 1, 2007, at the Luminato Festival in Toronto, Ontario, composer Philip Glass premiered his song cycle based on -Book of Longing, which is here given a two-CD recording. Cohen is present on the album speaking (not singing) some of his poems, and Glass also has set some of them to music, with singing by a soprano (Dominique Plaisant), a mezzo-soprano (Tara Hugo), a tenor (Will Erat), and a bass-baritone (Daniel Keeling). The obvious antecedent is Glass' 1986 album Songs from Liquid Days, which set lyrics by the likes of Paul Simon and Suzanne Vega, but perhaps a closer one is Cohen's album Death of a Ladies' Man (1977), his collaboration with Phil Spector. It's not that Book of Longing ever sounds like Death of a Ladies' Man, but the similarity lies in the mixture of two distinct styles. For better or worse, Death of a Ladies' Man sounds like what one would expect of the unlikely mixture of Cohen's droll, deep-voiced singing with Spector's elaborate production style, and Book of Longing is, as one might expect, a fusion of Cohen's poetic voice with Glass' distinctive circular rhythmic motifs. It is actually somewhat more respectful of the text than Songs from Liquid Days, although listeners still may find it odd to hear art songs in which Cohen's sometimes R-rated language is sung in a formal style by classically trained voices. These selections alternate with a series of tracks, notably "Not a Jew," "I Enjoyed the Laughter," "Don't Have the Proof," and "I Am Now Able," in which Cohen (without any musical backing) recites a very short poem either before or after a solo by an individual instrument (oboe, violin, saxophone, and cello, respectively). Fans of Ten New Songs and Dear Heather will hear some familiar phrases and references (e.g., "a thousand kisses deep" is the tag line of "You Came to Me This Morning," as it is of the song "A Thousand Kisses Deep"), although no complete song/poem has been repeated. Cohen may still be at his best as his own interpreter, but this is one of the more interesting and ambitious attempts to recast his writing in musical form. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andrew Sterman Flute, Piccolo, Saxophone, Clarinet (Bass) Christine Jones Set Design Dan Dryden Engineer Don Christensen Mixing, Producer, Executive Producer Jennie Bowman Production Stage Manager Jim Keller Director Jimmy Woodard Company Manager Kate St. John Horn (English), Oboe Kurt Munkasci Mixing, Executive Producer Leonard Cohen Text, Images, Spoken Word Michael Petit Cover Design Michael Riesman Producer, Music Direction, Conductor, Keyboards, Mixing Michael Trepagnier Assistant Engineer Philip Glass Executive Producer, Keyboards Tara Hugo Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal) Timothy O'Donnell Legal Advisor Wendy Sutter Cello Zoë Knight Associate Director