Title: Low Symphony Artist: Philip Glass Release Date: 1993 Label: Point Music, Polygram Duration: 42:21 Album Type(s): Avant-garde UPCs: 028943815024, 028943815048 Genre: Classical Style: Minimalism Moods: Ambitious, Cerebral, Circular, Epic, Complex, Elegant, Restrained, Sophisticated, Uncompromising, Calm/Peaceful, Reserved Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Subterraneans [From Low Symphony]
2. Some Are [From Low Symphony]
3. Warszawa [From Low Symphony]

Year Type Label Catalog # 1993 CD Polygram 438150 ------ CD Point Music 438150-2

No other editions were found for this album.

When Philip Glass announced his next work would be based on works from the classic Brian Eno/David Bowie album Low, critics assumed that Glass was running out of ideas and that he'd just run some of his patented major-scale runs underneath some recognizable pop music, another example of that darned modern music trying to be cool like rock. But Low Symphony actually works (and haven't classical composers always copped melodies from popular tunes?), with Glass focusing on three pieces and exploring and expanding on the ideas within. The opening, "Subterraneans," maintains the meandering but tense feel of the original. When percussion builds in the mix, it suggests a resolution, but none comes. The middle movement is more of a revelation, based on a bonus track, "Some Are," that only made it to the Rykodisc pressings of Low. The original was more of a sketch, a half-whispered song backed by minimal piano and atmospherics. Glass resurrects this song and whips it into a forceful, stirring number that makes the pulse race. Listeners unfamiliar with Bowie's album may think it started out as an anthem. Finally, "Warszawa" returns to replicating the original track, transcribing Bowie's vocal for cello, bringing out a melody similar to Prokofiev. Highly listenable compositions that do not pander to either side of the pop/classical divide. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andrew Eccles Photography Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra Dante de Sole Engineer Dennis Russell Davies Conductor Elane Rooney Assistant Engineer Karen Kamensek ?, Assistant Conductor Kurt Munkasci Executive Producer, Producer Margery Greenspan Art Direction Michael Riesman Producer Phil Yarnall Design Philip Glass Composer, Performer, Main Performer, Liner Notes Rory Johnston Executive Producer