Comments on: Video: Philip Glass's Sesame Street pieces

By: FredKiesche

FredKiesche — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Once on A&E I saw (on Halloween, of course) a biographical documentary on Edgar Allen Poe. It had interviews with Glass, music by Glass and even a couple of short films (Cask of Amontillado) with music by Glass. Wish I could get that!

By: David Pescovitz

David Pescovitz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@Fredkiesche (#2), that sounds very cool. Maybe bits of it will end up on YouTube.

By: FredKiesche

FredKiesche — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Huh! Seek and I shall find!

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7052524

There’s a fair bit of mention about a version of “The Fall of the House of Usher” that Glass worked on. See here and elsewhere:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe_and_music

By: crazymonk

crazymonk — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m pretty sure it’s just the music that is Glass’s – I doubt he’s responsible for the actual animation.

By: LOLcat Stevens

LOLcat Stevens — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve always been of two minds about Philip Glass. Whenever I hear one of his pieces, it either seems heavy-handed and annoying or it completely blows me away. This one gives me chills, and the visuals fit perfectly.

There’s also something about knowing that it was intended for children that adds this new layer of strangeness and wonder.

By: ernie

ernie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I spent year searching for this as a kid, then I found out it was Phillip Glass, and even sunk $80 into the Einstein Box, figuring it was one of the Knee Play pieces. This is the first time I have seen this video in over 20 years and I am stunned that while it clearly was recorded around the same time, these are not from the huge 4 – disc box.

Now to track down the original music!

By: LOLcat Stevens

LOLcat Stevens — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ernie, I don’t know whether the Sesame Street video music was ever released on its own, but the “Dance” pieces mentioned in the post (I’m assuming they’re the ones on this album) have some very strong resemblances to the music in the video.

By: Rider

Rider — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Amazing how much further they pushed children’s television back then. The use of jazz and other avagarde art forms still amazes me. Even Mister Rogers used jazz constantly. Have any of you watched Sesame Street lately. Every time I turn it on it’s just elmo muttering cute meaningless crap.

By: mdhatter

mdhatter — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oh, so that’s why I sorta like Philip Glass.

By: kyleklip

kyleklip — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I totally feel you Rider. The hegemony of Elmo and baby talk on Sesame Street most definitely signal the demise of Jim Henson and the rein of anti-intellectual children’s programming.

By: License Farm

License Farm — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@ #11 KyleKlip: The demise of Jim Henson happened over 17 years ago. For good kids television, check out Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! It was created in part by the lead of ska group The Aquabats. I was talking about these exact animations just last night, as my stepmother is organizing a celebration of Glass all next year at her school, and in fact is in NYC tonight seeing Einstein On The Beach at Carnegie Hall. Among his many other works Glass also did a new soundtrack for the original Bela Lugosi Dracula, performed by the Kronos Quartet.

By: gbv23

gbv23 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sweeet…….and in other news, there’s a muppet wiki

;-)