Philip Glass

The second in Glass' trilogy about men who changed the world Satyagraha's sub-text is politics. The opera is semi-narrative in form and deals with Mahatma Gandhi's early years in South Africa and his development of non-violentprotest into a political tool. (Satyagraha is a Sanskrit word meaning 'truth force'). Each act is dominated by a single historic figure (non-singing role) overlooking the action from above: the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore inAct 1 the Russian author Leo Tolstoy in Act 2 the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Act 3. The music from the conclusion of Act 3 has been beautifully arranged and adapted for Organ solo by MichaelRiseman and Donald Joyce.

'Another Look at Harmony' is a project started in 1975. The approach has been to link directly rhythmic and harmonic structure. In doing so easily audible root movement (chords or 'changes') was chosen in order that the clarityof their relationship could easily be heard. Here as in earlier periods of Western music melodic material is for the most part a function or result of the harmony. However it is clear that some of the priorities of Westernmusic (harmony/melody first then rhythm) have been reversed.