Glassworks & Early Works

Since its founding in 1968, the Philip Glass Ensemble has been the leading interpreter and guardian of the work of one of the most influential composers of our time. In Early Works, the ensemble returns to the origins of Philip Glass's minimalist language, revisiting some of the pieces that defined a new way of thinking about and listening to music. At the center of the program is Glassworks (1981), the work that introduced Philip Glass to a wider audience and marked a turning point in his career. Conceived as a studio album, it brings together six pieces for winds and keyboards in which melodic patterns repeat, transform, and intertwine with hypnotic clarity and singular expressiveness. Works such as Opening and Façades remain among the composer's most emblematic creations. Under the musical direction of Michael Riesman, a longtime collaborator of Glass, the ensemble recreates with remarkable precision the incessant pulse, layered textures, and propulsive energy that have become hallmarks of this aesthetic. More than a retrospective, Early Works is an immersive experience that reveals the strength and relevance of music that profoundly transformed the musical landscape of recent decades. Pre-concert talk by Cesário Costa at 7:30 PM. El Corte Inglés supports the CCB Classical Music Mediation Program.