Philip Glass wrote his Seventh Symphony, "Toltec," in 2008, in response to a request for a piece to honor Leonard Slatkin. Glass was inspired by the work of Mexican writer Victor Sanchez exploring the culture of the Toltecs, one of the most significant pre-Hispanic civilizations of Middle America. Glass' three-movement, 35-minute score has an elemental feel, and in some ways resembles the sections of Koyaanisqatsi that dealt with Native American traditions. The program behind each of the movements concerns the inescapable ...
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Philip Glass wrote his Seventh Symphony, "Toltec," in 2008, in response to a request for a piece to honor Leonard Slatkin. Glass was inspired by the work of Mexican writer Victor Sanchez exploring the culture of the Toltecs, one of the most significant pre-Hispanic civilizations of Middle America. Glass' three-movement, 35-minute score has an elemental feel, and in some ways resembles the sections of Koyaanisqatsi that dealt with Native American traditions. The program behind each of the movements concerns the inescapable link between nature and human stewardship of it, a recurring theme in Glass' work. The first movement is purely instrumental, the second makes significant use of a wordless chorus, and the third uses a chorus at its conclusion. The first movement is especially effective in the variety of motivic material Glass brings in, and in its tonal and textural contrasts. The most memorable movement is the second, which has a propulsive rhythmic momentum, and where the use of the chorus adds an...
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