Philip Glass - Itaipu and Three Songs (2010)

01. Mato Grasso [11:54]
02. Itaipu - The Lake ( O Lago) [8:23]
03. Itaipu - The Dam (A Represa) [11:17]
04. Itaipu - To the Sea (Ao Mar) [4:52]		play

Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon - conductor

05. There are Some Men (Leonard Cohen) [2:52]
06. Quand les Hommes (Raymond Levesque) [2:59]
07. Pierre de Soleil (Octavio Paz) [4:02]		play

Crouch End Festival Chorus
David Temple – conductor

Orange Mountain Music presents this album of choral music by Philip Glass. The first work on the record is a re-issue of the Los Angeles Master Chorale's performance of Glass' large-scale orchestra and choral oratorio Itaipu. The piece was inspired by the giant hydro-electric dam in Brazil. It was part of a series of pieces Glass has done involving depictions of nature, man's relationship to nature, and also more generally fell into a recurrent theme in Glass' catalog involving the country of Brazil. Itaipu is conducted by Los Angeles Master Chorale Music Director Grant Gershon. The second work on the album is Philip Glass' only work for chorus a cappella. Three Songs are set to poems by three prominent writers, Leonard Cohen, Octavio Paz, and Raymond Levesque. Three Songs is performed by the Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by David Temple and is a re-issue of the Silva Screen recording of the work from 2000. ---Editorial Reviews

Itaipú Premiered on November 2, 1989 by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw, Itaipú is a large-scale work for chorus and orchestra set to a Guaraní text. Itaipú is the world’s largest dam located on the border between Paraguay and Brazil. The piece is cast in four movements: Mato Grosso, The Lake, The Dam, To the Sea. The piece is part of the composer’s interest Brazil, but also in indigenous cultures of the Americas which continues to this day.

Itaipú also belongs to a part of Glass’ catalog that presents poetic depictions of people, places, traditions, and ideas. This series of works include operas about figures like Einstein, Gandhi, Akhnaten, Galileo, Kepler, Columbus; orchestral pieces like The Canyon, Days & Nights in Rocinha (the neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro), The Light (the Michelson-Morely experiments) and reflections on wisdom traditions in Symphony No.5 “Requiem, Bardo, Nirmanakaya,” and Symphony No.7 “A Toltec Symphony.”

Three Songs for Chorus a Cappella Commissioned and written for the Québec Festival 1534-1984, Three Songs for Chorus a Cappella presents three short pieces set to poems by three different North American poets. The first song, There are Some Men, is by singer-songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen (whose poetry was later the basis of an evening length song-cycle by Glass titled Book of Longing.) The second song, Quand les Hommes vivront d’Amour, by singer-songwriter/poet/artist Raymond Lévesque is a wish for peace and happiness through love. The third song, Pierre de Soleil, by poet Octavio Paz is mediation on existential selflessness (“les autres qui me donnent l’existence.”) Philip Glass has consistently written for choruses throughout his career including major operas (Satyagraha, The Voyage) and large orchestral works (symphonies Nos. 5 & 7, Passion of Ramakrishna). However, Three Songs is unique as the composer’s only a cappella choral work.

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