Upcoming Philip Glass Boxset Includes Newly Engraved Etude Folios and Essays by Leading Classical Artists

Philip Glass is one of the most influential artists of our time. In his long and staggeringly creative career as a composer, he’s transformed how we listen to music. He’s written more than 30 operas, 14 symphonies, 13 concertos, and 35 film scores. But his most personal work is a series of 20 piano etudes, originally created—in his words—to “address the deficiencies in my own playing.” Majestic and intimate at the same time, these compositions for solo piano have been performed and recorded by dozens of artists and streamed over 100 million times. Now, for the first time, the etudes are presented in a deluxe boxed set that allows music lovers to consider them from a new range of perspectives. 

Weighing in at nine pounds and conceived as an heirloom to be treasured, PHILIP GLASS PIANO ETUDES (Artisan Books, October 31, 2023; $150.00) is the ultimate gift for music lovers. The gorgeous clothbound box includes The Complete Folios 1-20, presented in an oversize format, and Studies in Time: Essays on the Music of Philip Glass, a hardcover book of original appreciations written by some of the world’s leading creative minds. 

The Complete Folios 1-20 are newly engraved for this deluxe set and individually bound in an oversize, premium format ideal for both beginner and experienced pianists. The scores have been printed at 10” × 13,” to the scale of Philip’s original handwritten manuscripts, which are included on each folio cover. Each folio is sewn to lie flat on the piano, simplifying page-turning for the player. The design of the musical notation has been given a fresh look by editors Timo Andres, an American composer/pianist, and Cory Davis, editor of Philip’s music publishing company, Dunvagen Music.

Studies in Time is a hardcover book of 21 original pieces by leading classical music artists such as Timo Andres, Tania León, Nico Muhly, Maki Namekawa, and Dennis Russell Davies as well as creators in other artforms including Alice Waters, Angélique Kidjo, Ari Shapiro, Ira Glass, Justin Peck, Laurie Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Pico Iyer, Jenny Saville, and Nathan Chen. Taking the etudes as their prompt, the contributors offer the reader a kaleidoscopic look at the creative process—sharing musings on an artist’s personal practice, the relationship to a technical challenge over a lifetime, the act of listening, and, in some cases, their collaborations with the composer himself.

Philip Glass began composing the etudes in the early 1990s as a method to develop his own craft and expand his technique as a pianist. The twentieth etude was completed in 2012, more than two decades later. A self-portrait of a composer’s work and practice, the etudes represent some of the most beautiful and inventive music of his life. Beloved by the world’s great pianists and amateurs alike, the etudes have become an integral part of daily practice for artists of all mediums, as they were originally intended.

Evoking the generosity of spirit that has been at the heart of the composer’s life, PHILIP GLASS PIANO ETUDES offers an invitation to experience the inner life of an artist at work. For some, this stunning box set will offer new inspiration to practice or perform, and for others, it will serve as a beautiful object to gift, display, and contemplate. 

Boxset can be pre-ordered now at this link: https://philipglass.com/books/philip-glass-piano-etudes/ 

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PHILIP GLASS is the first composer to win a wide, multigenerational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, film, and popular music simultaneously. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the U.S. National Medal of Arts, and in 2018, he was a Kennedy Center honoree. Follow Philip on Instagram at @philipglassmusic. For more information, please visit philipglass.com. 

This project was conceived and edited by LINDA BRUMBACH and ALISA E. REGAS, founders of Pomegranate Arts and creative producers working across mediums of performance, visual art, and film. For more information, please visit pomegranatearts.com.

PHILIP GLASS PIANO ETUDES

The Complete Folios 1-20 & Essays from 20 Fellow Artists

By Philip Glass, conceived in collaboration with Linda Brumbach, and Alisa E. Regas

Published by Artisan Books on October 31, 2023

Hardcover / $150.00; 11” x 14” trim size; 9.1 lbs

ISBN: 978-164829-188-3

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