Symphony No. 8 (Glass)

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Symphony No. 8 by Philip Glass was written in 2005 and commissioned by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz. It premiered on November 2, 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, performed by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. The piece has three movements and features long solo lines for various instruments. Critics praised its evolving textures and unusual orchestration. Allan Kozinn described the music as having extreme, fluid chromaticism with constantly changing themes and textures, and highlighted a beautiful flute and harp variation in the mournful second movement. Alex Ross said the work adds something new to the classical symphony by avoiding a bustling conclusion and settling into a mood of twilight and night. Orchestration: two flutes (doubling piccolo), two cor anglais, two clarinets (E-flat and bass), two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets (two in E-flat), three trombones (two tenor and one bass), tuba, timpani, four percussion (harp and piano), and strings.