Philip Glass and Heller in conversation holding a booklet.

Philip Glass

Philip Glass’s Luna Luna contribution was a composition to accompany a labyrinthian pavilion: an immersive, rectangular box outfitted with a façade by Roy Lichtenstein and a dimly lit, mirrored blue interior designed by André Heller.

Artist

Philip Glass

Attraction

Music for Roy Lichtenstein’s Luna Luna Pavilion

Born

1937, USA

Glass is a pioneering composer who has scored numerous operas, symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and films

In Paris, studying with Indian composer Ravi Shankar, Glass adopted a non-traditional musical style that rejected melody and harmony

Despite his reservations surrounding the term, Glass’s work is frequently associated with minimalism for its repetitive refrains and overlapping layers of sound

Philip Glass.

American composer Philip Glass has composed a prolific number of operas, symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and film scores. During the late 1960s, Glass formed the Philip Glass Ensemble, honing his trance-like, repetitive phrases and rhythms in an experimental group comprised of woodwind, keyboard, and vocals. They debuted at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1969 and during early performances, the musicians moved around the space playing scores that had been tacked to the theater walls. This phase culminated with Music in Twelve Parts (1971-1974), an epic cycle that was performed over approximately four hours.

During the late 1960s, Glass formed the Philip Glass Ensemble, honing his trance-like, repetitive phrases and rhythms in an experimental group comprised of woodwind, keyboard, and vocals.

Fairground View: Philip Glass, Music for Roy Lichtenstein’s Luna Luna Pavilion . Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987.

In the 1970s, Glass began to compose operas—most famously Einstein on the Beach (1976), a legendary four-and-a-half-hour-long work created in collaboration with Robert Wilson and choreographer Lucinda Childs. His opera Satyagraha (1980) was based on the early life of Mahatma Gandhi and marked a return to Glass’s haunting, droning, symmetrical sequences. A lifelong collaborator, Glass has worked with playwright Jean Genet, artist Chuck Close, and musicians David Bowie and Paul Simon, among many others.

Glass contributed a composition from his 1987 album Dancepieces to accompany an immersive, rectangular box outfitted with a façade by Roy Lichtenstein and a dimly lit, mirrored labyrinthian interior designed by André Heller.

Forgotten Fantasy

Los Angeles, CA
Open Until May 12 Open Until May 12

Thirty-six years ago, Luna Luna landed in Hamburg, Germany: the world’s first art amusement park with rides, games, and attractions by visionaries like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and David Hockney. By a twist of fate, the park’s treasures were soon sealed in 44 shipping containers and forgotten in Texas—until now.