20|21 Art: The LA Edition 
1 August 2023
20|21 Art: The LA Edition 
262

Philip Glass b.1937

Sheet music from The Book of Longing

c. 1970
graphite on sheet music 14 h × 11 w in (36 × 28 cm)
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result: $8,820
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Signed and titled to center ‘from Book of Longing Philip Glass’.
provenance: The Artist | Acquired from a fundraising auction to benefit The Kitchen, New York, Private Collection

This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.

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Among Friends

Philip Glass, Leonard Cohen & The Book of Longing

A self-portrait of Leonard Cohen featured in his Book of Longing

Released in 2007, the Book of Longing is a song cycle that composer Philip Glass created based on his friendship with—and admiration for—Leonard Cohen. Named for Cohen's poetry collection of the same name, the final work is meant to be performed with musicians, singers, and an actor, and puts 23 of Cohen's poems to music. The work premiered at the 2007 Luminato Festival in Toronto. More than six years prior to this debut, Cohen and Glass met up in Los Angeles, where Cohen read a large portion of his forthcoming manuscript. “I found the work intensely beautiful, personal, and inspiring,” Glass remembers,“On the spot, I proposed an evening-length work of poetry, music, and image based on this work. Leonard liked my idea, and we agreed to begin.” 

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