“Richard James is quite a nice young man”: How Aphex Twin and Philip Glass came to work together – and what they thought of each other’s music

Aphex Twin and Philip Glass.

In 2025, the intersection of electronic and classical music is nothing particularly unusual. From Floating Points scoring a ballet to the likes of Goldie touring with orchestras, the collision of dance music and orchestral composition is no longer the unique novelty it once was.

Back in the mid-‘90s, however, those two realms felt far more separate. It was only the most adventurous musicians on either side of the divide that could see any potential for collaboration with artists from the opposing camp.