Composer Phillip Glass is set to debut his latest work, Appomattox, inspired by the events surrounding the end of the American Civil War. Citing his own memories as a boy in World War Two and later as a young man in Baltimore, navigating a world split into segregated parts for blacks and whites.It also draws on his admiration for Confederate commander Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Union Army counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, reports Yahoo.Glass, whose inspirations for more than 20 operas have ranged from a vision of Albert Einstein strolling on the beach to Gandhi preaching nonviolence, says the new opera, "Appomattox," is different from his other works."If we had men like this today, the world would not be in the mess it is in. I am talking about the global situation, not just America," Glass added. He noted that the war's issues lingered in many guises up to the present day.Appomattox has its world premiere on Friday at the San Francisco Opera House and has been billed as one of the biggest events in American opera this autumn."MORE HERE":CH[CH]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071003/music_nm/glass_dc