Philip Glass: Two Pages; Contrary Motion; Music in Fifths; Music in Similar Motion
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Brand: GLASS,PHILIPComposer: Philip Glass
Performer: Arthur Murphy
Performer: Philip Glass
Performer: Steve Chambers
Performer: Michael Reisman
Performer: Michael Riesman
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1994-02-01
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- Two Pages
- Contrary Motion
- Music In Fifths
- Music In Similar Motion
Music reviews of Philip Glass: Two Pages; Contrary Motion; Music in Fifths; Music in Similar Motion
Music Review: Consider yourself warned
Rating: 3 Stars
Philip Glass' fame among the general public probably relies on his more recent, often lushly orchestrated, neo-Romantic works. The works on this disc, however, represent his earlier, far more austere-sounding experiments, the bare backbones of his more recent music, so to speak. As such, they may come as a surprise - possibly a disappointment - to many, and I am indeed unsure that the music here will have general appeal to others than musicologists and ardent fans of minimalism. In general, the titles are apt summaries of what happens in the work in question.
Two Pages (1968), for piano and organ, is a very austere work based on a repeated 5-note musical cell, to which notes are added at the end and taken away from the beginning. The idea is interesting enough - embodying the very idea of minimalism, I guess - but at 27 minutes requiring more than a little persistence on the part of the listener. It is probably the most spartan work on the disc. Music in Contrary Motion, for solo organ, is rigorously contrapuntal in an almost baroque sense, but there is very little Baroque about anything else in it. The basic plan is to have phrases being longer and longer according to a planned recursive sequence; there is thus no upper limit on how long the piece can be, but the performances here wisely cut it short after roughly fifteen minutes. I'd frankly say that it is more than enough.
Music in Fifths (1969) is again based on repeated, contrastive and expanding phrases, based wholly on fifths. But this time the structure is closed (it ends when the accumulation of repetitions fill it out completely). The upshot is a slightly jittery, but very austere, obstinate and inexorable work putting a lot of demands on the pure stamina (and doggedness?) of the performers. Unless you pay close attention the subtle changes in rhythms are going to escape you, and paying close attention to this distinctly unappealing work will not be an easy task. Similar to Music in Fifths, Music in Similar Motion is based on repeated phrases, slowly developing phrases. It is, however, the most immediately attractive work here, and far less static-sounding than the others. The work starts out with one melodic line, then adding another a fourth above, then another a fourth below, then a bass line. It may not sound very complex, but the transformation the music goes through when the new lines are added is actually pretty effective.
The performances sound good enough and the sound, while showing its age, is fine. But this is very austere music and I cannot imagine it will have much general appeal - they frankly didn't appeal to me, except in a very theoretical way (hearing them once, appreciate what is going on, not feeling like going back to them). The booklet claims that `to fully appreciate the sheer, unbridled audacity of these four early works by Philip Glass, it is helpful, for a moment, to imagine that it's 1969 and you've never heard any of the composer's music before. Indeed, in 1969, it would have been unlikely that you'd heard anything like this before.' That is surely correct. Unfortunately for the music, I am unwilling to grant that premise. If the music is to have merit, it has to have merit now, regardless of its original context. And I am not sure if the music here actually does manage to transcend the context in which it was created. Others (including other reviewers here) seem to disagree. I guess the appropriate conclusion is: consider yourself warned.
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Description of Philip Glass: Two Pages; Contrary Motion; Music in Fifths; Music in Similar Motion
No Description Available.Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 1-FEB-1994
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