Customer Reviews

Music in 12 Parts

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The Philip Glass Ensemble was formed in 1968, because as Glass recalls, "I needed to have a consistent group of musicians to develop a new technical way of playing". "Music with Twelve Parts" was completed between the years 1971 and 1974. The work's compositional structure embodies all of the warmly hypnotic elements of Mr. Glass's new musical language. Indeed, early performances of the piece tested the ensemble player's physical and psychological perseverance.

This magisterial three-disc set was recorded over a period of four months, during the year 1993. Though there have been subtle changes in the personnel of Mr. Glass's ensemble over the years, there have now been close to twenty years of performance experience with the twelve individual sections of the work. Or as Glass puts it: "Now we know the language and we're fluent in it".

An epochal three hour and twenty-six minute work, "Music with Twelve Parts" is intended to be heard in one sitting, without distractions of any kind. Indeed, preparing a time and place for such an intensive immersion, in this day and age, can be seen to be a type of rarefied art work, all on its own. In 1968, as Glass fondly recalls, "it was easy to find people to listen to this music every Thursday night, because nobody had anything else to do anyway".

In early days of 2004, however, listening to this ecstatic work, with its systematic augmentation and contraction of harmony, is Glass's way of "making serious fun not only with other people, but with myself as well". "Music with Twelve Parts" is a compelling and original musical statement that will inspire earnest listeners for many years to come.

Most people think of 'minimalism', and they think the shorter bits one finds on "Glassworks". Uh-uh. This long-form cyclical work shows what the concept is _really_ about, as Glass's ensemble goes thru this multi-hour magnum opus. Very terse instrumentation here, as we're back in the mid-70s for this work, when Glass was using winds and electric keyboards (such as Farfisa organs, etc) in addition to unadorned voices in his trance-inducing loft concerts in the NYC art scene. Describing what this sounds like is hard; it's much easier to describe what listening to it will do to you. And what that is is that it induces a very trance-like state, as you get immersed in the seemingly-endless periodic structures. Most people call this music 'repetitive', but the fact is that there _is_ change going on, albeit exceedingly gradually. And the entertainment here is in the sonic equivalent of optical illusions that this early Glass music presents to the listener. It's like being trapped in a musical version of a 60s op-art moire pattern poster! And all that aside, it's also one of the key works (along with Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" and Terry Riley's "A Rainbow in Curved Air") from which the minimalism 'groundrules' sprang. Important.

In order to approach Philip Glass's Music in Twelve Parts, I recommend the following prerequisites:

1.) Make sure that you have enough money to purchase this extraordinary piece of music. While the three discs which make up this piece of music may tend to be categorized as "box set," in truth, this is no compilation of Philip Glass's greatest hits or rarities. Instead, what you receive is the singular, defining greatest 'hit' of Glass' repetoire.

2.) Set aside at least 3 hours and 26 minutes of your day to sit and listen to this piece of music uninterrupted as it will take at least that long to make it through all three discs. "Music In Twelve Parts" is a single piece of music, just like Mozart's "Requiem" or Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," and while one is capable of listening to the individual parts out of sequence, doing so would ruin the intended effect of the piece of music as a whole.

3.) Listen with open ears and an open mind. One of the problems many people face when meeting Glass for the first time is that they are confronted in an ugly sort of way that Philip Glass does not sound like the traditional composers, like Beethoven, Debussy, or even Brahms, and he doesn't even sound atonal, like Boulez, Messiaen, or Schoenberg: many realize that Glass is in a category wholly removed from these composers, and they tend to not like it because they were expecting something else. I say this because not only was this my first perception of Glass, but it's also the same sort of response I meet in others, such as friends or family, when introducing them to the work of Philip Glass.

Glass' early work, especially Music in Twelve Parts is riddled with arpeggios. Yet, while there is definitely an electronic keyboard driving the pulse of the piece from start to finish, the true quality of the piece is displayed in the other musicians, especially the woodwinds, who must not only keep pace, but who must also be able to change key and delve into further slight variations on the drop of a dime. Music in Twelve Parts may, indeed, sound minimal and abruptly simple, but the endurance required when playing such a piece requires immense skill and precision. Be sure to keep your ear attuned for this.

4.) Finally, enjoy. The great thing about Glass' music is that there's no interpretation needed, no cryptic meanings, and no hidden secrets. If you play Music in Twelve Parts backwards, what you hear is Music in Twelve Parts. Nothing more, sorry.

It's an excellent piece of music, and a wonderful experience!

This is music without melody, Glass's repertoire of techniques at its most spare--just rhythmic pattern (in his signature arpeggiated chord) and rudimentary, stable harmony in which the extension and contraction of time/rhythmic values is the only appreciable "content" of the pieces. This music can produce strange effects on a listener; one can almost sense one's own faculty of audition as being the true "content". I liken it to a Gestalt switch, or the experience of seeing a wheel spin fast enough to produce the illusion of slow or even backwards motion. One realizes stimulation of the eyes is but half the experience; the other half is the intentional mind itself. Part One is a slow, meditative version of this idea; it's an amazing sonic Persian rug of pulsing, interlocked patterns, and perhaps the most beautiful piece he ever wrote. One can pick out between the instruments a melody of whatever length one wishes, creating the music for themselves.
Glass's and Tim Page's liner notes are illuminating as well.

This is absolutely top-notch fantastic music.

It is as good as, but different than, the older recording of these pieces, in my opinion. The technology and performance virtuousity are improved over the original recording, but there is also some heart and soul lost, compared to the original.

In this regard it is similar to the newer recording of "Einstein on the Beach", compared to the original recording of that work.

Both the original and the newer one stand on their own, for different reasons, with different relative strengths and weaknesses.

I would definitely get both; I listen to both and enjoy both.

First I should preface this review by saying that I much prefer the version on Virgin records which, I believe, is out of print. Not that it is sonicly superior (it is not DDD) but it was the first version I became familiar with (on an old cassette copy with the orange cover) and, I feel, at least with Part 1, sounds better, fuller, more engaging. Second, I don't often say this about recordings, especially relatively expensive and/or multi-disc sets, but this recording is worth the price for the track "Part 1" alone. This is my favorite piece, of all his works, by Mr. Glass and I have owned all of them at one time or another and have been listening to him for some 20 years. I do enjoy the rest of the tracks on this set and although they are a good listen in amongst themselves to me they cannot hold a candle to the first; I often put it on repeat mode and will some day find a simple way to play it that way without the pause in between, maybe play it all day like that some cool quiet lazy Sunday... :o) I agree with the other reviewer that even though hardcore fans might enjoy listening to all the parts in a row, this set is best listened to in portions. If you are going to get it I suggest, if possible, listening to both this version and the aforementioned Virgin records one and then decide which is best. Either way this is a classic of modern comtemporary "classical" music and a must for Glass "minimalist" fans.

i think the problem most people have with this set, and minimalist music in general, is that they don't understand the function of repetition in it. in typical western music, repetition is used to emphasize the contrast that follows it. in my opinion, repetition is used here to emphasize the motion and contour of the music, and in that sense i find this music very fun and exciting. it is also used so that you can hear everything that's going on in the music: it gives you time to mentally dissect all of the processes that are unfolding before you.
that being said, i love this set, and i don't think there is a single weak point in it. i think it is easily philip glass' best work (koyaanisqatsi coming in second, and for the record, theres hardly anything else of his that i like after music in twelve parts). it is exhilarating, entrancing, and beautiful music. it isn't beautiful in a dramatic sense, but you have to learn to appreciate this kind of pulsing, meditative beauty. this is my favorite "minimalist" (if you want to call it that) work, but if you like this id also strongly recommend the other big three in minimalism: steve reich, la monte young, and terry riley. oh, and as far as the issue of listening to this goes, i find that its best if i turn the music off when i start to get impatient. which can be after one track, or after the whole set is done with, depending on my mood (but usually at least 4 or 5 parts, i dont find it to be an endurance test at all).

give this a listen, it will change your perception of music if you are willing to let it.

Most composers are lucky to have one masterpiece; Philip Glass has the good fortune to have two: "Music in Twelve Parts" and "Einstein on the Beach."

A freind and I were listening to part VIII one night and I mentioned that I thought it amazing that a vocalist and saxophones could keep up without rests He replied, "There are saxophones and a vocalist?"

The musicianship on this CD is just amazing. The problem is that people treat it as a whole and try to listen all the way through. Trust me, you don't want to do that. Listen to each track as a seperate piece. You'll like it a lot more.

It never stops amazing me how through the 'repetition' there could be so much forward motion. Glass does a phenomenal job keeping your attention (if you let him), therein lies the problem. Glass requires you to 'relearn' how to listen to music in a sense. If you're wanting crescendos, swells and climaxs, there's nothing for you here, but if you're willing to 'relearn', there is nothing so rewarding. And if you like this, you'll love 'Einstein on the Beach.

Orange Mountain Music, a label created by Kurt Munkacsi, producer of most Philip Glass recordings, re-[re]-releases a new recording of the classic Music In Twelve Parts as a set of twelve individual [iTunes only] files (upgraded to 256 kbps), scheduled at one per month in celebration of the great composer's 70th birthday year. I grabbed the first two parts from iTunes (at $1.99 a piece), and became instantly entranced in the hypnotic repetitive patterns that explored the flow of melody, and just when I would "tune into" the presented concept, it would change like a school of rapidly swimming tiny fish. Throughout the pieces I find myself drifting in and out of consciousness, and after twenty minutes (per track) I feel relaxed and refreshed, like from a lengthy meditation. Not surprisingly wanting more, I looked up an earlier, 1996 recording of the same work. Although the three disc set is offered by some retailers at over forty dollars, I was shocked to see the entire performance available in MP3 format (also at 256 kbps, yet DRM-free) from Amazon at only $9.99. What a steal - DONE! I must comment that I like this older recording to be better - it is warmer, more organic, and is a tiny bit slower. My recommendation would be to skip the marketing gimmick and head over straight to Amazon, to try the digital rip before you commit to the entire album. Perfect head-cleaner for a busy mind. Prescribed for musicians at a piece per day, prior to recording sessions, preferably on an empty stomach.