Customer Reviews

Philip Glass : A Descent into the Maelstrom

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having nearly every CD that Glass has ever released, it's difficult for me to objectively evaluate this disc. On one hand, it's pleasant that the style is so familiar, but that's also it's main drawback. There's nothing extremely unique about this piece. I would describe it as an almost perfect synthesis between "1,000 Airplanes on the Roof" and "The Photographer", both written around the same time. If you liked these two discs, you'll probably enjoy Maelstrom, tracks from which could easily appear on either one of them, fitting in seamlessly.

Well, true it is that I do not hold "Maelstrom" for PGlass's best work. In my ear it only manifests one or two musical ideas ('themes' I believe one calls them, if that can be applied to PG); which would be fine ('music with one or two changes'!), but for the use of synthesizers!! I hate synthesizers here!
I'm completely crazy about scores with plain electric organ ("Two pages" etc.) and with organ + orchestra ("Music with changing parts", "Einstein", "Akhnaten" etc.); but here, you get only some wind instruments and four synthesizers. These are fine for New or Cold Wave pop; but they sound so [inferior] in more complex compositions!
There are breathtaking accelerations of the score on "Maelstrom"; but all other moments seem to flop because they lack concrete sound matter, I mean those intertwining patterns of sheer sound which are so caracteristic of PGlass's mastery. Synthesizers (in the mid-80s) could never compete with the harmonic richness of conventional instruments. The same limitation shows on "1000 Airplanes".
Otherwise the record is perfectly clean, neat production from the Glass - Riesman - Munkacsi team. So 4 stars because I'm a PGlass fanatic!!
Yet could we dream of a organ + traditional ensemble version of the "Maelstrom"?

It's finally here. The full recording of a piece I have heard the Philip Glass Ensemble play an excerpt from many times. I have been waiting for this recording since the mid-eighties. It was always one of my favorite pieces to listen to the ensemble play. The catch is that I have not heard the full cd yet. I can tell you from the free excerpts available on the Amazon.com site that I will not be disappointed when I get the full recording. One of the things setting "Descent" apart from some other Glass works is a tenor saxophone jazz improvisation. I'm not kidding. It's very cool. I am hearing synthesizers here as well, which the Ensemble always made large use of when performing live. It reminds me of "1,000 Airplanes on the Roof", another remarkable Glass work. Very happy this has finally been released.

In my amazon.com review (just a few months ago) for EARLY VOICE, the previous Orange Mountain Music Philip Glass release, I declared it the most important CD of the year, anywhere. Well, I stand corrected as this new release, A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM, is yet another "MOST IMPORTANT CD OF THE YEAR"! OMM has delivered the Glass goods yet again- two CD's which are the most important releases of the year- I challenge anyone to show me more significant releases anywhere.

MAELSTROM is a little-known (until now) masterwork by legendary composer Philip Glass, written way back in 1986 for, and performed by, his own Philip Glass Ensemble. Why this work was "forgotten" will always be a mystery to me- it's truly a masterpiece. Forgetting about this piece would be like forgetting about Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. As far as works which touch the soul, excite, and inspire, I'd put this work against any other. This high-flying, boisterous, propulsive, compulsive, obsessive, intense, and romantic work is simply amazing- brought to life here on CD through this brilliant recording. 65 minutes of pure Glass!

I've been a Glass fan since around 1982- nobody else compares. Glass has written many masterpieces, but this work turns out to be my favorite of all. That is saying a lot, as I never thought I would settle on an absolute favorite Glass piece- there are so many to consider!

Trying to put the music of MAELSTROM into words is really an almost impossible task. It's a 65 minute, non-stop work, made up of what I would call 6 to 8 minute sections, even though the CD is divided further into 18 tracks. Each major section is pretty much a work in itself.

After a rousing introduction in Track 1 "Vertigo", the real rousing intro is actually Track 3, "Engagement"! Special note is given to the angelic solo soprano vocals by Dora Ohrenstein, especially at 3:42 of Track 3- simply magic- such an incredibly beautiful theme!

Track 9, "The Hurricane and Recognition of Death", kicks serious ...!

Track 13, "Abandonment", is an amazing respite from the intensity of the rest of the piece- it's romantic and dreamy, once again with beautiful vocals by Dora Ohrenstein.

I just can't get enough of this piece- it truly is the best piece of music I've ever known. I listen to MAELSTROM every night before I call it a day. Some people have commented that Glass's music is often dark- it doesn't strike me that way at all. It's very bright to me- it's almost like Glass has converted protons of light into sound.

Track 16, "Second Perception of Light, Moon, Mist, and Rainbow" is so clever, cute, wondrous, and joyous! It never fails to bring a smile to my face! Track 17, "The Maesltrom" is the "finale" to this mega-masterpiece. The bass line throughout is ingenious! This section is equivalent to being in the middle of a hurricane. It is among the most intense music that Glass has composed. I find this section to be a spiritual experience (a common occurrence when listening to Glass). It's exactly like being in the eye of a hurricane- all of this frantic craziness is going on all around you, but where you're located, things are actually calm. The "noise" of Glass's music, combined with its perfect clarity of structure, clears out my thinking. Track 17 is the most affirming and inspiring piece of music I've ever heard!

I hope you have an excellent stereo or this CD will eat your system alive. This recording is a revelation. You never hear music like this on the radio or on TV- nobody else writes music like this. Glass is truly a musical Superman.

I could go on all day about this CD; I'll just have to say that MAELSTROM is a mega-masterpiece by Philip Glass. I can't recommend this CD more highly. Thanks to Kurt Munkacsi for his ingenious sound design; Don Christensen and Michael Riesman for the amazing job bringing this CD to life with the latest digital technology, and of course, thanks to Philip Glass for starting OMM and composing the GREATEST music in the world.

Clearly there are people who love this music; I'm happy for them, but I do not number myself among them. I'm astonished at some of what I've read here--"this is completely different from other Glass works", etc. I don't see it, and I'm a composer--no armchair critic. The rhythmic patterns Glass uses here are identical to those he's used elsewhere--only here there are fewer of them. The arpeggiations and harmonies much like those in any Glass composition; the "melodic" (by which is meant 'conjunct' as opposed to arpeggiated) lines are the same--three ascending steps, rarely reversed. I agree with the reviewer who mourned the bad synthesizer sounds--the opening octaves put me in mind of "Funky Town" and it's inappropriately humorous every time it returns. I disagree with the fan who hopes for an updated version for live instruments and organ--this isn't great Glass by a long shot, and it's not worth reviving. Granted, there's a lot of kinetic energy here--loads of fast notes very loud--and that has a certain attractive quality to some listeners. Myself, I'd like to be able to tell the difference between, oh, a whirlpool and frenetic city life out of balance. Only in the very end does Glass do anything I haven't heard from him in other works.

Edgar Allan Poe's story is an attractive one, and I'd like to see this as a dance production where I imagine Glass's music works well. The photos on the CD, from the original production presumably, look quite interesting with the brother with the albatross around his neck, and Death yielding a sickle menacingly. But as a piece of music, I'm unimpressed, and it's not that I hate minimalism--I love much of John Adams' music, think In C and Different Trains and Come Out are hugely interesting and important pieces, and enjoy Tehillim and even Einstein on the Beach. But offshore, where the Maelstrom reigns, I think Glass has hit some slack tide.

If you are interested in Minimalism and haven't yet read it, do be sure to look up Tom Johnson's article What Is Minimalism Really About? It's a superb and very telling short article, a must read.

Okay yes, this is an exciting release in that it was previously unavailable. And yes, it is certainly premium Glass. But the most significantly release of the year? Comparable to Beethoven's 9th? Hardly. This work certainly fits quite neatly into the mid-80's Glass style, and is a fine recording to own, especially for a true Glass fanatic. But, as a musicologist who has studied Glass's music for many years, much more significant is the new Sony release NAQOYQATSI. Here we have true compositional development, spearheaded by what is perhaps the composer's most emotional musical achievement to date. There are moments of truly exquisite beauty here that have not been previously heard in most Glass compositions. True, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Minimalistic music (whether you choose to accept the term for Glass's idiom or not is irrelevant - it is fundamentally Minimalistic) is by definition devoid of emotion. But here, in NAQOYQATSI, post-Romanticism and Minimalism collide in what, no doubt, marks the beginning of a new phase in Glass's prolific career.

I was present at the premier of this music at the 1986 Adelaide Festival of Arts in a spectacular dance performance. It was my introduction to Glass's music and since then I have acquired several recordings of his music on CD, and attended a performance of 'Einstein on the beach' at the Melbourne Festival in the early 1990s. I have been hunting for a recording of 'Maelstrom' ever since that 1986 performance with the Australian Dance Theatre. Finding it now at Amazon, I noted that Amazon will not ship it to my address in Australia, however the 'other sellers' will and I have ordered it.

For an 80's Glass work, the thrust on this infatuated rhythmic scheme is admirably engaging. Opposed to even earlier, practically primitive works Maelstrom keeps things relatively fresh and flowing throughout the extended affair. While not possessing the production grace to completely mask a certain melodic redundancy, Glass shines nonetheless, if ever for working profoundly with the little he had. An interesting aside is how Muse seem to play with this format briefly on the lead-off track of their last studio release.

My favorite is Candyman 1 and 2. This was made before those I believe, It is a bit like the Candy Man Scores, But doesn't have that touch of Power, that I yearn for in Music. But Worth the Money.

Para la profundida y desarrollo de cada trabajo que ha alcanzado un compositor como Philip Glass, considero que este trabajo esta por debajo de su nivel.

Si tuviera que catalogarlo en una sola palabra, podría definirlo como "insipido". No se termina de entender que quiere hacer el compositor con esta obra, ni que quiere dar a significar. Pudiera entonces hablarse de que logró captar muy bien lo que siginifica un "Maelström", pero a mi parece ni eso me queda claro.