Customer Reviews

Philip Glass: Early Keyboard Music

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I find the earlier work by Glass to be his best. It's exciting because in this time Glass, with others like Steve Reich, comes to a new style in classical music: minimal. Later work by Glass will be less and less true to this style, it waters down to more usual, standard 19th century kind of classical (that's a generalization, yes). Only the melodies are played over the same minimal sounding support.
Looking through some cd's with earlier work by glass, I believe Contrary Motion is thought to be an important piece by Glass. Listening to it emphasizes this idea: you hear the, by now, well known, repeated, subtly changing repetitions. What's nice about this piece compared to ensemble pieces, like a version of Contrary motion, for instance, is that it clarifies Glass' minimal idea better because it's only one musician playing. This idea is further well explained in the booklet and, playfully, on the cd by tapping on a table by Steffen Schleiermacher.
Besides Contrary motion there's an even more minimal track on this cd: two pages (which referes to the fact that the, in this case, 27 minutes of music can be written out on two pages (an idea inspired by minimalist Terry Riley?)). This only has only one ever slightly changing melody line and clarrifies Glass' minimal method of adding and cutting to and from a melody line.
Both the minimal tracks have an extremely hypnotising, trance envoking quality to them. That is: if your in for that, otherwise, the booklet explains, you may just find them extremely boring.
The cd is completed by a nice, more normal sounding, track, composed for the first visit of the Dalai Lama to New York: Mad Rush.

This disc contains some of Philip Glass' early organ works, showcasing the repetitive style that made him famous. the first and last tracks on the CD are more repetitive than the middle track, and are somewhat like musical "paintings", not meant to be actively listened to, but just played in the background, where you can visit them from time to time.

The middle track, "Mad Rush", might be rushy but certainly isn't mad. It is in a strict formal structure, with a quiet theme contrasted by a fst, loud theme, and going back and forth between the two. This track is overall the most enjoyable on the CD.

I don't understand the two versions of "One+One"; first why are they on an "Early Keyboard Works" CD, and second, I've just never been able to understand the intricate complexities of music meant to be played by banging on a tabletop.