Philip Glass: Music in Fifths; Two Pages [Import]

Phillip Glass (Artist), Bang on a Can (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Cantaloupe
• ASIN: B0001L7RQ8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,382 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Addition to the Glass Canon, September 18, 2004

By 

Allan J. Cronin "francis gerard" (Alameda, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Philip Glass: Music in Fifths; Two Pages (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful recording with committed performances of transcriptions of two early Glass works ("Fifths" and "Two Pages"). Curiously the CD label and Bang on a Can's web site do not credit the transcriber(s) but I believe that it was done by the talented musicians of the Bang on a Can collective. The disc is not yet listed on Glass' official web site.

Fifths was originally performed and recorded by Philip Glass with Jon Gibson and Dickie Landry in the original version for saxophones and electric organ. Two pages was done by Philip Glass on electric organ and Michael Riesman on piano. It is these versions that I first heard and loved. By contrast the BOAC version has a somewhat softer quality as compared with the "in your face" quality of the original recordings. But this is not a criticism of either. It just seems that contemporary recordings of Glass' earlier works tend to be done in a more genteel fashion (such as the Nonesuch recording of Music in Twelve Parts) which is perhaps more easily consumed by a larger audience. There is some loss of the intensity of the earlier versions but the performances are good, legitimate interpretations that any Glass fan needs to have and a wider audience should experience. This is good music, groundbreaking at its time and still vital now.

I look forward to BOAC (hopefully)recording other early Glass compositions such as Music in Similar Motion (ably done by the Italian "Alter Ego" ensemble on the Stradivarius label) and the keyboard piece Contrary Motion. This ensemble is doing a great service to contemporary music and aficionados would do well to become familiar with their work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious Compositions in the Hands of Excellent Performers, February 25, 2007

By 

Sor_Fingers (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philip Glass: Music in Fifths; Two Pages (Audio CD)

Read this First:

I LOVE Minimalism.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about this record. I really like a lot of Phillip Glass's work, especially Glassworks and his soundtrack for Koyanisqatsi. However, these pieces really don't speak to me. Glass's extremely academic approach to these two pieces on this recording really is one reason why contemporary music gets such a bad reputation these days. This frustrates me because so many people automatically write off contemporary music as total rubbish. The problem with these pieces is that they seem to sound more like compositional exercises rather actual pieces intended for an audience to listen to. Both of these pieces are based off of about 5 different pitches and Glass takes a simple 5 note motive and takes you through extensions of it that frankly get incredibly monotonous. Even the lover of minimalism may be slightly bored over these two pieces.

Nevertheless, Bang on a Can works well with this material that is not very accessible to a large audience. They play a lot with timbre and color to make the piece tolerable in spite of its monotony. Frankly I would much rather listen to Bang on a Can's light sounding ensemble (piano, marimba, flute, clarinet, cello, violin, electric guitar) than Phillip Glass's original recording (electric organ and saxophones or electric organ and piano). The sound here is very mellow, making the piece almost hypnotic, sending you into a dreamlike trance. Also, Bang on a Can's ensemble is incredible tight and well rehearsed. To perform this piece from memory would honestly test the capabilities of the human memory. BOAC plays this labyrinth of patterns and notes where each motive is just a little different from the other and prevails with flying colors. To think that 6 or 7 different musicians are playing these lines together in unison is really quite impressive.

The only qualm that I have with the performance is that it lacks any kind of dynamic concept period. Everything is played at the same volume from start to finish. To be able to hear some kind of shape in volume would make this piece a lot more interesting. Whether that was a decision by the ensemble or honoring a request by the composer, I do not know. What I do know is that it would have been nice to here something change besides Glass's initial motive: and that didn't even change very much.

The long and short of it is that there are better works by Phillip Glass and better recordings by Bang on a Can with far more interesting pieces. As a very zealous fan of minimalism, I can't say that I would recommend this recording. It's merely tolerable and I would say that this one is for completists only.