Customer Reviews

From the Philip Glass Recording Archive, Vol. III -JENIPAPO

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Orange Mountain Music's ongoing 'from the archive' series aims to release certain recordings that Philip Glass (b. 1937) has made over the last 30 years. Thus far, the series has been hit or miss with me. I thought the first volume was lackluster (Philip Glass: Theater Music from the Philip Glass Recording Archive, Vol. 1); however I thoroughly enjoyed the second volume (From the Philip Glass Recording Archive, Vol. II: Orchestral Music).

This release, the third volume in the series, contains the music from the 1995 film 'Jenipapo'. Glass is a highly effective film composer, so it is great to have this music available. Like much of Glass' music, this score is filled driving rhythmic motifs, and melancholy melodic fragments.

The orchestral score, in my opinion, contains some lovely moments; however, this is a difficult release to recommend. First, there is only 29 minutes of music on this volume. Further, the majority of the score's 17 tracks are merely fragmentary snippets. Several of the pieces last less than minute and seem to have no discernable end - that is, the music just stops. I am sure Glass' music is quite effective within the film, but the music fails to please as a standalone listening experience. The one exception is the dark and brooding 'Coleman's Dilema' (Track 9), which, at four minutes in duration, almost seems epic in comparison to the remainder of the release.

Orange Mountain Music claims to be in the possession of hundreds of hours of Glass recordings. The length of this release seems perplexing in light of this claim. Given this, all but the most serious Glass fans can skip this one.

TT: 29:44