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Music In Twelve Parts

Michael Riesman & Philip Glass Ensemble

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Album Review

Philip Glass is renowned for his style of pattern music, presented in its most developed form in this early work, still one of his best. Glass developed a method of writing that simultaneously retained the sense of the timeless "present" while bringing new thoughts about melody and harmony in a non-virtuosic sense. On Music in Twelve Parts (as well as his opera Akhnaten), these ideas are very elegant and profound, while at times Glass verges on the direct appeal of a movie-music sensibility as in 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. For having this range, he remains a very controversial composer. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Rovi

Customer Reviews

You either like Philip Glass, or you don't understand.

Philip Glass is a genius. You either "get it" or you don't. Look up "Minimalism". You will not find Bach, Beethoven, Mozart (!), Diamond et al., listed. You will find Glass, Reich and their counterparts. Of the minimalists, it is commonly known that, unless you are a "Reichian", Philip Glass is America's Greatest Living Composer. There are better introductions to his body of work, but don't dismiss Philip Glass from this work, although it is one of his best and most-referenced in books and reviews of Glass. Rent 'Koyaanisquatsi' on DVD, if you can find it. THEN come back after listening to more of Glass, because you will. If you get the chance to see him or the Philip Glass Ensemble LIVE, do whatever you have to do to get tickets. It will blow you away. Seeing him and the Ensemble play Koyaanisquatsi LIVE against the backdrop of the film was one of the highlights of my life. Meeting him in person, you would never know you were meeting a genius...he has no 'air' about him, no snobbery, just seemingly an average man..but then start discussing music, and sit back. Start small, if you have to, as if (!) Koyaanisquatsi is small (!)...but don't write him off, especially someone who says "it goes on and on and on..." It's called "repetitious". And if you really pay attention, you will find that every note and every measure has a part to play. But you need to listen. This isn't a "let's get high and check it out" disc; no 'Penthouse Forum' will mention Philip Glass playing softly in the background (though his music can do wonders for lovemaking, just not the type you read about in said 'Forum'). Educate yourself and come back for more. Could I say The"David Byrne" of Classical Music..? Would that help? Peter Gabriel? Kate Bush? Any of those ring a bell?

Very good, but not great...

While the first reviewer was most certainly wrong to disuade listeners from Glass on such flimsy grounds, I'm not so sure it's fair to label someone who fails to appreciate minimalist composition as simply an 'ignoramous'. It could very well be that this download was his first exposure to the more "intellectual" approach to music, and if so, "Music in Twelve Parts" is hardly the work I would've recommended to him. To be reasonable, one must admit that an appreciation for minimalism requires a certain amount of "cultivation of the soul", for lack of a better term. Now, on to this download: I find Glass' Symphonies No. 2 and 3 somewhat more compelling as asthetic works (better for general audience listeners such as the first reviewer), but "Music in Twelve Parts" succeeds as a musical composition in ways Glass' symphonic works cannot. I personally find it much more deeply contemplative, intriguing, and disturbing than his symphonic works, and yet, it still seems to maintain a functional unity throughout that is hard to describe in asthetic terms. This particular recording is not the absolute best classical recording (or Glass recording) I've ever heard, but it was certainly good enough to warrant the cost of adding it to my iTunes collection.

Lacks the soul of the 1974-88 and 2007 recordings

This is Glass’s masterwork. However, this recording is rather done by rote, lacking the oomph and sheer melacholy of the original analog Virgin/Atlantic Records recording, issued on CD in the US in 1990, or the new 2007 recording on Orange Mountain Music. If Part 1 doesn’t make you burst into rivulets of flowing tears, it’s simply not working correctly, and, unfortunately, this recording lacks the emotional depth of the others—it’s too cold and robotic. Peace.

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