Skip to main content

Listening Report- Philip Glass “Part 10 of Music in twelve parts”

 

For this listening Report I chose to analyze one of the most famous works of Philip Glass, that is a piece of the album “Music in twelve parts”. This album was written between the 1971 and 1974 and it is largely considered a masterpiece of the minimalist movement, which is characterized by repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones and reiteration of smaller units.

This particular piece lasts 17 minutes and I find it very challenging for the listener: it seems like it’s always the same, but if you listen carefully there are little variations within the song. It deals with an illusion, since patterns actually change almost continuously, though nearly imperceptibly.

The first impression that I had is strictly linked to the process of creating a techno piece: a musician put a base and then pushes a button in the console in different times in order to create the perfect rhythm. Once the several rhythms have been tested, the musician will choose the best one and create the song. My first impression though can be summed up in a sentence, that is “ a record in the making”: something that is about to come alive, to come together, but unfinished and not well defined.

As regard the emotions linked to those images that the piece evokes, when I first listened to this work by Glass I pictured myself in a underground passage, trying to figure out how to escape or trying to solve a riddle, on the solution of which my salvation depends. I strongly think that these emotions are linked to the discovering process that I have already described: as the musician is trying to find the right rhythm for his song, in the same way I am trying to find a solution to escape from the tunnel. The discovering process is not always easy or pleasant, but at least it is always interesting and stimulating.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure

 Sarah Kumar Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath The Future of (American) Music 06 Mar. 2023 Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure According to John Oswald, “[a] plunderphone is a recognizable sonic quote, using the actual sound of something familiar which has already been recorded” (Lecture Slides 18). However, only if the source stays recognizable can it be called plunderphonics. In his album Plexure , several songs are played back and mixed together, thus creating a new sound. This is interesting because while the excerpts of songs that are used are recognizable or at least sound familiar to some degree, played backwards and mashed up as they are in Plexure , they create a new sound. Like on the cover of the album, on which a collage making up a man can be seen, the mixing of different songs played backwards gives a new feeling to something known. The way the songs are mixed makes them unintelligible. The meaning of the words of the original recordings are not able to be compr...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Cage – Inlets

  This does not sound like music to me. Depending on the interpretation of different players or performers, this piece will always sound different. In this case, it sounds to me like someone is walking through a cave with water at the bottom, dragging their feet through it. Sometimes it sounds like water in a toilet bowl, especially when we hear the water in a bigger shell being swished around. These sounds are relaxing in the background, it is like a gentle stream of water. I just wonder what went through the head of the composer while writing this piece. But I guess he had some experimental ideas that are interesting to try out. Those shells are quite pretty, I have never seen such big ones that are not broken. I was surprised when something else happened towards the end of the piece. That tone which came out of the one shell was so clear, it sounded like a trumpet. I didn’t know that shells can sound like that. It was quite beautiful. It was a nice way to end the piece. I di...
Post a Comment
Read more

William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops III

  The Disintegration Loops is a quartet of albums published in 2002 and 2003 by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. The pieces are made up of tape loop recordings that were played over time, with noise and crackles rising as the tape deteriorated. Basinski noticed this effect when attempting to convert his older recordings to digital format. The completion of the recordings coincided with the September 11, 2001 events, which Basinski witnessed and adds a deeper meaning to the composition. The composition is fascinating in many ways and makes the listener lose track of time. The tape loop recording had a very calming effect on me and put me in a trance-like state when I listened to it in its entirety. The tape loop is really soothing, so much so that I didn't even notice the loss of quality when I first listened to it. It makes you forget about time and allows you to really get into the piece capturing the calmness it exudes. You forget or don't really notice how i...
Post a Comment
Read more