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Listening report: Philip Glass

 Philip Glass is an American composer who has also written music for experimental theater and for motion pictures. To describe his work, Glass says that it “contains many of the structural and harmonic ideas that would be fleshed out in my later works. It is a modular work, one of the first such compositions, with twelve distinct parts which can be performed separately in one long sequence, or in any combination or variation“ (Source 1, Glass Website). In the Gramophone Review it is written about Music in twelve parts: “highly unconventional score, modular in structure and open to all kinds of reorderings or selections, and it won my vote not only on grounds of its musical content but also because it works so well on record, allowing the listener to make all manner of manipulations“ (Source 2).

 

 

The work Music in twelve parts is part of the minimal music which is often repetitive in the pattern and has a constant harmony. In the beginning high pitched tones are played which remind me of violins, the sound is fast and harmonic. I feel stressed in some way while listening to this piece of Glass, probably it’s due to the speed of the music, it makes me nervous. At minute 5 it seems to get even faster, like violinists that don’t have time to stay until the end of the concert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

1.https://philipglass.com/recordings/musicin12parts/

2.https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/glass-music-in-12-parts

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