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Philip Glass – Music in Twelve Parts Listening Report

 

Music in Twelve Parts starts rather implosive. Immediately into part 1, all instruments are played simultaneously. It has that up-and-down movement in the background, possibly played by an electric organ. A kind of melody is introduced later by something that sounds like a saxophone. For me personally, it has the mood or vibe of traditional Chinese music, but with a hint of western musical harmony. Right from the beginning, Glass introduced us to most of the used instruments in Part 1. Part 2 seems to build on top of the first one but with the addition of more melody-type segments. The third part breaks up the harmonic repetition and introduces us to short and fast-played notes which get repeated numerous times. Many different chords and notes are played simultaneously, for instance, the first segment 48 times. The second segment of Part 3 consists of more chords and notes. Glass changed the rhythm from a 4/4 beat to a 7/4 beat. Keeping in mind that the chords and notes sound like the first segment, this introduces variety into the musical piece. This is the same with segments three and four, changing the rhythm to an 8/4 beat and 9/4 beat respectively. Later in Part 3, a singing choir is added. At first, I thought the chords were blending and creating the illusion of a choir, but this turned out to be false. Although, this could have been a deliberate choice made by Glass. Part 4 contains a little more melody and recognizable structure, but like in the other parts, most instruments are introduced to the listener right from the beginning. This reminds me of the traditional folk music played in Croatia. Especially the accordion adds to that mood. Later in Part 4, a rising organ sound gets added to the scene. This gives it a space-like feeling, something that could have been used in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Interstellar. Glass ends in Part 12 with similar “chaos” as in the prior parts. A female singer gets overlayed and adds some melodic properties to the last part. Glass’s music often gets described as “minimal”. I can see the gradual progress within the whole context of “Music in Twelve Parts”, but it is anything but a smooth introduction to the instruments used in this composition. If minimal means without build-up, then it is the prime example of that. Regardless, “Music in Twelve Parts” is an interesting composition that questions what the fundamental property of compelling music is.

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