Skip to main content

Philip Glass’s “Part 10 of Music in Twelve Parts” (1990)

 

Listening to this piece again, this time not in class but on YouTube, I notice a comment someone wrote underneath this record: “To me this has always sounded like a complex mathematical equation gradually working itself out audibly.” Strangely, this really describes a suiting imagery for this piece. However, my imagination draws a connection to nature. For me, this piece sounds more so like the later stage of a dandelion. A gust of wind blows all those little pieces into the universe. Each of their own flies in another direction and later settles down where it can create a new flower. The additional background music starting at ca. 03:00 minutes draws, at least for me, the picture of a green flower meadow in the middle of a forest alley. Glass’ piece is not at all to fast in rhythm for the imagery of a forest ecosystem. I picture all those single tones as symbols for living beings, which all together are signs of life. Additionally, as a listener I am able to concentrate on one single note or even on a group of tones, which for me really illustrates how I would be able to tune out other sounds in order to listen to the singing of a bird in the forest. The sounds are overall light and similar in a way that helps to endure the fast rhythmic pattern. Also, particularly this piece of art by Glass plays with those patters: to be exact with one large main pattern and several smaller sub patterns. An almost mathematical pattern and repetition is also something we can find in nature, to be more precise in for instance flowers. Thus, the commentary of this other listener can be connected to my association. 

Glass’ “Part 10 of Music in Twelve Parts” is from those listened to in class from this composer, the one that captivates me he most. Therefore, I will definitely be looking into those other parts of this series as I can honestly image that I would listen to this one in my free time.

Comments

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...

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...

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...