Music in Twelve Parts. Parts 1&2, 1974

A-Seite
Part 1, 18:16 Min.

B-Seite
Part 2, 19:18 Min.

Music composed by Philip Glass.
Performed by The Philip Glass Ensemble
Michael Riesman: electric organ
Joan LaBarabara: voice
Jon Gibson: soprano saxophone, flute
Philip Glass: electric organ
Richard Peck: alto and tenor saxophones
Dickie Landry: flute, soprano saxophone.


"Music in Twelve Parts, written by Philip Glass between 1971 and 1974, is a deliberate, encyclopedic compendium of some techniques of repetition the composer had been evolving since the mid 1960s. It holds an important place in Glass's repertory - not only from a historical vantage point (as the longest and most ambitious concert piece for the Philip Glass Ensemble) but from a purely aesthetic standard as well, because Music in Twelve Parts is both a massive theoretical exercise and a deeply engrossing work of art.
Glass wrote Part I in early 1971. "The first movement was originally intended to stand on its own and the 'Twelve Parts' in the title referred to twelve lines of counterpoint in the score," he explained in 1993. "I called it Music in Twelve Parts because the keyboards played six lines, there were three wind players involved, and I had originally planned to augment the ensemble to bring in three more lines, for a total of twelve. I played it for a friend of mine and, when it was through, she said, 'That's very beautiful; what are the other eleven parts going to be like?' And I thought that was an interesting misunderstanding and decided to take it as a challenge and go ahead and compose eleven more parts." (Tim Page)

Quelle: www.philipglass.com