Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times. http://www.myspace.com/philipglass
Written between 1971 and 1974, Music In Twelve Parts has been declared by Glass himself to contain “many of the structural and harmonic ideas that would be fleshed out in my later works.” This music can be viewed as a modular entity, effectively cataloguing the various repetitive strategies that made up Glass’ minimalist armoury up to that point in his career. Music In Twelve Parts remains the lengthiest concert piece in the Philip Glass Ensemble’s repertoire – an exhausting experience for listener and musician alike, testing endurance over the course of protracted, real time loops that evolve and mutate with a bewildering complexity. At times these recordings sound machine-like rather than in any way attributable to human beings. Buy it here
