The early, radical pieces by Philip Glass always tend to divide the public into two camps on their (quite rare) performances: some listen as if spellbound and open themselves up to the hypnotic, trance-like effect of the music, while others are bored and annoyed by the endless, inane repetitions.
In contrast to his later great compositions for music theater, which usually come across as quite pleasing and varied, these early pieces by Glass seem quite archaic in their uniform coloration and monotony. They show us minimalism, so to speak, in statu nascendi.
Together with LaMonte Young, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley, Philip Glass belongs to the co-founders of minimal music. - Excerpt from Steffen Schleiermacher's notes. |