Customer Reviews

Glass: Solo Piano

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the perfect introduction to music of Glass. Featuring his hallmark pounding chords and rippling arpeggios, this is also richly harmonic and among the composers most accesible albums. Reminiscent of Satie, but still uniquely Glass, this is a bracing, deeply evocative listening experience.

If you like Glass you'll love this. If you're a newcomer, this could be the perfect introduction to the preeminent composer of his generation.

If you like piano I would thoroughly recommend this album. The best comparison for this music is Satie. The pieces are simple but melodious. Philip Glass has been categorised as 'minimalist' but this is only partly true, in that, the tunes are repetitive but have great rhythm. I've waited ages for this album to be re-released - and now it has I'm more than pleased.

Solo Piano represents some of the more minimal work of Philip Glass. Very different in feel to say Powaqattsi or some of his other film scores this bears more resemblance to the soundtrack to The Hours. In fact part Two of Metamorphosis formed basis of the main theme from this soundtrack.

Whilst themeatically repetative throughout the CD, the various compositions were produced for different occasions, and collated on this album; Metamorphosis takes it's name from a play based on Kafka's short story. Parts Three and Four were written as accompaniment to the play, and parts One and Two use themes from Glass' soundtrack to The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris. The piece Mad Rush was written for the Dalai Lama's public appearance in 1981 in New York for his entrance into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine played by Glass on the organ reinterpreted on this album for piano.

Metamorphosis sets the compositional style of the album with a recurring theme that is continued throughout all of the pieces. As the piece develops the complexity of the music increases. Rolling arpeggios are added to the main theme in Metamorphosis Two, and in Metamorphosis Three heavy yet refined chords are projected over the lulling main theme. Metamorphosis Four adds further complexity to the main theme reprising the rolling arpeggios as well as the chords from Two, which come across as stronger elements within the piece. Metamorphosis Five reprises Metamorphosis One yet the sound of the piano is dampened conveying a greater sense of simplicity and calm to the piece. The two pieces enclose the composition thematically and typify the change of mood throughout, finishing with little sense of relief.

Mad Rush continues the theme from Metamorphosis One yet as it develops it has a greater sense of power and the piece cascades feeling at some points like it is trying to overtake itself in some way. The main recurring theme however steps back in at these points providing a point of safety within the composition for the listener; the piece does not feel like it is going to quite fulfill itself. Themes from Metamorphosis are brought back including the rolling arpeggios, but with an added sense of urgency in this piece. Mad Rush does however not simply reuse old themes from Metamorphosis but creates themes of its own at certain points which are developed. The piece finishes with a similar feeling to the start having left behind the urgency of the middle part of the composition. To me this is the most successful composition on the album yet without the support of the other pieces may not recreate the same emotional response from the listener if heard in isolation.

Wichita Sutra Vortex begins with a new series of chord changes yet falls back in to the alternating notes of the main theme throughout the piece. The composition once again reinterprets some of the earlier themes from the previous parts of the album, but with a similar urgency to Mad Rush as well as a slight feeling of anger in the tempo of the chords. I feel that for the closing piece of the album, Wichita Sutra Vortex could provide an emotional response as strong as Mad Rush, and this feels to me like the weakest part of the album.

From what I have heard of Philip Glass' work this for me includes some of his best work. It is incredibly powerful yet with a subtelty which I have yet to hear elsewhere. Listened to in the right atmosphere this album will really take you on a journey for 50 minutes which will somehow seem different every time. The fact that the composer is the performer on the album allows the listener to experience exactly what Glass wanted, and the simplicity of the music allows the performer to play the composition exactly how he feels it should be without too much technical difficulty. The music also allows itself to be heard incidental to something else as originally written and provides beautiful background music to the right type of literature.

The album at times feels dark yet allows this to be released at times with the themes which run through all of the compositions, and it is this emotion with allows the repetitive nature of the music to not become stale. A brilliant composition and a perfect introduction to the work of Philip Glass.

If you're a Glass fan, simply go ahead and buy this album, secure in the knowledge that these are haunting, memorable scores. The insistent pulse, overlaid by the slow rolling refrain of melody, and 'hooks' which lodge deep inside your psyche (I've just returned from an hour's riverbank walk with my dog, and echoes of Glass' melodies inside my head appeared to mirror the incoming tide by my feet, all the time I was out). This is music of sufficient depth/complexity to make it difficult to believe we're only listening to piano (an instrument which can overstay its welcome for me, unless it's Keith Jarrett).If you're new to Glass, have a listen to the samples, then decide, but be warned: he can prove very addictive if you have ears to hear!

For an intermediate pianist (anywhere beyond beginner) like myself, this music is a gift. Tuneful, relatively easy to learn and play, it gives you an insight into the preoccupations of those post-serial composers (Adams, Reich and Glass) who returned to tonality through an emphatic repetition of basic harmonies. Rather than avoiding simplicity and repetition, this music revels in them. Playing it yourself is like enjoying a familiar journey, knowing where you're going all the time. It's perfect commuter (train) music , transforming the daily repetition into a dreamscape. The haunting Metamorphoses were written originally for Errol Morris's film, The Thin Blue Line. The score of all the pieces on this disc is published by Chester Music. Philip Glass's own versions are a lesson and an inspiration for DIY pianists.

This is truly a fantastic album, and a great introduction to arguably the greatest living composer.

As the title suggests, it's just Glass and his piano playing, so don't expect any sweeping strings or other instruments at all. The pace of the album is brilliant, with each of the pieces sounding like a more complex version of the last (which essentially they are), ranging from the very simple Metamorphosis One through to Four (Five is simply One with slightly different use of the pedals) and onto the last two tracks which follow a similar pattern.

Don't expect this to be like Beethoven or Chopin, it is repetitive and certainly far simpler musically, but I've found it to be an album for almost any mood - a lazy summer afternoon, lying in bed trying to sleep, working, I pretty much haven't found a situation where I listen to this and want to prematurely stop the album.

This is definitely worth the buy, and I would recommend trying out some more Glass if you are a fan.

Glass is a minimalist, and this album is more minimal than much of his work. This album isn't your average piano concerto, it's repetitive, rhythmic and hauntingly beautiful in Glass's inimical style. If you're already a Glass fan you will love this. If you're not, you may or you may not. It's my personal favourite Glass album.

Metamorphosis is a masterpiece. All five songs leave you breathless. Would not suit people with prejudices on what classical music has to be. This is purely expressive, sad, and devastating but quiet melodies, where simplicity and minimalism were meant to be.

I can only take so much glass at any one sitting - even though I am a huge fan. If you like his piano music then buy this CD but I prefer to mix my Glass, adding a dash of instrumental or vocal with the solo piano work.

I like most, if not all, of Glass's work and particularly those for piano;No criticism can be made of recording or reproduction of the disc.
The seven works consist of 5 Metamorphoses followed by Mad Rush and Wichita Vortex Sutra.Each tells its own story (and the cover note explains Glass's reasons)
I found the last two works extremely exciting and am glad I bought this purely in order to have these two!