Music With Changing Parts
Philip Glass's early works have purely functional titles, and this one is no exception. His masterpiece in this repetitious and rigorously structural composition style--Music in Twelve Parts--may be just too much for some people to take. If so, then this disc may be just the ticket. Of course, Glass's many fans will snap it up as a matter of course, but as the title implies, there's somewhat more happening here than in his very first minimalist works--just enough so that newcomers to the style ought to find something to enjoy. An important disc, then, both as a milestone in the history of a major musical movement and a reminder of style that the composer has long since abandoned.--David Hurwitz