The divergent paths chosen by minimalism's pioneers in later life are endlessly fascinating. Philip Glass has chosen to interpret minimalism in the most populist way, finding widespread performances for many of his ten concertos for solo instrument and orchestra. Whether or not you like these works is likely to depend on what you thought of Glass in the first place, but what's intriguing about them is the way they derive the impression of historical styles from Glass' basic arpeggios and large areas of harmonic stasis. ...
Read More
The divergent paths chosen by minimalism's pioneers in later life are endlessly fascinating. Philip Glass has chosen to interpret minimalism in the most populist way, finding widespread performances for many of his ten concertos for solo instrument and orchestra. Whether or not you like these works is likely to depend on what you thought of Glass in the first place, but what's intriguing about them is the way they derive the impression of historical styles from Glass' basic arpeggios and large areas of harmonic stasis. Several of the concertos have explored the affinity between minimalism and the Baroque; this cello concerto is a nifty three-movement work in which late Romantic style -- think Dvorák -- is drawn out of typical Glass material in several different ways. Sample the opening movement, where the cello part (mostly intertwined with the orchestra rather than aggressively soloistic) evolves from arpeggio into melody, punctuated by stopping points and various gestures. This concerto had the bad...
Read Less