Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass

A brilliant piece for the winter months

I have been a fan of Kronos Quartet since the early 90s. Pieces of Africa, Night Prayers, and Henryk Górecki: Already It Is Dusk (String Quartet No. 1, Op. 62)/ Quasi una Fantasia (String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64) are among my favorite. But Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass, is the most rejoicing, ironically festive and beautifully composed cd by them.

I purchased Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass when it was first released back in February 1995. Up here in Vermont, early February still means the dead of winter. I recall listening to Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass incessantly during that winter season, particularly on my long drives between school, work and home. I certainly still attribute this cd to sunny, but cold winter days, meandering through nameless roads. In fact, I'm not sure I could listen to it during the summer months, because the music itself connotes a wintery landscape--the hurried and ceaseless strings remind me of deer leaping across snow-covered fields. Unlike many of Kronos Quartet's cds that are rather avant garde, Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass is a lovely piece that delivers an unexpectedly light and linear flow throughout its entire audio composition--perfect for the long and dark Vermont winter months.



November 17, 2008

Mature Glass

I am befuddled by the negative reviews of this recording, just as I am befuddled by those who dismiss Glass, Reich and their peers as "Minimalists" as if their development had ended where it started. Both Reich and Glass are now mature and accomplished composers who have transformed the radical ideas of their youth into a rich and unique compositional language.

On this recording, Kronos show us just how involving and nuanced Glass's "repetitive" language can be. The Quartet #5 in particular is a masterpiece. Perhaps my favorite Glass composition. It is chock full of wonderful melodic and rhythmic ideas. Yes, the rhythmic and harmonic backdrop consists of relentless diatonic arpeggios, but the continual harmonic and dynamic modulations pull the listener along like a raft floating down a roiling river. Kronos renders the music with impeccable accuracy while filling every phrase with humanity and passion. Wonderful.

I give it 4 starts rather than 5 because the CD sound quality is good, but not excellent, and I don't find quartets 2 and 3 as utterly delightful as 4 and 5. March 30, 2007

Not much here

There's a common experience in listening to music in which as you become more familiar with someone's work, or with a particular genre, that you start to hear things you didn't hear intiially. Phillip Glass- and many of his minimalistic brethern, like Steve Reich- are the one counterexample; the more I listen to their music, the less I hear.

There was a time- in the 1980s- when I was a great fan of Phillip Glass. But the more albums I bought, the more it all started to blend into one long and irritating sequence. The patterns repet endlessly: loud/soft/loud/soft. Everything is forte or piano- there's no mezzo. The sequences of notes never change- endless streams of augmented and diminished triads, repeating over and over. It's like listening to a primative 1970s music sequencer.

The Kronos quartet deliver their usual technically flawless and dry performance. Certainly this group was meant to play the work of Glass- but for someone other than me. April 6, 2006

Enlightening

This album was my first approach to a minimalist composer, and I didn't exactly know what to expect. The first time I heard it I felt enlightened. I just had couldn't stop listening this piece of music. Beautiful, trancey, ethereal.

If you are looking for standard western classical music, with a strong sense of progression towards that "extacy" moment, you could feel dissapointed. But then again, if you want that...why get a minimalist composer's work? October 31, 2005

Minimalist Masterpiece

To quote Sherri "Altovoice" : "I can't believe anyone would rate this noise higher than a 1. If you like the sound of chainsaws needing servicing, then perhaps you'll enjoy this CD. My husband called it "sounds to fight with your spouse to".

All I can say is that she must have gotten a Slipknot CD in the Kronos case by mistake!

Yes, 'minimalism' isn't for everyone, and I would not recommend Glass to everyone, but for those who like both Kronos & Glass' work, this is a wonderful recording. Glass has built a career on repitition, taking a short melody or rhythm, and working it over and over, creating a trance-like music. There is immense beauty in this recording. The sound is bright & clear, with the performance spirited. This is perhaps both my favorite Kronos & Glass recording. Highly recommended. © 2005 Michael Bettine May 3, 2005

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