Philip Glass – “Specific” Music

 

Philip Glass´ (31.01.1937 - ) music has also repetitions like Reich´s compositions but Glass´ music tells no narratives, it is not a story. This can be particularly seen in the composition “Part 10 of Music in Twelve Parts” (1990). The beginning of this “song” has repetitive characteristics and it also sounds not really special or unique. It quickly became clear to me that the difference to Steve Reich´s music was that the tones did not sound mysterious at all and no human voices were used in form of hums. The song was full of repetitions with slightly different tones, which got faster and faster over time until I was only able to hear two tones. Already at the beginning, I noticed that I did not really like this kind of music because I do not think that there is a real structure. Moreover, “Part 10 of Music in Twelve Parts” is not pleasant to listen to as it is also not melodic in my opinion. In the middle part of the song a deeper tone comes in and finally makes the song somewhat interesting. Although Glass´s songs have no narratives, “Part 10 of Music in Twelve Parts” reminded me of a certain movie sequence. The “song” could also be from a scene where a protagonist is being followed or something similar. Towards the end of the song, it sounds like the fictional character will soon reach his or her destination or get caught. I also noticed that the tones do not change much, only that some tones are added, but the main concept remains the same.

Even if the music of both composers (Steve Reich and Philip Glass) sound very similar, I like the music or rather the composition by Steve Reich better, because in my opinion, it sounded much more harmonious and more in line with what I prefer to listen to. I found Glass´ composition had more chaotic qualities that I do not like to hear in a piece of music. I think music should be relaxing, not tensing. Therefore, this “relaxation” was most evident in Reich´s “Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ”. However, even though I did not like Reich´s compositions a lot I preferred his composition over Aphex Twin´s original song, “Icct Hedral” (1995). Aphex Twin was inspired by Philip Glass´ music and created the song “Icct Hedral”. This song is a mix of Glass´ repetitions and some kind of heavy electronic music. I did not enjoy listening to this song as it was clearly not my style. It reminded me of the disco music of the early 20^th century. Philip Glass´ version of “Icct Hedral – Philip Glass Orchestral” was much more pleasant to listen to as there were no electronic parts of the original song included. It also seemed to me that in Glass´ version there was much more drama and temper which I found very appropriate. In my opinion, Glass´ version sounded better than the original piece. To recap, I believe that to be able to enjoy Philip Glass´ compositions you really have to be into this kind of music because it really is no mainstream music and has also no structure at all. Anyone who can get along well with this type of music and can even relax can listen to it without any problems.