Album of the Day: Philip Glass, “Two Pages”

Philip Glass
“Two Pages” (Cd Nonesuch 979326-2)

Opposed and derided by the historical avant-gardes for decades, minimalism now seems to have taken complete revenge
having undoubtedly become one of the most influential and popular stylistic currents of today’s music scene.
Philip Glass’s works from the ’60s present in this album, admirably performed by the ensemble he founded and directed, belong to the origins of this style; they are pages that do not present any of the European influences (or of the great classical tradition) that will be present, with decidedly alternating results, in the subsequent works of this composer, and possess a decidedly radical attitude in the expression of their ideas.

Through continuous use of repetition Glass and his colleagues, such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, were able to change the
temporal structure of music, expanding its boundaries to the extreme through an aesthetic that on the one hand rejected serial academicism and sentimental trivialities, and on the other looked with extreme interest at non-European musical cultures, such as India and Africa, rethinking in an autonomous way many of the expressive and compositional parameters of those millenary traditions.

“Two Pages”, “Music in Fifhts”, “Contrary Motion” and “Music in Similar Motion” are austere, demanding pages, which allow absolutely nothing for easy listening and make a clean sweep of almost the entire Western tradition of music listening, trying to redefine the very concept of composition with a visionary attitude.

Many people cannot bear for long the rhythmic and timbral uniformity of these scores, rigorously performed with strident electric organs, saxophones, flutes and voices (it is no coincidence that aesthetically polar opposite composers such as Petrassi and Menotti were united by their contempt for this music) ; still others listen to it in a superficially hypnotic way or try to explore its mathematical innervated structures, authentic musical equivalents of Sol LeWitt’s translucent surfaces or Yves Klein’s monochromes.

Whatever one’s personal opinion on this music, its historical importance is undeniable and its influence not only in the classical world but also in the pop/rock world has long been recognized (think of musicians like Eno, Bowie, Oldfield, etc.)

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.