Naxos
2000
Glass: Violin concerto
About This Album
The musical style of Philip Glass (b. 1937) became widely recognizable by the 1990s, if not earlier. Many lesser composers imitated him (and still imitate him) and he has obviously become one of the more important figures in late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century music. He has more than a few detractors, though, who hear his music as unbearably repetitive and without sufficient development. The three works on this CD, all from the 1980s, reflect Glass' mature minimalist style, and, like much of his work, will fare better with certain listeners on first hearing than on subsequent ones.

The Violin Concerto was premiered by Paul Zukofsky in April, 1987, at a time when the composer was enjoying acclaim from the success of Satyagraha and Akhnaten, which both appeared earlier in the decade. The Concerto is a dramatic, intense work whose ever-active rhythms impart much tension and passion. That's hardly news in describing so many Glass works, but here it seems especially so. The slow second movement (which isn't so slow, actually, thanks to the busy rhythms) is haunting and atmospheric, and the finale contains probably the most compelling music in the work. At nine minutes and twenty seconds, it is the longest movement and sounds the most challenging to the soloist.
Track List

Company. For String Quartet/string Orchestra
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2.
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Violin Concerto
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7.
Akhnaten, Opera
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