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 enlarge | Creators: Philip Glass, Philip Glass Ensemble
Label: Orange Mountain Music
Category: Music
List Price: $21.99
Buy New: $19.14
You Save: $2.85 (13%)
New (26) Used (6) from $19.14
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 35895
Format: Box Set, Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 4
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9
MPN: 49
UPC: 801837004922
EAN: 8018370049224
ASIN: B001BXSJRQ
Release Date: July 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Can get a bit dull, but well worth a listen. March 30, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I always seem to discover something new each time I put one of these discs in. Repetitive, mathematical, and frenetic. Great background music.
If I had a gripe it would be that after a while, this type of minimalist music gets a little monotonous. I haven't yet been able to make it through all 12 parts without taking a break.
If you like this CD set, I'd recommend "The Continuing Story Of Counterpoint" by David Borden. It has a bit more variety.
 One of Two Masterpieces December 14, 2005
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Most composers are lucky to have one masterpiece; Philip Glass has the good fortune to have two: "Music in Twelve Parts" and "Einstein on the Beach."
As good as (but different than) the older recording March 11, 2005
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is absolutely top-notch fantastic music.
It is as good as, but different than, the older recording of these pieces, in my opinion. The technology and performance virtuousity are improved over the original recording, but there is also some heart and soul lost, compared to the original.
In this regard it is similar to the newer recording of "Einstein on the Beach", compared to the original recording of that work.
Both the original and the newer one stand on their own, for different reasons, with different relative strengths and weaknesses.
I would definitely get both; I listen to both and enjoy both.
buy now January 24, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
i think the problem most people have with this set, and minimalist music in general, is that they don't understand the function of repetition in it. in typical western music, repetition is used to emphasize the contrast that follows it. in my opinion, repetition is used here to emphasize the motion and contour of the music, and in that sense i find this music very fun and exciting. it is also used so that you can hear everything that's going on in the music: it gives you time to mentally dissect all of the processes that are unfolding before you.
that being said, i love this set, and i don't think there is a single weak point in it. i think it is easily philip glass' best work (koyaanisqatsi coming in second, and for the record, theres hardly anything else of his that i like after music in twelve parts). it is exhilarating, entrancing, and beautiful music. it isn't beautiful in a dramatic sense, but you have to learn to appreciate this kind of pulsing, meditative beauty. this is my favorite "minimalist" (if you want to call it that) work, but if you like this id also strongly recommend the other big three in minimalism: steve reich, la monte young, and terry riley. oh, and as far as the issue of listening to this goes, i find that its best if i turn the music off when i start to get impatient. which can be after one track, or after the whole set is done with, depending on my mood (but usually at least 4 or 5 parts, i dont find it to be an endurance test at all).
give this a listen, it will change your perception of music if you are willing to let it.
A Music of Warmly Hypnotic Repetitive Structures January 1, 2004
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
The Philip Glass Ensemble was formed in 1968, because as Glass recalls, "I needed to have a consistent group of musicians to develop a new technical way of playing". "Music with Twelve Parts" was completed between the years 1971 and 1974. The work's compositional structure embodies all of the warmly hypnotic elements of Mr. Glass's new musical language. Indeed, early performances of the piece tested the ensemble player's physical and psychological perseverance.This magisterial three-disc set was recorded over a period of four months, during the year 1993. Though there have been subtle changes in the personnel of Mr. Glass's ensemble over the years, there have now been close to twenty years of performance experience with the twelve individual sections of the work. Or as Glass puts it: "Now we know the language and we're fluent in it". An epochal three hour and twenty-six minute work, "Music with Twelve Parts" is intended to be heard in one sitting, without distractions of any kind. Indeed, preparing a time and place for such an intensive immersion, in this day and age, can be seen to be a type of rarefied art work, all on its own. In 1968, as Glass fondly recalls, "it was easy to find people to listen to this music every Thursday night, because nobody had anything else to do anyway". In early days of 2004, however, listening to this ecstatic work, with its systematic augmentation and contraction of harmony, is Glass's way of "making serious fun not only with other people, but with myself as well". "Music with Twelve Parts" is a compelling and original musical statement that will inspire earnest listeners for many years to come.
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