Title: Early Voices Artist: Philip Glass Release Date: 4/2002 Label: Orange Mountain Music Duration: 63:36 Album Type(s): Avant-garde, Instrumental UPCs: 801837000429, 766488767421 Genre: Classical Moods: Ambitious, Cerebral, Circular, Epic, Complex, Elegant, Restrained, Sophisticated, Uncompromising, Calm/Peaceful, Reserved Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Music for Voices
2. Another Look at Harmony, Pt. 4

Year Type Label Catalog # 2003 CD Orange Mountain Music 4

No other editions were found for this album.

Philip Glass is an acquired taste. Particularly in some of his earliest works, Glass stripped his compositions down to such a minimal level that it's hard for casual listeners to appreciate. One of the pieces on this album, for instance, Music for Voices, is definitely not for the squeamish. Composed in 1970 and recorded live at the Paula Cooper Gallery in 1972 (accounting for the somewhat hissy sound) Music for Voices is exactly that: eight a cappella voices chanting solfa in repeated patterns, slowly varying the dynamics and rhythms. In the right frame of mind, this hypnotic humming can be affecting and mesmerizing. It can also be incredibly annoying. Dedicated fans of the composer's earliest works will be fascinated by this raw piece. The second composition on the CD, however, holds a broader appeal while still retaining a "stripped-down" approach. Another Look at Harmony, Pt. 4 features the much more familiar setting of chorus against electric organ (played, as usual, by longtime Glass collaborator Michael Riesman), recorded in 1989 with a resultant cleaner and more immediate sound. Similar in feel to Glass' early operas and parts of his landmark score for the film Koyaanisqatsi, Another Look at Harmony, Pt. 4 finds Glass moving beyond his Music in Twelve Parts to further explore his approach to harmony. The result is a transcendent piece worthy of dedicated listening time. This second piece makes the CD worth investigating for Glass fans. ~ Neil Shurley, All Music Guide

Name Credits Albert DeRuiter Group Member, Bass Dawn Grey Voices Don Christensen Liner Notes Elliot Levine Group Member, Baritone Jeff Bingham Voices JoAnne Akalatis Voices Johanna Arnold Soprano, Group Member Kurt Munkasci Producer, Engineer Lawrence Bennet Group Member, Tenor (Vocal) Mabou Mines Voices Mary Ann Hart Group Member, Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal) Michael Riesman Group Member, Organ, Producer, Conductor Pamela Fitzgerald Voices Philip Glass Main Performer Ruth Maleczech Voices Tom Cathcart Voices Western Wind Voices William Lyon Lee Group Member, Sax (Tenor) William Zukof Counter Tenor (Vocal), Group Member