Aleck Karis - Piano Music of Philip Glass (2000)

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Aleck Karis - Piano Music of Philip Glass (2000)

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This CD presents several piano works by Philip Glass, played with grace and enthusiasm by Aleck Karis. Wichita Vortex Sutra (1988) was inspired by the poem of the same title by Allen Ginsburg from 1966, which alternates between images of a road across the U.S. and a protest against the war in Vietnam. The basis of the music is a simple Protestant-like hymn tune with chromatic passing tones. This is treated to rhythmic syncopation and, at other times, is surrounded by quickly arpeggiated patterns. The Metamorphosis (1988), with the title from Kafka's famous work, is in five movements. Each movement has simple melodies and a simple set of chords, usually four in number, with chromatic changes between them. These "changes" happen through the addition of a chord or other simple alteration. The pieces are moved along to the accompaniment of a plain two-note rotating figure. In Mad Rush (1981), various doublings and polyrhythms are superimposed and then subtracted at various points, which gives a rushing or slowing effect without any actual change in tempo. Opening (1982) is similar to other Glass pieces with flowing rhythms, but has a rich series of quite lovely chord progressions. The concluding Modern Love Waltz (1977) has an arpeggio-like melody over a Spanish fandango-like alternation of two major chords up and down a minor second (A major to B flat major).

Review by "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Allmusic.com

It’s difficult to dispute the charge that so much of Glass’ music sounds the same–a phenomenon distinct from claiming that it shows the composer’s personal style. For example, many (but not all) of the pieces on this disc begin with a simple pulsation in the right hand, like a slow treble version of an Alberti bass, followed by a dark chord in the left. But there’s more variety here than meets the eye, particularly in the five-movement work called Metamorphosis, where the whole point isn’t how the piece starts, but rather how the music develops (differently in each movement, as it turns out). Mad Rush also moves from its typically Glassian opening to become something quite individual, and I particularly enjoyed the disc’s opener: Wichita Vortex Sutra, a work that somehow does manage to suggest a sort of East/West confrontation along the lines of Alan Ginsberg’s eponymous poem. Aleck Karis, whose recording of Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Bridge remains a personal favorite, knows how to direct the listener’s attention to the steady transformation of simple melodic and harmonic ideas that governs each work’s progress. His silky sonority and solid sense of rhythm consistently beguile the ear, and the final result, gorgeously recorded, makes the best possible case for this obstinately seductive music.

Review by David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Aleck Karis - Piano Music of Philip Glass (2000)

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Aleck Karis - Piano Music of Philip Glass (2000)

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Aleck Karis - Piano Music of Philip Glass (2000)

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