I was first turned on to Phillip Glass when I was taking an Eastern philosophy class and I was studying how some of those concepts have transitioned into western culture. My professor played us ‘Pieces in the Shape of a Square’ to show us an example of minimalism. I can’t tell you what was going through my head at that time, but I do know that eventually that song crept up on my playlist until it became a regular on my frequent road trips.

Phillip Glass’s music, although always minimalist, spans multiple forms of Classical composition and styling. Those styles include string quartets, symphonies, operas as well as experimental form compositions. It’s hard to pigeon hole much of his work, especially his work, ‘Music in Twelve Parts.’ Featured as one of several performances over the course of the weekend at the Park Avenue Armory’s, ‘Tune-In Music Festival,’ it was the only one to feature Mr. Glass himself perform, it was the one I attended and reviewed.

Staged in the massive Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory, the performance was made much more intimate by the actual on-floor seating and bleacher seats with comfortable chairs. (Those lucky enough to be on the floor had back cushions and carpet. Most of them kicked of their shoes and stretched out). The whole performance aspect of the show took up half of the massive drill hall while the other half was devoted to the optional dinning package (which I did not partake in). 

The music itself was note-for-note accurate to the recorded version but much larger. There is no sound system in the world that can reproduce this feeling, its not like having a Hi-Fi and blasting your favorite rock show, it was much more. The cavernous room was perfect. It allowed the woodwinds and brass to extend but not reverb as the stadium seating and rafters prevented such a phenomena from happening. This performance is distinct from many others of this nature as electronic organs were instrumental (pun intended) to the sound. The three keyboards, one of which played by Mr. Glass himself, along with the vocals were piped through 12 speakers evenly spaces around a 180 degree semi circle several feet above floor. This arrangement insured that  intricate patterns were delivered to the listeners ears on time with the live instruments.

For  the most part, the, music is indescribable but the theory behind it is not. Similar to a lot of minimalism, there are many overlaying layers of counterpoint comprised of developing patterns. These patterns develop can manifest so slowly that listening casually, the impact is mostly lost. The most interesting thing about seeing the music live is the amount of instruments there were. Listening to the recording I could only discern two saxophones and two organs where as there are actually four and two respectively.

Even though this music is challenging, whether actively listening or not, one will find themselves in a meditative trance. In such a setting, one would find oneself with no other mental faculties available to him/her whilelistening to the music other than to focus on the music. Hence, either complete absorption in the music or complete detachment from reality. The minimal visuals add to this detachment by setting a mood for each part and softly changing as a theme develops. Consisting of a large white screen awash in LED lights with cloud like accents, the screen provided both a backdrop and separation in the large Drill Hall. 

The entirety of the event was approximately five hours but there were several brief intermissions and a single one-hour dinner break. It was a breathtaking experience, one I would recommend for anyone to partake in as it would have a different affect, whether one is familiar with Mr. Glass’s work or not. But, I would not do it again, it was challenging, to sit through, and admittedly my mental focus swayed from complete detachment to complete absorption quite frequently.