I’ve long eschewed the music of Philip Glass, in part because it’s always sounded so…pedestrian. He’s the classical-music composer you listen to if you don’t like classical music; the minimalist who represents everything that’s wrong with minimalism. (Yeah, I know: it’s pure snobbery on my part. Whatever.)
So how’d I end up purchasing this? Two reasons: (1) pianist Bruce Brubaker, who regular readers may remember from Part 1 of 2014’s The Year in Music, and (2) this NPR story, which lets you listen to all 17 minutes of “Mad Rush,” the centerpiece of the album.
While I’m not quite ready to join the Philip Glass Fan Club, I have to admit that Brubaker’s contemplative approach to the music—not to mention the intimate quality of the recording (every once in a while you hear the unmistakable creak of wood, presumably from Brubaker’s piano stool)—have me reaching for Glass Piano far more than I ever thought I would.
Need more convincing? Take a listen to “Metamorphosis 2” and tell me it isn’t breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity.
