Glassworks Philip Glass

“The usual stuff is here: arpeggio versus ostinato, ostinato versus arpeggio. And as always, the Philip Glass Ensemble’s synthesizers double their woodwinds. But Glassworks is the most pleasant craftwork ever from the great minimalist exploiter – six warm pieces that approach the spirit of minimalist pioneer Erik Satie. Only instead of Satie’s lyrical-to-antic jumps, Glass creates the ruminative-to-excitable kind. Glassworks is tuneful in the most pleasingly direct sense – the arrangements define the melodies so cleanly they’re instantly memorable. In addition, the album is programmed with a particular shape in mind. It’s kind of a waveform, where every other relaxed melody is upset by a classic Glass rush. Most of the time, harmonies bob around in the strings and woodwinds, though Jon Gibson’s soprano sax glides atop “Facades.” “Closing,” based on “Opening” (funny), contains his second prettiest orchestration after the finale of Satyagraha.” - John Young, AllMusic