Unlike his contemporary and fellow minimalist Michael Nyman, Philip Glass writes only a select few film scores - most notably for Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi trilogy. He has composed music in almost every genre, including operas, symphonies, concertos and of course, film scores. The main meat of this disc is his violin concerto, but it is surrounded by the brief Company and excerpts from his opera Akhnaten. Company is "a dark work in four short movements originally used in a staged soliloquy on the subject of death." Fun for all the family then. Rather than writing overtly gloomy music, Glass merely concentrates on minor key arpeggios and lets only a little music light into the short movements. Not exactly a substantial piece, but certainly a prototypical one.

It would perhaps be a touch cruel to comment that a Glass Violin Concerto only goes to show the technically prowess of the soloist in his or her ability to play arpeggios. To be honest, this is certainly partially true of the first movement, which very much echoes the Qatsi scores, although the solo line isn't substantially more challenging than the orchestral part. However, during the slower second movement the soloist's line is slower and more lyrical, but the string backing pulses around to keep up the momentum. The technical challenge for the soloist increases with the closing movement as the tempo returns to that of the first movement, but the soloist's part demands even faster machinations over the top. The frequent and abrupt changes in dynamic certainly bring the concerto to life for an exciting conclusion.

The Prelude from Akhnaten is some way off Wagner or Verdi in its ability to stand alone, although in performance, it has dialogue over it, which probably explains its relatively mundane nature. However, the Dance is much more interesting with its portentous, brassy opening and shimmering strings. The Ulster Orchestra under the baton of Takuo Yuasa perform splendidly, as does soloist Adele Anthony. Despite bursts of energy in the later movement, the solo part of the concerto doesn't appear to be considerably more taxing than the first violin part in the orchestra, but Anthony's skill becomes self evident in the much more demanding final movement. Even though minimalism is inherently repetitive, the dominant string textures are less colourful than Glass' film scores. For that reason, although the style is overall very similar, some may find these works a little harder going than his film music, but are still well worth checking out.

Rating ~

Company
1. I (2:33)
2. II (1:54)
3. III (1:48)
4. IV (2:30)
   Violin Concerto
5. I (6:42)
6. II (8:31)
7. III (9:20)
   Akhnaten
8. Prelude (12:14)
9. Dance (Act II Scene III) (5:35)

Total Time ~ 51:46