Philip Glass - Dance Nos. 1-5 (rec. 1979-86, rel. 1988)

In the aftermath of Einstein On The Beach's success and initial LP release, Philip Glass composed three 'Dances' for friend and choreographer Lucinda Childs, to be performed by his regular small ensemble.  Two of these, numbered 1 and 3, would comprise the follow-up to Einstein in Glass' discography (see LP cover below), and the remaining one would eventually be recorded in 1984 and appear as the closer to the 3LP/2CD set Dance Nos. 1-5 that was released in 1988.

Dance Nos. 1-5, which is today's post, interspersed these odd-numbered ensemble pieces with two solo organ works recorded in 1986.  Of these, Dance No. 4 became the best known and has been given several interpretations, including my personal favourite by Christopher Bowers-Broadbent.  The original take here, performed by the composer, is less grandiose and a bit more slow and deliberate, highlighting the gradual progression in the structure of the piece.  Dance No. 2, performed here by Michael Riesman, is an electric organ piece of similar length but closer in conception to the music of Einstein On The Beach, as if a piece from the opera had been stripped of all instruments but the keyboard.

Closer still to the sound of Einstein, and in some ways prefiguring Koyaanisqatsi, are Dances 1, 3 and 5.  Dance No. 1 is a flowing, rippling ocean of flutes and piccolo; No. 3 a chunkier, funkier sax-led work that is lots of fun to listen to.  Lastly, Dance No. 5 is a best-of-both-worlds that combines flute and sax, and has some structural similarities to the organ piece, No. 2.  All in all, an essential collection in Glass' discography for anyone wanting to tour the waystations between his most famous works of the late 70s through to late 80s.

Dance Nos. 1 & 3 - LP cover (1980)

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link