John Adams - Shaker Loops/Light Over Water (1987 compi, rec. 1979 & 1983)

Early Adams at his hypnotic best, starting in 1979 with his well-known Shaker Loops in its original score for string septet.  Starting life as a piece called Wavemaker, intended to evoke a ripple effect on a body of water, it was retitled both in reference to the shaking effect of the strings and the ecstatic dancing of the Shaker sect.  Compare & contrast with the through-composed (the original here has a modular score), orchestrated version that had its recorded premiere under Edo DeWaart - links below.

This compilation pairs the original Shaker Loops with a 1983 dance commission, for Lucinda Childs' Available Light.  The music, which Adams titled Light Over Water, was originally released on its own LP in 1985, and to my ears is the Adams work that sounds closest to Philip Glass.  Much of this is due to the kind of music the dance work required, in a continuous arch rather than in small discrete movements. 

Adams also used synths as the primary instruments, then fleshed out the 46-minute piece with judicious use of a brass septet, to act as "the music's shadow".  For a much more in-depth discussion of Light Over Water, and Adams' relationship to electronic music, there's a great piece by Ingram Marshall here.  Adams might have found this a daunting commission, and wasn't a huge fan of working electronically, but the results were sublime.  Highly recommended.

link
pw: sgtg

John Adams at SGTG:
The orchestral version of Shaker Loops
Grand Pianola Music 
The Chairman Dances, etc
Road Movies, etc
Harmonium etc (scroll past main post)