** condition: NM/EX- **  Side One: "Music In Similar Motion”, features all stars Steve Chambers, Electric Organ; Jon Gibson, Soprano Saxophone; Philip Glass, Electric Organ; Richard Landry, Soprano Saxophone; Art Murphy, Electric Organ; Robert Prado, Flute. The real innovation in “Similar Motion” is its sense of drama. The earlier pieces were meditative, steady-state pieces that established a mood and stayed there. But “Similar Motion” starts with one voice, then adds another playing a fourth above the original line, and then another playing a fourth below the original line, and finally a last line kicks in to complete the sound. As each new voice enters, there is a dramatic change in the music.
“Music in Similar Motion” is one of Philip Glass’ early minimalist works. Written in 1969 for the Philip Glass Ensemble, these early works tend to be far more radical than the expressive language he is noted for today. The title “Music in Similar Motion” describes exactly what happens in the piece: musical lines always move in the same melodic direction although not always in parallel intervals. The melodies are constructed as cells that are repeated ad lib until one of the musicians gives a small cue to move onto the next cell. The constant repetitive and static nature of the harmony, color, dynamics and tempo draws the listeners’ attention to what does change in the work: rhythm. Glass’ approach to rhythmic processes stemmed from an interest in Indian music. Instead of rhythms that emerge out of regular patterns of repeating accents, such as are found in European-derived classical and popular music, Glass builds his piece from short rhythmic units which are added to each other, as he says, “in western music we divide time, as you slice a loaf of bread. Indian music takes small units, or ‘beats’ and strings them together to make up larger time values.”
Side Two: "Music In Fifths”, features the trio of Philip Glass on Electric Organ, Richard Landry and Jon Gibson both on Soprano Saxophone. “Music in Fifths” (1969) is in “closed form”, a predetermined structure that ends when the accumulation of repetitions fill it out completely. Glass has always considered “Music in Fifths” a sort of teasing homage to Boulanger; it is written entirely in parallel fifths, a cardinal sin in the traditional counterpoint his teacher so carefully instructed.