Glass: The Civil Wars - A Tree is Best Measured When it is Down

I haven't really been a fan of Philip Glass before, but I have to admit that Civil WarS is a hugely enjoyable work. It opens with a mesmerizing, surging movement where dramatic, typically Glassian brass and arpeggio strings give way to floating, almost otherworldly vocal lines (mezzo-soprano, soprano and baritone). Scene A starts out as a mock battle march and develops from there, while scene B applies Glassian treatment to a spiritual-like theme overlaid by `war narratives' spoken by Robert E. Lee with singing responses from Mary Todd Lincoln. Scene C returns to material from the introduction, opening with a quietly running syncopated rhythmical figures in the strings accompanying a transfigured, broken fanfare-like theme in the trumpets. This turns into a confused (or stream-of-consciousness) narrative by Mary Todd Lincoln, then evolves into a solemn, hymn-like octet "of gods and heroes" ending in "sounds of nature" (complete with samples of animal sounds). The end result is one of Glass's strongest works - although it is more a cantata than an actual opera) - a surging, haunting score, excellently performed and recorded. Enthusiastically recommended.

I should have reviewed this more carefully; somehow I missed that it was mostly operatic. So the 3 stars is not really a commentary on the quality of the music. I'd heard a sampling on our classical station, but they only played an instrumental section. I'm not qualified to comment on anything operatic, but I do like Phillip Glass. I'll need to check out some of his other albums to find what is more to my tastes. I only write this to let others know that it is opera, in case they also do not care for opera.

I consider this work as one of the best works of Glass if one agrees with the narrative parts.This intriguing "Rome section" of a grander theatrical global project around the L.A. Olympic Games makes me long for the other parts that have not made it on CD as the project collapsed due to lack of funding.

Just wish there was a complete recording available, but this excerpt is quite wonderful.

I first encountered Philip Glass when I saw a trailer for the film "Koyannisqatsi" years and years ago, at the Vallhalla Theatre in Sydney, Australia. I was like a rabbit in the headlights when the first notes of the organ struck. To a large extent, nothing has changed since then. I still listen to everything the man produces but take rather a lot of care to not let minutae and pedantry get in the way of the impact of the music. In this way, I suppose, I prefer "Akhnaten" to "Music In Twelve Parts" and "Einstein on the Beach" to "1000 Aeroplanes on the Roof." Now that you have a clue where I am coming from...I think that "The Civil Wars" is easily the best thing that Philip Glass has ever made. It has the emotional impact of "Akhnaten" and "Einstein" the philosophy behind "Satyagraha" and the music is consistently as beautiful as the best parts of those operas, but is condensed into an astonishingly short (chronological) time frame. By this I mean that I will happily listen to "CIvil Wars" right through, in one sitting, and find when it finishes that I feel like I have been away from my life for weeks or months and that I have learnt things that I will never be able to put into words.To say that i think that it is "good" would be a thorough-going understatement. I laugh out loud occasionally during it and usually, at other points, I cry. I have listened to it about once a month every month or so since 1999 and I would be hard put to tell you which bits are "funny" or why I cry. The music is like a dream, which enfolds me while I listen to it, and then fades as normal life reasserts itself.As far as I am concerned, this is the best of all Philip Glass' works and that means that while it is definitely not for everyone, it is the best, of the very, very, best.

A beautiful piece of music, well recorded. The backstory of this piece is still not clear to me, but it's pretty and thoughtful, and I find myself reaching for it more often than I would have expected. Recommended for Glass fans.

Contrary to what one reviewer said, when Glass wrote this opera, it still was the 80's. 1984 to be precise. The narration is slightly annoying, if you are purely interested in the music, but it wasn't meant to be just another opera either. This opera is, I believe, more Robert Wilson, the librettest, than Philip Glass. This was Wilson's dream opera, and Glass stepped in to fill the role of composer. The narration parts, like Einstein, are Wilson's touch. I thought I would clarify that from the earlier review.This music does sound like typical Glass, though. I had already purchased his Symphony No. 5, and that is what this opera reminded me most of, although Symphony No. 5 was written after The Civil warS. If you are familiar with Koyaanisqatsi, The Photographer or Ahknaten, this opera comes from the same time period in Glass's developement. This happens to be my favorite time period of his work, so I was thrilled when I first heard the music.Mostly the work is a series of repeating major and minor arpeggios with changing tonal center and orchestration. Although this sounds simple, it is anything but. It stays fresh the whole time, and if you are like me, when it does finally end, you are left wanting more and more repetition, not because Glass didn't offer enough, but because the repetitions become so addictive.I highly recommend this for any Glass fan who wants to get a closer look at Glass's operas without having to pay for any of his other pricier ones.