Philip Glass

Featuring: Dedalus Ensemble

A foundational work in the history of minimalism, Music with Changing Parts marked a crucial turning point in Philip Glass’s early compositional development. Composed in 1970 and based on a series of shifting melodic fragments, the piece invites performers to freely choose between eight staves, resulting in a constantly evolving texture of rhythm and tone. This new interpretation by the Dedalus Ensemble embraces the work’s utopian openness. Using a layered recording process—first capturing the eighth-note sequences, then the long-tone resonances—this version highlights the psychoacoustic phenomenon at the heart of the score: how identical notes played across instruments can create shimmering harmonic overtones. The result is a sonic paradox—music that evolves without moving, and transforms without ever breaking its own rules.

This edition not only reveals the structural brilliance of the work but also its unexpected sensuality: a hypnotic interplay of pulse, resonance, and color that laid the groundwork for Glass’s later masterpieces like Music in Twelve Parts and Einstein on the Beach. A masterful realization of a timeless piece.