It is always impressive to hear an ensemble that plays well together,
not only in terms of tonality, but also in tempo, and with sensitivity
to other aspects of performance. While that is expected of professional
musicians, it's surprising how often this is not the case on CDs.
Members of the Philip Glass Ensemble had been working with each other
and with the composer for a while and, therefore, perform Glass' music
quite competently. The pick-up orchestra members employed on the
Naqoyqatsi soundtrack should also get excellent marks. For that matter,
so should conductor Michael Riesman, who has worked on all three Qatsi
films. Even listeners who do not like Glass' music will admire the skill
it takes to clearly execute keep those repetive rhythms and tones. The
soloists, too, deserve praise. Ma plays in his usual musically sensitive
way: on one track, it is interesting to hear the vocal soloist match
timbre with the cello, sparking brief flashes where the two sound like
one. Although recording the parts separately and then tweaking and
mixing them back together could have "artificially" produced some of the
cohesion (in which case credit should go to the engineers and editors),
the musicians still deserve a lot of credit. Patsy Morita
Tracklist :
1 Naqoyqatsi 7:56
Bass Vocals – Al De Ruiter
2 Primacy Of Number 6:52
3 Massman 9:48
4 New World 3:04
5 Religion 9:01
Instruments [Mallet Instruments] – Sean McCaul
6 Media Weather 7:54
7 Old World 3:08
8 Intensive Time 8:09
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Alexandra Montano
9 Point Blank 11:17
Didgeridoo – Mark Atkins
10 The Vivid Unknown 7:08
11 Definition 2:50
Bass Vocals – Al De Ruiter
Credits :
Baritone Vocals – Paul Houghtaling
Bass Clarinet – Virgil Blackwell
Bass Trombone – Alan Raph
Bassoon – Frank Morelli
Cello – David Calhoun, Gregory Hesselink, Marisol Espada, Richard Locker, Semyon Fridman
Cello, Soloist – Yo-Yo Ma
Clarinet – John Moses
Composed By, Arranged By, Liner Notes – Philip Glass
Conductor, Keyboards – Michael Riesman
Double Bass – Gail Kruvand-Moye, Joseph Bongiorno
Flute, Clarinet, Piccolo Flute – Andrew Sterman
Flute, Piccolo Flute – David Wechsler, Timothy Malosh
French Horn – Peter Gordon (8), Ronald Seli, Sharon Moe
Harp – Susan Jolles
Horns – Melanie Carp, Shelley Woodworth
Keyboards – Nico Muhly
Percussion – Frank Cassara, Sean McCaul
Performer [Members Of] – Philip Glass Ensemble
Soprano Saxophone – Jon Gibson
Soprano Vocals – Lisa Bielawa
Tenor Saxophone – Richard Peck
Tenor Vocals – Tony Bouttè
Trombone – Dan Levine, Dean Plank, James Pugh, Keith O'Quinn
Trumpet – Francis Bonny, Lorraine Cohen, William Rohdin
Tuba – Andrew Rodgers
Viola – Alfred Brown, Jill Jaffe, Linda Moss, Lois Martin, Masako Yanagita, Stephanie Fricker-Baer
Violin – Anahid Ajemian, Jan Mullen, Joyce Hammann, Julianne Klopotic,
Leonid Levin, Leszek Barnat, Linda Quan, Marti Sweet, Nancy McAlhany,
Regis Iandiorio, Timothy Baker 
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