New to Glass and I like it
This was the second piece of Glass's I came across (the first being something on a sampler). He's different and interesting and I'll just second what Nereffid said. Try tracks 6 and 8 if you just want to dip a toe in.
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a good introduction
There's not much Glass on emusic right now, so this is probably the best option if you want to see what he sounds like. All 3 pieces come from the 1980s, with the composer moving away from the more rigid aspects of minimalism. The Ulster Orchestra gives a powerful, dark performance of Company, although a bass-heavy sound means it is gloomy rather than bleak. I'm not convinced that the Violin Concerto is a concerto per se - "Orchestral suite with obbligato violin" seems a better title for much of it. Having said that, the 2nd (slow) movement is one of Glass's best things, and the ending is wonderful too. As for the 2 pieces from Akhnaten, I found the performances here sluggish compared with the original Stuttgart production of this moving opera, but serviceable nonetheless. Although I do recommend this disc, the proviso is that the performances make Glass's music sound even more homogenized than it really is.
