Glass, P: Dance No. 4

Founded in 1971 by video artists Woody and Steina Vasulka, The Kitchen is internationally known as a leading center for video, music dance performance, new media and literature. The first institution to focus exclusively on cutting-edge, multidisciplinary works, it has been a powerful force in shaping the cultural landscape of this country.

This 2-disc set offers re-mastered recordings from the landmark New Music, New York: A Festival of Composers and their Music, held at the Kitchen's 484 Broome Street space in SoHo from June 8-16, 1979. The festival, which set a standard for new and contemporary music, paved the way for New Music America, the annual event that emerged the following year in Minneapolis and ran in various cities until 1990. Now 25 years later, these recordings are an invaluable time-capsule, a privileged view/listen into a historic event, initially heard by only a few hundred people. Beyond their historic value they offer brilliant and exciting music by composers now considered masters of the genre, as well as remarkable performances by figures nearly forgotten.

The organ music of Philip Glass presents some of his most significant and extended minimalist works. Dance 2 and Dance 4 are the two solo organ movements of a five-part work composed in the early 1970s. The arrangement of the Act III Finale to his opera Satyagraha dates from 1980 and is one of the most famous and familiar pieces in all Glass. The sheer accuracy and concentration of Kevin Bowyer's performances guarantee that this music is heard to its best effect on the splendid 1995 Marcussen organ at Tonbridge School.