Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Best I've heard...!
Comment: In C is a piece that is notorious for being treated with excessive jazz flair with little respect for phrases or musicality (especially by sax players, who have been all over the map in other recordings.) This results in the piece sounding sleezy, uninspired, unmusical and far too loud!
Quite simply put, this is the best performance of this piece that I own and have ever heard. I would use words like sleek, mysterious, and sexy to describe this amazing performance. The ensemble takes full advantage of dynamics and has incredible phrase development throughout.
You will not be disappointed!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A uniquely engaging performance of a minimalist masterpiece
Comment: Terry Riley's In C was written in 1964 and has often been called the very first minimalist composition. It could also just as easily be called the very best minimalist composition. The piece was written as a reaction to serialism, so it's an aleatoric work. The freedom provided in organizing the ensemble, in the number of repetitions - in everything except the phrases - means you'll never be satisfied just hearing one performance. This performance here, featuring the Percurama Percussion Ensemble, is one to be treasured. (Also highly recommended: Terry Riley: In C)
Customer Rating:
Summary: riley reich-ified.
Comment: one of the other reviewers could have been me: "sure, i think _in c_ is a great piece, but do i need another edition? how different can it be?"
my minimalist tendencies lie a little more on the reich side (instrumental more than choral), and this version of _in c_ is great! marimba and voices, some very fun and unusual "shimmerings" (what i call it when the little pod-units of _in c_ combine to create strange and/or unexpected sounds).
if you're into this kind of music, this cd is different enough from any other version of _in c_ that i have heard as to be worth a purchase. happy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this version!
Comment: I don't have much to add to the other two reviews currently posted here: this is a gorgeous, must-hear version of this seminal work of minimalism. I'm writing this mainly to point out that amazon is selling the entire work as a 256kbs mp3 download for a mere 99 cents. At that price, you can't go wrong! Buy it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A stunning performance of a contemporary classic
Comment: OK, I admit I'm a little obsessed with this piece. This is the 6th version of it I own. Frankly, Riley's 1964 minimalist masterpiece varies so much from one version to another that it easily embraces diverse interpretations, from the early version called Mantra, to the excellent version by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, or my favorite by the Belgian new music group Ictus. (I've never been a fan of the Columbia original.) This latest manifestation by the Danish a capella group Ars Nova Copenhagen, with the Percurama Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Paul Hillier, really makes the work feel like a 20th century masterpiece. Hillier and musicians approach this work with the devotion they might bring to a great sacred work, using a text that Riley derived from holy names, and the result is, well, nearly a religious experience. In C "works" in direct proportion to the commitment brought to it by the performers. This recording works brilliantly. You will want to own this!
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