PRIVATE PARTS & PIECES V - TWELVE

Seasons and their change became an important subject for human culture during last centuries (no idea why but that's the fact). A cycle of four violin concerti by Vivaldi, an oratorio by Haydn, a set of pieces for solo piano by Tchaikovsky, a set of four tango compositions by Piazzolla, a concept album by Los Canarios... et cetera. And finally, a set of pieces for acoustic guitar by Anthony Phillips. Most likely it should be compared to Tchaikovsky's The Seasons first of all, because these two works obviously belong to the same genre, no matter if more than a century divides them. Tchaikovsky's piano cycle is a worldwide recognized masterpiece. And I dare say that Phillips' guitar cycle bears the comparison. The artist surpassed himself in this fabulous work. He found so fresh sounds, chords and combinations of sounds, built so unusual relationships between sounds that Twelve should be considered one of his best releases - and one of the best works on the 'seasons' subject ever. Besides that, Phillips widened the expressive capacities of acoustic guitar. How to express weather and its seasonal changes by means of a solo instrument? Before Phillips, we knew only how to do it on piano, thanks to Tchaikovsky. With Twelve, a new chapter in chamber instrumental music, we learnt how to do it on acoustic guitar.

It's not easy to mark the best tracks on Twelve. All are beautiful. Maybe the most original and innovative are January, February, March and December. Looks like Phillips is most successful in 'snowy' guitar pieces. And when the snow thawed, something reminding The Geese & The Ghost began. It's also beautiful but not new, not inventive enough, quite typical for Phillips.

P.S. And not to be forgotten: Twelve is one of the longest single vinyls ever. 65 minutes. This should be mentioned as well.