Listening Report of Philip Glass’s “Train/Spaceship”

 

Patryk Merci

The Future of American Music

Matriculation number: 7613841

Dr. Herzogenrath

WS 22/23

Listening Report 6

 

Listening Report of Philip Glass’s “Train/Spaceship”

 

The initial music in the piece is very imminent, as it starts directly without any sort of anticipation or introduction of single sounds or vocals. Instead, the listener receives a complete package of sounds and rhythm from the very beginning. The first most noticeable sound is a female vocal, which repeats the same words back to back, creating a rhythm in itself by this simple process. Following that, the easily distinguishable piano accompanies the vocals in an increasing pace, forcing an incredibly fast-paced rhythm into the foreground. As the sounds are mostly the same thanks to the process of continuous repetition, the piece becomes rather bothersome, resembling the sound of a ringtone which constantly rings to grab the attention in an unpleasantly insistent matter until someone picks up the phone. However, the rhythm also touches on a different subject, as its continuous repetition also reminds of a movement in circle, which very strongly invokes the feeling of experiencing the motion of a locomotive’s driving wheels. This, in turn, creates an obvious connection to the title of the piece.

 

As the piece progresses, the female vocals also get higher and slightly change the lyrics, which, when combined with the fast-paced piano, creates an illusion of being on a constant move, and going further and faster into the train journey. The rhythm and the sounds in the piece mostly do not change, but this is a deliberate action which perfectly imitates the movement of a locomotive, as it also constantly reproduces the same sounds. It is supposed to create an atmosphere of traveling on a train, and it does an excellent job at achieving said goal. Eventually, the train comes to a stop as the female vocals fade and the piano slowly changes its rhythm and pace. It is very clear that the piece has reached its second part now. It is still developing the feeling of being in constant motion, but not on a train anymore. Instead, futuristic, science-fiction-like sounds of the combination of flute, piano and saxophone take the listener into space. The vocals come into the foreground again, but they resemble an opera now, and combined with the instrument sounds they almost hypnotize the listener, as if they were meant to send them into a trance.

 

Overall, the piece does an excellent job at imitating the feeling of being in constant movement, and the transition between the train and the spaceship is very smooth and satisfying to experience. The second part of the piece is definitely more exciting and more pleasant for the ear, as the continuous sound repetition is not as intrusive, and the sound itself is very intriguing because of its futuristic aura.