Skip to main content

Philip Glass - “Einstein on the Beach“

 

Philip Glass’ composition “Einstein on the Beach“ from the year 1976 is a nonstandard opera; the 19 minutes-long composition does not contain any plot, only sound patterns. I really liked Glass’s composition due to its controversial, groundbreaking character. Opera is known as a musical, dramatic work in one or several acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists. Unlike standard opera music, Glass varies from the standard and creates his own interpretation of opera. To put it in other words, Glass’ “Einstein on the Beach“ is absolutely controversial and new and does not have anything to do with the standard opera. It seems as if Glass aims to criticize at standard, traditional opera. Unlike standard opera music, “Einstein on the Beach“ does not have a story; uncommonly, it does not have a traditional narrative thread or libretto, but rather mainly consists of columns of figures and solmisatiosn syllables (do-re-mi) as text.[1]

The composition appears to me as long stretched and repetitive but in a good sense. “Einstein on the Beach“ sounds to me like a perfect soundtrack to the movie “The Nutcracker“ and reminds me of the old Disney movies. Glass has contrasted his composition from the little rhythm cells, expanding incredibly fast. Hence, a hypnotic effect is produced with constant altering repetition. This style is known as “Minimal Music“, for which Glass is well-known.

Furthermore, I appreciate the composition’s title “Einstein on the Beach“. Apparently, the well-known physician and scientist Albert Einstein does not have anything to do with the composition itself. In an interview Glass mentions that “they were not interested in the »content« of the person, they just wanted a name well-known enough to arouse people's interest.“[2] Amusingly, Glass and Wilson consider to name the composition after Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Hitler or Gandhi too, but they agreed on Einstein.

Overall, I liked Philip Glass’s composition very much. The general irony in every part of it beginning with the title, the non-traditional type of opera music, and the missing common story seems to demonstrate an individual interpretation of opera, which is from my point of view the cloud of music. Music sounds different to each individual, hence each person has a different interpretation of it. Glass emphasized this individuality in his composition, which is the reason why I really enjoyed getting to know him and consider this experience as very enriching.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure

 Sarah Kumar Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath The Future of (American) Music 06 Mar. 2023 Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure According to John Oswald, “[a] plunderphone is a recognizable sonic quote, using the actual sound of something familiar which has already been recorded” (Lecture Slides 18). However, only if the source stays recognizable can it be called plunderphonics. In his album Plexure , several songs are played back and mixed together, thus creating a new sound. This is interesting because while the excerpts of songs that are used are recognizable or at least sound familiar to some degree, played backwards and mashed up as they are in Plexure , they create a new sound. Like on the cover of the album, on which a collage making up a man can be seen, the mixing of different songs played backwards gives a new feeling to something known. The way the songs are mixed makes them unintelligible. The meaning of the words of the original recordings are not able to be compr...
Post a Comment
Read more

William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops III

  The Disintegration Loops is a quartet of albums published in 2002 and 2003 by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. The pieces are made up of tape loop recordings that were played over time, with noise and crackles rising as the tape deteriorated. Basinski noticed this effect when attempting to convert his older recordings to digital format. The completion of the recordings coincided with the September 11, 2001 events, which Basinski witnessed and adds a deeper meaning to the composition. The composition is fascinating in many ways and makes the listener lose track of time. The tape loop recording had a very calming effect on me and put me in a trance-like state when I listened to it in its entirety. The tape loop is really soothing, so much so that I didn't even notice the loss of quality when I first listened to it. It makes you forget about time and allows you to really get into the piece capturing the calmness it exudes. You forget or don't really notice how i...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Cage – Inlets

  This does not sound like music to me. Depending on the interpretation of different players or performers, this piece will always sound different. In this case, it sounds to me like someone is walking through a cave with water at the bottom, dragging their feet through it. Sometimes it sounds like water in a toilet bowl, especially when we hear the water in a bigger shell being swished around. These sounds are relaxing in the background, it is like a gentle stream of water. I just wonder what went through the head of the composer while writing this piece. But I guess he had some experimental ideas that are interesting to try out. Those shells are quite pretty, I have never seen such big ones that are not broken. I was surprised when something else happened towards the end of the piece. That tone which came out of the one shell was so clear, it sounded like a trumpet. I didn’t know that shells can sound like that. It was quite beautiful. It was a nice way to end the piece. I di...
Post a Comment
Read more