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Einstein on the Beach
- GenresMusic
Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
10 people want to read
About the author
Philip Glass
116 books70 followersPhilip Glass is a three-time Academy Award-nominated American classical music composer. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late-20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public (along with precursors such as Richard Strauss, Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein).
His music is described asminimalist, from which he distanced himself in being a composer of "music with repetitive structures". Although his early, mature music is minimalist, he has evolved stylistically. Currently, he describes himself as "Classicist", trained in harmony and counterpoint and studied Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert.
Glass is a prolific composer: he has written ensemble works, operas, 8 symphonies, 8 concertos, film scores, and solo works. Glass counts many visual artists, writers, musicians, and directors among his friends, including Richard Serra, Chuck Close, Doris Lessing, Allen Ginsberg, Errol Morris, Robert Wilson, JoAnne Akalaitis, John Moran, actors Bill Treacher and Peter Dean, Godfrey Reggio, Ravi Shankar, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Patti Smith, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and electronic musician Aphex Twin, who have all collaborated with him. Among recent collaborators are Glass' fellow New Yorkers Leonard Cohen, and Woody Allen. He has also composed an opera for the opening of the Expo '98.
He describes himself as "a Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhist",[10] and a supporter of the Tibetan cause. In 1987 he co-founded the Tibet House with Columbia University professor Robert Thurman and the actor Richard Gere. He has four children: two, Zachary (b. 1971) and Juliet (b. 1968) with first wife, theater director JoAnne Akalaitis (m. 1965, div. 1980); and two, Marlowe and Cameron with his fourth and current wife, Holly Critchlow. [11] Glass lives in New York and in Nova Scotia. He is the first cousin once removed of Ira Glass, host of the nationally syndicated radio show This American Life. Philip Glass's father is Ira Glass's great uncle.
His music is described asminimalist, from which he distanced himself in being a composer of "music with repetitive structures". Although his early, mature music is minimalist, he has evolved stylistically. Currently, he describes himself as "Classicist", trained in harmony and counterpoint and studied Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert.
Glass is a prolific composer: he has written ensemble works, operas, 8 symphonies, 8 concertos, film scores, and solo works. Glass counts many visual artists, writers, musicians, and directors among his friends, including Richard Serra, Chuck Close, Doris Lessing, Allen Ginsberg, Errol Morris, Robert Wilson, JoAnne Akalaitis, John Moran, actors Bill Treacher and Peter Dean, Godfrey Reggio, Ravi Shankar, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Patti Smith, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and electronic musician Aphex Twin, who have all collaborated with him. Among recent collaborators are Glass' fellow New Yorkers Leonard Cohen, and Woody Allen. He has also composed an opera for the opening of the Expo '98.
He describes himself as "a Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhist",[10] and a supporter of the Tibetan cause. In 1987 he co-founded the Tibet House with Columbia University professor Robert Thurman and the actor Richard Gere. He has four children: two, Zachary (b. 1971) and Juliet (b. 1968) with first wife, theater director JoAnne Akalaitis (m. 1965, div. 1980); and two, Marlowe and Cameron with his fourth and current wife, Holly Critchlow. [11] Glass lives in New York and in Nova Scotia. He is the first cousin once removed of Ira Glass, host of the nationally syndicated radio show This American Life. Philip Glass's father is Ira Glass's great uncle.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 21, 2020
One of the bright spots of the pandemic has been the tremendous generousity of opera houses all over the world streaming operas that I would have a great deal of difficulty affording to see otherwise (even digitally.) I downlaoded the libretto and score and watched a very fresh production of Einstein on the Beach by the Grand Teatre de Geneve, led by Titus Engel, a Swiss specialist in contemporary repertoire accompanied by "his crew, an Einstein-Ensemble made up of students from the Haute école de musique of Geneva."
Unforgettable.
The accompanying documentary "Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera (1986)" also shared some of the 1986 revival in New York as well as stills from the original production.
But of course, here on Goodreads what I am focusing on is the libretto - just 12 pages for a nearly 5 hour opera. The poetry has an arresting musical quality even on the page. I had also seen video taped readings by Christopher Knowles in the past, and felt that like with Gertrude Stein's "If I Told Him : A Completed Portrait Of Picasso" that while it existed on the page, that there was something essential about the poet's own reading to break through one's initial resistance to the work. It was such a pleasure to finally see it in full performance and realize that there is more than one way to skin the cat.
I now really need to see Gertrude Stein's opera "The Mother of Us All" to compare it's feel on the page to it's existence as theater.
Unforgettable.
The accompanying documentary "Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera (1986)" also shared some of the 1986 revival in New York as well as stills from the original production.
But of course, here on Goodreads what I am focusing on is the libretto - just 12 pages for a nearly 5 hour opera. The poetry has an arresting musical quality even on the page. I had also seen video taped readings by Christopher Knowles in the past, and felt that like with Gertrude Stein's "If I Told Him : A Completed Portrait Of Picasso" that while it existed on the page, that there was something essential about the poet's own reading to break through one's initial resistance to the work. It was such a pleasure to finally see it in full performance and realize that there is more than one way to skin the cat.
I now really need to see Gertrude Stein's opera "The Mother of Us All" to compare it's feel on the page to it's existence as theater.
Displaying 1 of 1 review