Einstein on the Beach
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Einstein on the Beach is an opera scored and written by the minimalist composer Philip Glass, and designed and directed by Robert Wilson. It also contains writings by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson, and Lucinda Childs.
It was premiered on July 25, 1976, in Avignon, France by the Philip Glass Ensemble, and was also staged in Hamburg, Paris, Belgrade, Venice, Brussels, Rotterdam, and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York during 1976.
It is Glass's first and longest opera, taking approximately five hours to complete, with no intermission. Given the nature of the music - the lengthy repetition of small elements, very gradual development and change, recurring patterns - audience members are free to enter and leave as they wish.
The plotless libretto of the opera consists of solfege syllables, numbers, and short segments of poetry or text developing on the themes of general relativity, nuclear weapons, science and AM radio. The opera consists of nine connected twenty-minute-long scenes separated by what Glass calls knee plays. The knees created the necessary time to change the scenery of Wilson's seven startling sets, which were carefully designed to interplay with the music. The opera requires an 'orchestra' of soprano saxophone, electronic organ, flute, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and one or two additional keyboards. On stage appear various soloists, two choruses (fourteen people and six people), dancers and four actors.
Two performances of the opera have been released on record, the first in 1979 on Philip Glass' own Tomato Records (and later CBS), the second in 1993 on Nonesuch Records. The first release was abridged to fit onto four LP records - most notably, the final monologue was truncated - whilst the second release benefitted from being natively recorded for compact disc. The parts were performed by the original actors with the exception of the late Samuel M. Johnson, who was replaced by Jasper McGruder.
An extract from the first knee play sequence was used in the very first Orange TV and cinema adverts in 1994.
"One two three four, one two three four five six, one two three four five six seven eight"
The opera became the first in a loosely-related trilogy, followed by Satyagraha (1980) and Akhnaten (1983), although the term trilogy is a little misleading. Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, and Akhnaten are also known as Philip Glass' three "portrait" operas.
Structure
- Knee 1
- Train 1
- Trial 1
- Entrance
- Mr. Bojangles
- All Men Are Equal
- Knee 2
- Dance 1
- Night Train
- Knee 3
- Trial 2
- Prematurely Air-Conditioned Supermarket
- Ensemble
- I Feel The Earth Move
- Dance 2
- Knee 4
- Building
- Bed
- Cadenza
- Prelude
- Aria
- Spaceship
- Knee 5
External link
- 25 Years after 'Einstein On The Beach' (http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=31fp00) Frank J. Oteri talks with Philip Glass, Tuesday, October 9, 2001, 5:00 - 6:00 PMsimple:Einstein on the Beach