Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach: a chaotic and catchy modern opera

 As an occasional listener of Philip Glass, my exposure to his music has been primarily limited to his famous, traditionally classical compositions such as the Glassworks and his soundtracks for films such as Mishima and The Truman Show. Listening to the pieces Train and Spaceship from his opera, Einstein on the Beach, has been in some ways, a revelation. 

Train begins with what I can only describe as a sonic assault. It has none of the relaxing and soothing effects of traditional opera composition, from its structure to the way voice is used as a background instrument. The chaotic nature of Train is quite disorienting to the listener in many different ways. Glass uses a mix of electronic and live instrumentation, but it’s very difficult to distinguish between both since the overall effect is electronic. What struck me interesting was how Train sounds as if Glass stitched together samples of music to create a complete piece. This, I think, has been very influential in modern psychedelic and dance music (like that of Daft Punk and Animal Collective, for example). 

Spaceship, on the other hand, is very different from Train. The title is a good indicator of how the piece is; it has a very science-fiction/space opera feel to it. But what I found rather unusual is that Spaceship, in a sense, feels like an abstract 1980s dance record. The repetitions give the effect of a fast beat and the synthesisers add to this effect. The vocals here are layered in such a way that they sound like an a capella performance. At some point, the keyboards take on the effect of sounds from an early computer or an early video game.

Unlike some of Glass’s traditional compositions, Spaceship is a piece that keeps the listener hooked. Glass uses repetitive waves with alternating notes which adds a certain mystery to it. Listening to it, I was trying to guess what could be the successive chords and how they fit one another, like Tetris tiles. 

Spaceship doesn’t possess the chaos of Train; it feels climatic. It doesn’t have a buildup but instead sounds like the right music for a battle scene in a science-fiction or space opera film. When listened to on its own, it wouldn’t occur to the listener that the piece is part of an opera.

I think ultimately what was most interesting for me is just how catchy Spaceship (and to a lesser extent, Train) is. I found myself tapping my foot to the music. Its unpredictability and chaos, and the way Glass defies both classical and modern music traditions to give us something in-between, is I think, what makes his music so appealing and beloved. His ability to mix accessibility with the abstract is evident in Einstein on the Beach and it cements his legacy as one of the great composers of our time.