“Einstein on the Beach” in Music by Philip Glass is an autobiographical account of the process Glass went through to make the piece “Einstein on the Beach.” It was first published in 1987 in New York (“Music by Philip Glass”).
The composer created this document to describe the process he went through while making the piece, describing his artistic development and the aspects of teamwork that went into it. Glass also uses this document to comment on the nature of the piece, including how it makes an impact on the audience and the growing genre of music it adheres to. It seems that the intended audience would be the general public, or perhaps more specifically, those of the public who are interested in this piece or in the development of art during this time. The way Glass makes references to the events and culture of his time also alludes to the idea that he is writing this autobiography with the intention of having future generations look to it for information about the piece.
The composer focuses on both how the piece was crafted and the effect the piece had on its immediate audience, as well as the forward movement of art. Glass largely focuses on what it was like working with Robert (Bob) Wilson, describing how their respective backgrounds contributed to how they made decisions regarding the piece as well as how those backgrounds facilitated their work together since they had such a good understanding of one another and their artistic goals. Glass describes how they came up with the structure of the piece itself, as well as how he and Wilson were often on the same page when they had ideas to grow the piece. In this portion, Glass also explains various references and uses of imagery in the piece which may go unnoticed by the average viewer. The piece was also more experimental than others, and Glass goes into detail about how this piece was constructed such that the audience is an integral part of the piece itself, and the “power of the work is directly proportional to the degree to which we succeed in personalizing it” (Glass 36). In this same thread, Glass explains the inspiration of the piece, including where certain specific references within the piece originated as well as why Glass and Wilson ended up choosing to write a piece about Einstein. At the end of the excerpt, Glass connects his ideas about the personalization of the piece to the meaning of art, pondering whether or not art has meaning without society, and concluding that the meaning of art lies in the meaning a person gives to it when experiencing it.
This document helps us understand the historical context in which this piece was written, including how people felt about Einstein following WWII, along with general context about how the piece was constructed, describing how Glass, “like many others of [his] generation, had been swept up in the Einstein craze” (Glass 29). This gives insight on both the inspiration of the piece as well as how the general public at the time would have interpreted it. Glass goes into detail regarding how the ideas presented in the piece conforms more to the ideas in “New York counterculture, [and] would appear quite startling in a larger cultural context” (Glass 32). In addition, this document helps us get a better idea of the constraints posed by available resources, including cast and venue limitations, as well as the other people who were involved in the creation of the piece. For example, Glass comments on how the piece didn’t fit in with the pieces being performed in high end opera houses and such, but also required more resources than were available at smaller facilities. This document also reveals the other people involved in the creation of the piece, most prominently Wilson, which isn’t a detail that is prominently featured in the piece’s regular details, which simply cite Glass as a sole composer. This, along with Glass’ description of the development of the piece, allows readers of the autobiography to understand how the piece came to be.
This document does not include the point of view of any of the other contributors to this piece. Therefore, we receive an account of the creation of “Einstein on the Beach” from only Glass’ perspective, when he tells us that many others like Wilson were involved in the creative process of putting this piece together. While we have no reason to doubt Glass’ authenticity in writing this account, it is a possibility that he does not represent the facts regarding the composition of or reactions to the piece. Glass also does not appear to present any controversial or biased opinions, rather just giving his own reflection on the piece, so it is doubtful that he is twisting any of the facts. Due to this, it can be concluded that the autobiography is useful and reliable as historical evidence for the most part, and if anything, it is most likely only parts regarding how others contributed to the piece or how well that piece was received would be manufactured. There are other limitations to this document; Glass spends most of the autobiographical work describing his artistic process, but also comments on the audience’s reception of the piece. However, this is an account of the piece’s reception originating from its composer. It is likely this is only from what feedback Glass directly received regarding the piece, and is not an accurate illustration of all the different ways this piece was received, as Glass described how it didn’t fit in with the broader New York art culture, but not how it was received by those immersed in that culture.
“Music by Philip Glass.” Philip Glass, philipglass.com/books/music_by_philip_glass/#:~:text=Original Title%3A Music %20by%20Philip,by%20Dunvagen%20Music%20Publishers%2C%20Inc. Accessed 13 May 2023.