In 1989, contemporary minimalist composer Philip Glass (b. 1937) released his album Solo Piano. The album has seven tracks:
- Metamorphosis I
- Metamorphosis II
- Metamorphosis III
- Metamorphosis IV
- Metamorphosis V
- Mad Rush
- Wichita Vortex Sutra
Notice how the first five tracks all have the same name: Metamorphosis. Glass composed these particular pieces for a staging of the novella The Metamorphosis by German author Franz Kafka. This short story, published in 1915, tells the tale of a salesman who wakes up one morning somehow transformed into a huge insect. Read more about it here.
The Tracks
In Solo Piano, Glass presents himself without any electronic sounds (either played with the tracks or added later). Instead, each piece is a piano solo that reflects his style as a minimalist composer. And with that in mind, each Metamorphosis piece tells the story of, well, a change. Let’s take a look at each one.
Metamorphosis I
I opens with dramatic chords before introducing a subtle accompaniment in the left hand. With chimes in the right hand, these two musical ideas repeat and alternate, and a surprising new chord pops in at the end. Metamorphosis I thus sets the stage for the rest of the pieces in the work.
Metamorphosis II
II begins similarly to how I ends. An alternating left hand accompanies chime-like sounds played in the right hand. The beautiful chords in this piece, however, paint a deeper, more emotional atmosphere than those of the previous one. Sparkling arpeggios in the melody add texture, painting a crystal-clear image of a seed bursting into life.
Metamorphosis III
In III, the seed is growing. Cross-rhythms combine with interesting and unexpected chords, pulling on ideas from the first two pieces while adding new sounds to Metamorphosis as a whole.
Metamorphosis IV
IV uses heavy chords similar to I in what, to me, feels almost Baroque in its harmonic progression. Then at 2:37, the sparkling arpeggios from II make another appearance. The meter changes to a lovely triple-feel, but the somber atmosphere stays through the whole piece.
Metamorphosis V
V begins with the exact same chord progression that ended I. This movement beautifully concludes the five-piece cycle, as it quietly revisits ideas from each of the previous pieces. The work then softly fades into nothing.
Mad Rush
Glass composed Mad Rush in 1979 on and for the organ (as opposed to the piano) for the Dali Lama’s first public address in North America. Mad Rush is full of repetition, slow-moving chords, brilliant arpeggios, and minimalism similar to Metamorphosis. Check out Glass’s thoughts on this piece (and that visit) here.
And here is the original organ version:
Openings and closings, beginnings and endings. Everything in between passes as quickly as the blink of an eye. An eternity precedes the opening and another, if not the same, follows the closing. Somehow everything that lies in between seems for a moment more vivid. What is real to us becomes forgotten, and what we don’t understand will be forgotten, too.
Philip Glass
Wichita Vortex Sutra
Glass composed Wichita Vortex Sutra to accompany the famous antiwar poem by Allen Ginsberg. The two met by chance in a New York bookstore and decided to collaborate. This piece mashes a hymn anthem with minimalism, using repeating rhythmic patterns, increased tempo and momentum, and energy to juxtapose Ginsberg’s words. Learn more about the poem and listen to the reading here.