Archive for September, 2005

About 10-15 years ago, the crazily-coiffured squeaky-voiced American comedian Emo Philips was the man of the moment in the UK. He appeared on chatshows and commercials while Channel Four showed UK-based television series of his, plus a recording of one of his live shows at a famous London theatre.

During this live show Philips performed a version of Einstein on the Beach, an opera scored and written by Philip Glass and directed by Robert Wilson. Titled Einstein At the Beach, Phillips’ version tells the tale of a young Albert Einstein and his attempts to attract the attention of a beautiful woman by stuffing beach towels down his pants.

Genius!

Whilst Phillips was prancing around the stage with his towel he was accompanied by a beautiful piece of music that I’d always assumed was from the original opera. Having recently obtained a copy of the opera’s soundtrack, I can now confirm that I was wrong. So what music is it? Is it by Philip Glass or is it just a piece of library music?

In desperation I’ve dug out my copy of Reason and reproduced a version of the tune from memory. Download this small sample and have a listen. If you know what the tune is, please let me know.

Download glass.mp3 379KB