1000 Airplanes on the Roof by Philip Glass is a kind of legend. The work was created in 1988 in Hangar No. 3 of Vienna International Airport. It is a “science fiction melodrama” in which a character named M, who lives in New York, recalls being abducted by aliens. There are bees in it, a one-night stand, and of course, 1000 planes on a roof somewhere. All of this is carried by the narration of an extremely expressive text by David Henry Hwang and the hypnotic music of Philip Glass. This score had never been recorded in its entirety. Here it is, therefore, available in two versions: one with narration and another without the text.
The style is that of the early minimalist period: obsessive arpeggios, excited to the point of saturation, flashy synths accompanied by a few wind instruments (saxophones, flutes) and a crystal-clear soprano voice, without vibrato (remarquable Arwen Myers).
The text of this UMO (Unidentified Musical Object) is completely crazy, uncertain if its protagonist is serious or seriously losing it. The music is insistent, like in Einstein on the Beach, absolutely gripping, fascinating, stimulating. Pure Glass.
This new version was recorded in an aviation museum in Oregon, outdoors. The sound recording is remarkable, considering the conditions.
The narration by Ithica Tell is very convincing. Her oscillation between sanity and delirium is nothing short of embodied. We are carried away by the performance.
Here is an essential release for all self-respecting glassophiles, but also for curious music lovers who would like to dive into the bubbling soup of original repetitive Minimalism, the one that induces a kind of hallucinatory trance in those who dare to venture into it.
Personel:
Third Angle New Music
Nikolas Caoile, dir.
Sarah Tiedemann, flute/piccolo/wind synthesizer
John Nastos, flute/soprano saxophone
Sean Fredenburg, soprano saxophone/tenor saxophone
Arwen Myers, voice
Maria Garcia, synthesiser
Yoko Greeney, synthesiser
Narration:
Ithica Tell – “M”
Joellen Sweeney – “The Doctor”
