In 1976, Philip Glass premiered one of his most critically adored works, Einstein on the Beach. The opera, Glass’ first, was part of his “Portrait Trilogy,” which also included Satyagraha in 1980 and Akhnaten in 1983. Each opera was about a man — Einstein, Gandhi, and pharaoh Akhenaten, respectively — who changed the world through ideas rather than through force.
Glass was as prolific as ever during this period, working on music for everything from plays and films to TV and radio, but one of his lesser-known works came in 1979 with “Geometry of Circles.” The composition soundtracks four animation shorts created by Sesame Street. Each one is comprised of several circles dancing around each other, combining and splitting into various colors and shapes through arcs, tangents, and spatial variations.
The precision of Glass’ score fits perfectly with the visuals. With intricate polyrhythms and complex vocal interplay reminiscent of Einstein on the Beach, the music comes off as rigid, mathematical, and indeed geometric. Yet the complexity of both the score and the visuals immerse the viewer/listener in a mesmerizing, hypnotic world of shapes and patterns that reaches well beyond the deceptive simplicity of geometry, leaving one to wonder how much more compelling this would be as a 5 year old.
Check out all four animations here:
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