Patrick Anderson Performs Philip Glass's Metamorphosis I–V

Within Philip Glass' broad and cinematic compositional catalogue, these five solo piano pieces, sharing their name with Franz Kafka's novella, are among his most distinct and memorable works. The themes of isolation, emptiness, and despair become wholly realized in his stark and circular motifs. He relates the novella's feelings of alienation with such earnestness and reverence, adding only the most necessary melodic accents to an emotional and absurdist story.

Conceptually, at the heart of this performance are the existential emotions that manifest in us through the inevitable and constant nature of change. Change permeates every aspect of reality and remains profoundly difficult to accept, because acceptance itself is subject to change. Alongside the piano, live electronic and ambient effects give voice to that difficulty. However, there must be some form of self-acceptance that allows and wants change, and that is what this performance is aiming to find.