Philip Glass: Hydrogen Jukebox

A departure for Glass and a new direction for Ginsberg, Hydrogen Jukebox is a great piece of work from two greats in the field of "new art" for the 20th century. The title, borrowed from Ginsberg's poem "Howl," is a dual reference to an American mentality that self-restricts its input — as well as a body of music that "begins to shake the bones" with the violence of a hydrogen bomb. Glass here becomes more pronounced with his political statements, and Ginsberg orchestrates particularly potent excerpts of his work to comprise an hour-long opera. This is a marked departure from Glass' signature interwoven fabrics of sound. Not that the epic length arpeggios are gone, but they do not signify the total of the music itself. In places, the score approaches rock music in feel. There is beautiful work by the vocal ensemble. A surprising and unexpected element comes in the form of Ginsberg's own voice, whose unique sense of inflection draws the confused listener in; no matter what he is saying, Ginsberg always sounds like he is delivering great news. One of the stronger imperatives here is a call to action for the people of America — not to sit idly while the world continues to happen around them. There are many strong Buddhist references on this disc (both Glass and Ginsberg are adherents). The only low point is that it may be very off-putting to those familiar with Ginsberg's work to hear many of these oft-repeated passages again — this time put to music. It would have been most exciting to hear new or unreleased work from Ginsberg for this production. To the initiated it comes off like reheating a soufflé. Barring that, this is a strong piece of work with some of Glass' most exciting musical outings in many years. ~ Mark W. B. Allender, Rovi