Much of Philip Glass' music is marked by a sort of insistent, repetitive, rhythmic momentum which can become hypnotic. In Glass' Symphony No. 2 (1994), the composer weaves together lengthy threads of simple substrate and brief fragments of contrasting melodic lines, constructing a work that is at once simple and complex. The composer's own notes regarding the work indicate that its ambiguity is purposeful; that is, it is a polytonal construct in which emphasis, and therefore the aural effect, is actually dependent upon how the listener hears the work. Glass likens this to the manner in which an optical illusion can seem to be different things as the viewer simply wills it to be.

Constructed In three movements of about forty-five minutes' total duration, the Second Symphony is built from blocks of conventional chords and steady rhythms. Glass effects chromatic complexity through the use of successive modulations, generally varying by a tone or half-tone around a fundamental key. All three movements contain variations on Glass' most commonly employed device, a repetitive minor third undercurrent supporting musical statements of great simplicity and the occasional eerie, plaintive melody. Although the mood changes throughout the course of the work, the rhythmic drive remains, and the overall effect is that of building the same structure over and over from different materials. The final movement begins on a more dissonant and animated level but retains the rhythmic insistence and block-like structure of its predecessors.

The Second Symphony is important in Glass' output as a rare example of the composer's use of a traditional abstract form. At the same time, the Symphony reveals a close stylistic affinity with Glass' program music, most notably the evocative score to the 1981 film Koyaanisqatsi.



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