I expect every self-respecting Glass fan is doing the proper thing today and listening to The Voyage in its entirety?
The Met Opera commissioned Glass to compose the opera to ‘celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America’. Of course by the time it got to the stage it was a ” celebration of Columbus’ Arrival in America.’
That type of political correctness is often a turn off. But almost 20 years after the premiere, not only was it the right thing to do and historically accurate, it was also very astute of Glass to turn it into a portrait of the adventuring spirit. Columbus might not have been the great discoverer of America, but he was the beginning of 500 years of European migration into America, but most importantly for Glass, he was a visionary and that made him worth celebrating.
It is also consistent of Glass’ preoccupation with men of ideas. Scientists like Einstein and Kepler were both men of conviction of their ideas, but they were also dreamers. Vasco da Gama travelled the oceans as Galileo voyaged through our galaxy.Walt Disney inspired uncounted millions of dreamers, and Gandhi organized peaceful armies.
If you don’t have the chance to listen to one of these works, perhaps Columbus Day is a good moment to think about some of these people who profoundly alter the course of human kind as we all sail into the unknown.