Home / Music / Einstein on the Beach has no plot — it has 'knee plays'Music linernotes album music philip-glassEinstein on the Beach has no plot — it has 'knee plays'Philip Glass’s opera replaces traditional narrative with structured spaces joined by five ‘knee plays’ or intermezzos. The story is the structure. Search Amazon As an Amazon Associate, Work Notes may earn.Related NotesEinstein on the Beach runs roughly five hours — Glass's first, longest, and most famous operaEinstein on the Beach premiered at the 1976 Avignon FestivalThe studio recording of Einstein on the Beach was released in 1979Philip Glass and Robert Wilson created Einstein on the Beach togetherJohn Adams' Shaker Loops runs through four movements that tell you exactly what kind of piece this is.ExploreBeethoven's Op. 74 is called the 'Harp' quartet for its pizzicato arpeggiosLee Perry's Black Ark 'holy trinity' includes Police and Thieves, Party Time, and War Ina BabylonSix Japanese Gardens is scored for percussion and electronicsMozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 is catalogued as K. 488Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 is catalogued as K. 467Previous Einstein on the Beach premiered at the 1976 Avignon FestivalNext David Behrman produced Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air.