I am looking at two albums with Glass's Sonata for piano.

• Jenny Lin (Steinway & Sons - August 2024)
• Maki Namekawa (Orange Mountain - November 2020)

Several recordings exist now of the Glass Etudes, all twenty across two books. The pieces are perhaps at least somewhat analogues to Bach’s Inventions in that these pieces are single pieces that exploit a main theme and enough of what we might to do develop it.

The Sonata is new to me, discovering the new recording by Jenny Lin. I also went back to listen to the recording by Namekawa, who was Glass’s original collaborator and performer of the sonata. Glass has said that the complexity of the work is too difficult for him to perform to his liking. I appreciate his honesty!

The work lasts between 25-30 minutes and is constructed in three movements. Lin’s release is only of the sonata by itself; the released by Namekawa includes Distant Figure Passacaglia and Etude no. 20.

There’s no mistaking this as a work by Glass, but as the composer himself notes, it’s different. He made the analogy to his symphonic writing, and I thought the comparison was spot-on.

I can’t say with certainty, but the opening movement makes me think of soaring skyscrapers, a scene from a city as we start in the clouds and then work our way closer to the ground, to the frantic activity of cars and people moving about. The rising figures, mostly delegated to the left hand are all rising and perhaps speak to my sense of tallness.

That said, Lin’s approach is kind of all very intense where Namekawa is far more sensitive to dynamics; the result for me is far more transparency with Namekawa’s recording. The microphones, too, seem further away on her album under Glass’ own label. It’s not an audiophile recording, but it was easier to listen to with more insight into what the hands independently were doing, than the release by Lin.

The chromatic and harmonic movement in this work is something; it’s an evolution of where I am used to Glass going in his earlier piano works. There are many more ideas here in the opening movement, and yet he almost disguisedly makes the shifts to this material, before returning to previously used content.

Under Namekawa’s fingers, the second movement has me flying serenely over and through the clouds at dusk in an airplane headed across the ocean. Lin’s interpretation isn’t set so far distant, partly by using louder dynamics. The same idea of a rising line makes an appearance in this movement, (along with going back down) tying a theme from the piece’s first movement. The cascade of harmonies as the line descends in the right hand is so satisfying; but Glass is often good at his harmonic progressions, right?

Namekawa’s start to the third movement is swifter than LIn’s; her fast right hand for me gives the piece a far more virtuosic feel. I felt after going back and forth that Namekawa’s approach felt more intelligent, separating the two hands with better transparency; it may also be to some credit for the recording, which used less reverb. Both artists by the conclusion dazzle us with the required highly technical playing.

The ending? Eh, not my favorite.

The piece entitled Distant Figure Passcaglia on Namekawa’s album is long at nearly 13 minutes. It’s what I might call old-school Glass in approach; a few repetitive figures that gently open up in some interesting ways. Yet the piece was written in 2018. The piece has been recorded three times, according to Glass’s website. As a work, I preferred it over the sonata, but I know I will come back to the sonata as repeated listens, thus far, and proven to be revealing.

Having two recordings of the Sonata is a blessing, and each pianist makes it their own. I might ultimately prefer Namekawa’s interpretation, but both are worthy of a listen.