Philip Glass: Mad Rush

Glass originally composed "Mad Rush" in 1979 for organ, to be played as the Dalai Lama entered New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine — designed to loop until the dignitaries were seated, then conclude. Víkingur Ólafsson's piano interpretation strips away the organ's massive sustain and breathes new urgency into the repeating arpeggio figures. The Icelandic pianist's touch is notable for its rhythmic precision and tonal transparency: each note in the rapid passages is cleanly articulated rather than blurred into the pedal haze that Glass's textures might seem to invite. The piece cycles between a frenetic, churning arpeggio section and a chorale-like quieter middle section — and the contrast Ólafsson draws between these feels starker and more dramatic than other interpretations. The harmonic language is deceptively simple (sustained D major arpeggios, primarily) but creates a genuine hypnotic effect, the listener losing track of time inside the cycling pattern. Culturally, "Mad Rush" sits at the intersection of minimalist composition, Buddhist aesthetic (its commission context), and the New York art scene of the late 1970s. Ólafsson plays it with a Lutheran seriousness — his Icelandic heritage giving him a particular relationship to austere, repeated ritual music. Best heard loud, with the bass of the piano resonating physically through the room.