Sources littéraires et musicales de l’œuvre
Des dessins de Robert Wilson
« The music for Einstein on the Beach was written in the spring, summer and fall of 1975. Bob Wilson and I worked directly from a series of his drawings which eventually formed the designs for the sets. Prior to that period, we had reached agreement on the general thematic content, the overall length, its divisions into 4 acts, 9 scenes and 5 connecting knee plays. » (Philip Glass)
Des textes littéraires
« I worked on the settings. I wanted to do that first. I made a series of drawings, and I actually worked from Christopher Knowles’writing. » (Robert Wilson)
Einstein on the Beach contient des textes de Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson et Lucinda Childs (selon les versions, des coupures ont pu être observées dans les textes.)