Saturday, March 7, 2015

Philip Glass... As heard in Ross's video


In Ross's video (amazing job, by the way), Koyaanisqatsi featured the compositions of Philip Glass. He has made compositions for several movies, and he is credited with kick starting the minimalist composition music. The music is characterized by repeated, seemingly basic motifs that change minimally after each repetition, eventually gathering to a climax. The plodding nature of his compositions could be why Reggio used them in his documentary, to signify the monotony of life today and it's severe consequences. My favorite composition of his, "It was Always you, Helen," has appeared in the movie Candyman and American Horror Story. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Ross said...

You are absolutely correct Joe! Godfrey told me that he needed music that expressed monotony and slowness (he did not explain the slowness). He also told me that the sounds in the pieces needed to be simple and that they could not distract (at least too much) form the images. That's why you'll hear the repetition of a single tune, with only slight alterations each time, in Koyaanisqatsi.