Shifting Layers: The Film Scores of Philip Glass

‘What you hear depends on how you focus your ear. We’re not talking about inventing a new language, but rather inventing new perceptions of existing languages.’
– Philip Glass

A hugely successful composer and performer, Philip Glass only works with filmmakers and on projects that resonate with him. A restless creative presence upon the landscape of contemporary music, whose musical style has constantly evolved, Glass’s scores elevate the power of the films they accompany, but also frequently engage in a dialogue with his larger body of work. From his rich collaboration with Godfrey Reggio, particularly the celebrated Qatsi trilogy, to his acclaimed scores for The Thin Blue Line, Kundun and The Hours, Glass’s striking compositions have been used to enhance some of cinema’s most memorable images. Whether it’s his work with solo piano, pulsating electronica or a full orchestra, every film that this groundbreaking and hugely influential composer works on edges towards the transcendent. In this season, we look back at some of his best work, in both documentary and narrative cinema.

Justin Johnson, season programmer