Glass lives in New York and in Nova Scotia. 1980) and two (Marlowe and Cameron) with his current, fourth wife, Holly Critchlow. 1968)) with his first wife, the theater director JoAnne Akalaitis (m. In 1987 he co-founded the Tibet House with Columbia University professor Robert Thurman and the actor Richard Gere. Glass describes himself as "a Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhist", and a strong supporter of the Tibetan cause. Among recent collaborators are Glass' fellow New Yorkers Leonard Cohen, and Woody Allen. Glass counts many visual artists, writers, musicians, and directors among his friends, including Richard Serra, Chuck Close, Doris Lessing, Allen Ginsberg, Errol Morris, Robert Wilson, JoAnne Akalaitis, John Moran, actors Bill Treacher and Peter Dean, Godfrey Reggio, Ravi Shankar, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Simon, David Bowie, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, and electronic musician Aphex Twin, who have all collaborated with him. Glass is a prolific composer: he has written ensemble works, operas, 8 symphonies, 8 concertos, film scores, and solo works. Glass's music is frequently described as minimalist, though he has distanced himself from that description, calling himself a composer of "music with repetitive structures." Although his earliest music could be called minimalist, his style has evolved enough that the label is inappropriate for many of his more recent works. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late-20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public (along with precursors such as Richard Strauss, Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein). Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated American Western classical-music composer. Then Back to the Chorus for some more Chanting!!!īy the way, Koyaanisqatsi to the Hopi means "Life out of Balance" Strum with each syllable up down or both as you please, while you sing.Ĭheck out the trailer on youtube if you need help with the timing.Ī C G A Em Then right back to 'A' Play 2X or 4XĮ|-0-0-0-1-0-1-0-|ī|-1-3-3-1-0-0-1-3-1-0-1-3-3-1-0-| His soundtracks never quite live up to the enormity of Koyaanisqatsi, but he nevertheless has a talent for synchronous tracks and montages.Koyaanisqatsi Tab This is my first tab 8)Ī Great Mellow Chant, dirived from the Hopi Natives from what I understand.Ĭheck out the film (Koyaanisqatsi) and feel the vibe. Philip Glass has worked with Reggio for the lion’s share of his career, and that is to Reggio’s benefit. It’s admirable however that barring these shots, he doesn’t choose to spend too long on sanctimony.
He is a noted progressive and has done a lot of charity work with disadvantaged groups, which is clear in the moments humanity appears on screen. Godfrey Reggio spent fourteen years of his life training to be a friar, a period in which he conducted prolonged fasting, vows of silence and intense prayer.
The movie works despite its lack of clear narrative due to the themes we might assign upon viewing.īut I’m digressing, so let’s digress a little differently. We slowly transition from nature and humanity’s ancient past into the metropolitan and the industrial, culminating in absolute modernity, and the explosion of a rocket ship (in real terms the launch of the Saturn V rocket cleverly spliced with footage of an Atlas missile). Koyaanisqatsi despite dispensing with the screenplay still manages to sustain the façade, as in other works of the ‘pure cinema’ movement. It’s a precise illusion if any aspect falls a little flat it can completely pop the balloon. When reduced to its basest form my view has always been that cinema’s core equation consists of screenplay, visuals and sound performing a precise and delicate exchange, with the result being media that tricks your brain into extreme states of being. Throughout the film Philip Glass’s fantastic compositions refract from the imagery like slivers of light from an oil slick, and it is only fair to give him equal credit in the final product, as it would be just a novelty without his elevations. Like most works of ‘pure cinema’ it is a film of montages and camera-work – specifically, of time-lapse photography and ponderous tracking shots across enormous objects and places. Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance is a film with no characters, dialogue, or traditional narrative.