Search - Philip Glass :: The Hours (Score)

Emily S. from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 12/9/2009...

Wonderful instrumental music--I think it is the aural equivalent of looking at a Jackson Pollock painting--lots of repetition and layering, simultaneously complex and simplistic. I find it useful as "thinking music," but also soothing.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

The Finest Glass

James Hiller | Beaverton, OR | 01/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must admit to not being very familiar with Philip Glass' music, although being a movie fan I'm sure that I've heard him before. Sitting through the monumental film, "The Hours", you realize that this music is a flawless marriage of screen and soundtrack, and immediately, after the film ended, I found myself in the nearest music store, soundtrack in hand."The Hours" weaves a complex tale of the seemingly intermingled lives of three complex women, all dealing with various internal crises at significant points of their lives. Virginia Woolf, Clarissa Vaughn, and Laura Brown lives orbit around each other, as each feels their lives are insignificant, yet their significance reigns supreme around the lives of the other, hidden, deep, penetrating.A film of this calibar requires an equally complex, moving score, and Glass not only provides it, but inspires the movie. Each piece illuminates and frames each scene without imperfection. In the theater, you sit in awe at the methodical action on the screen as your ears hear the fluid, grand movements and it's as if Glass is reading the mind of the audience scoring the movie as you think it should be. It is impossible to imagine this movie without the music, and the music without the movie.While it is impossible for me to select a favorite piece among all of them, for this is a soundtrack which each pieces lends autheticity to the next, I must profess a love for the second track, "Morning Passage". There is a section towards the end of that piece when I was listening to it, I literally stopped what I was doing and listened intently, and then replayed it several times before continuing, a very strange act indeed.I highly recommend this work: the emotional depth and honesty, the sadness and enlightment it provides is truly revolutionary."

Beautiful

Matthew Gladney | Champaign-Urbana, IL USA | 02/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Hours" tells the story of three women in three different time periods -- 1923, 1951, and 2001. Their stories are interwoven exquisitely, and arch together in a profound, moving fashion. It is the best film of 2002. The score, composed by Philip Glass, tells the story of that story in such a beautiful way that, without it, the film would be a lesser entity, devoid of part of its essence.This is like listening to a symphony, in 14 Movements. Having seen the film, this score will have quite a bit of meaning to you, but even if you haven't seen the movie, the score will should still resonate. It could easily be a stand-alone classical music piece. The tracks all have a similar sound, but yet, are uniquely different. This is a sad score, for it is a (mostly) sad film. Track 3, titled "Something She Has To Do", is probably my favorite. So somber, so moving.Philip Glass has received an Oscar nomination for his score for "The Hours". It is well-deserved. His use of strings and piano are excellent. His ability to capture the feeling of the film is top notch. I can't recommend this score, or the movie it was written for, enough. The booklet which accompanies this music is quite comprehensive, featuring an introduction by Michael Cunningham, author of "The Hours", and then a description of the three women in each of the time periods covered in the movie. As a remembrance of the movie, or as a piece of music all its own, the score to "The Hours" is a sumptuous aural experience that should be treasured for the great achievement that it is."