Philip Glass: The Light and the Hours
This paper will examine two pieces by the enormously talented and tremendously gifted 20th century composer, Philip Glass. Philip Glass's compositions are frequently used or commissioned for the screen and that is no surprise. Aside from being melodic, his pieces frequently are able to touch upon an elusive and ephemeral aspect of human emotion. This paper will examine Glass's 1987 piece, The Light, and the first track from the score that he created for the 2003 film, The Hours: the Poet acts. These are dramatically different pieces, and this paper will attempt to analyze and illuminate the different factors which influence and shape each one.
Glass's 1987 piece, The Light, was apparently composed as a means of commemorating the 100th anniversary on the famous Michelson-Morley experiment which looked at the various properties of light. It was also the first work that Glass commissioned for a full symphony orchestra. This piece is remarkable because every aspect of it reeks with a sense of celebration. The arrangement of sounds which make up the melody is so aesthetically pleasing, that it seems to almost imitate the shimmer that light makes when it dances against a windowpane or radiates off water. The harmony, which is the simultaneous notes in a chord is able to almost imitate the complexities which makes up the speed and the structure of light. There is an...
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