Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters (1985 Film) Music

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by: Philip Glass, Michael Riesman

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Astounding This is one of the most passionately spiritual pieces of music I have ever heard. Like all of Phillip Glass' scores, it stands well on its own as a seperate entity. Perhaps because of the subject matter and most definitely because of Glass' overt bent towards Eastern spirituality combined with his western rhythmic sensibilities, this disk is essential. I can't recommend it enough. Rating: - Philip Glass on acoustic instruments Yep, it's Philip Glass all right. The same sparseness, the same sense of quiet foreboding, the same two-chord minor key arpeggio that I like to think of as "the Philip Glass song". What's different about this album is the instrumentation. Glass has abandoned the synth-and-woodwind arrangement for a string quartet (with a little electric guitar thrown in for good measure). The resulting feel is warmer, less avant-garde and more like traditional classical music. To my ear, this shift in tone brings out a richness in the music that makes this his best work, but even if you prefer your Glass icy, the Mishima soundtrack is a side trip worth checking out. Rating: - Complex, Mesmerizing and Unsettling If you check the classical catalog, you're likely to find Miskima and Philip Glass's other albums listed, but not the work of musicians such as Brian Eno. Although both are composers, experimenters, and members of the avant garde; Glass is considered a classicist where Eno is a popularist. Why? I'm not a musicologist, but Miskima is a highly structured composition, and like classical music, operates within a bounded (albeit broad) set of rules. The rules are not "classical" in nature, but Glass's own invention (almost). The term "minimalist" applies, but is often misconstrued as "simplistic." The song 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' is simple, not minimalist. Miskima is far from a simple work; in fact, it is quite complex. The most important element of Miskima is its rhythmic structure. Instead of giving melody and harmony priority over rhythm (as in most traditional Western music), Glass emphasizes rhythm - similar to that of Peter Gabriel. Glass superimposes two different rhythmic patterns of different lengths. He repeats each pattern several times and they eventually both arrive at their starting points at the same time, making one complete cycle. He may have several of these "cycles" going at the same time. The effect has been described as "wheels within wheels." Sounds absurd, but try Miskima, and you'll say "Hey, it sounds like wheels within wheels." The second unique element of Miskima is the "additive" process. Here, Glass takes a bar of say five notes, and repeats it several times. Then he adds a sixth and seventh and so on, each time repeating the bar with the next note is added. Sounds boring and technical? Hardly. The note is added anywhere, and the rhythm expands and contracts in many different ways. The origin of this technique is Indian music. The combination of cyclic rhythms and the additive process is hypnotic, dynamic and troublesome. Each of the tracks sound as though they will never end. The music fills the sound stage (room, automobile, or in the case of headphones, one's head), builds on itself, then collapses inward leaving silence and emptiness. Miskima is mesmerizing and frustrating: the tracks have definite beginnings, but the endings are often unsettling. If you enjoy classical music, the African rhythms of of Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno's experimentation, the Indian raga, or would just like to "take a break" from conventions; Miskima may be your cup of tea.

Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters (1985 Film) Music

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