The Hours [Original Soundtrack]

Rating

Album: The Hours [Original Soundtrack]
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Hours, film score: The Poet Acts, The
2)	Hours, film score: Morning Passages, The
3)	Hours, film score: Something She Has to Do, The
4)	Hours, film score: "For Your Own Benefit", The
5)	Hours, film score: Vanessa and the Changelings, The
6)	Hours, film score: "I'm Going to Make a Cake", The
7)	Hours, film score: An Unwelcome Friend, The
8)	Hours, film score: Dead Things, The
9)	Hours, film score: The Kiss, The
10)	Hours, film score: "Why Does Someone Have to Die?", The
11)	Hours, film score: Tearing Herself Away, The
12)	Hours, film score: Escape!, The
13)	Hours, film score: Choosing Life, The
14)	Hours, film score: The Hours, The

Album: The Hours [Original Soundtrack]
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Hours, film score: The Poet Acts, The
2)	Hours, film score: Morning Passages, The
3)	Hours, film score: Something She Has to Do, The
4)	Hours, film score: "For Your Own Benefit", The
5)	Hours, film score: Vanessa and the Changelings, The
6)	Hours, film score: "I'm Going to Make a Cake", The
7)	Hours, film score: An Unwelcome Friend, The
8)	Hours, film score: Dead Things, The
9)	Hours, film score: The Kiss, The
10)	Hours, film score: "Why Does Someone Have to Die?", The
11)	Hours, film score: Tearing Herself Away, The
12)	Hours, film score: Escape!, The
13)	Hours, film score: Choosing Life, The
14)	Hours, film score: The Hours, The

Tracks

0075597969320. Stock Quantity

0. Stock Item

1. No Track Listing Available

Performer Notes

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England. Includes liner notes by Michael Cunningham.
THE HOURS was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.
Composer: Philip Glass.
Personnel: Rolf Wilson (violin); Nick Barr (viola); David Daniels (cello); Dave Arch, Michael Riesman (piano); Chris Laurence (double bass).
Liner Note Authors: Michael Cunningham; Michael Riesman.
Recording information: Air Studios, London, England (10/07/2003-10/09/2003); Baldwin, New York, NY (10/07/2003-10/09/2003); EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England (10/07/2003-10/09/2003).
Editor: Ichiho Nishiki.
Arrangers: Michael Riesman; Nico Muhly.
One of America's best-known composers, Philip Glass may be widely regarded as a minimalist, but he demonstrates his strength as a storyteller with his soundtracks, and THE HOURS is no exception. Onscreen, it doesn't seem possible to find a more perfect accompaniment to Michael Cunningham's lovely story with searing tragic elements and bottomless yearning. On its own, however, the album feels lighter and more promising, a reminder again of Glass's resourcefulness and penchant for melody.
Pianist Michael Riesman and the Lyric Quartet enhance the classical tone of some of these pieces. "Morning Passages" and "Unwelcome Friend" have lovely piano solos that move grandly enough alone, but then are suddenly and delightedly joined by Glass's signature, blissfully sparse, but warm strings. "I'm Going to Bake a Cake," and "The Kiss" are reminiscent of Glass's more contemporary compositional style, three repeated arpeggios and only slightly shifting block chords. As ever, what saves these pieces from feeling repetitive is Glass's feel for romance and the dramatic arc.

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (1/24/03, p.100) - "...His music for the adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel achieves a balance of melancholy and serenity that's wholly appropriate..." - Rating: B

Uncut (5/03, p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Philip Glass at his most minimal, repetitive, and inexplicably, magically, affecting..."

Mojo (Publisher) (4/03, p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 - "....There's always something refreshing about a Glass score...It still punches its weight with finesse..."