10 Extraordinary Partnerships Between Composers and Directors

[h2]6. Phillip Glass and Godfrey Reggio[/h2] 

If you have never seen the hauntingly beautiful avant-garde documentary Koyaanisqatsi or its sequels, Powaaqatsi and Nagoyqatsi, you simply must, especially now that Criterion has restored and re-released them all in an outstanding home video box set. They are works of staggering aesthetic power, and some of the clearest, most defining examples of what a great director and a great composer can achieve when their voices work as one. The films are exclusively comprised of music and imagery, and for the purposes of this list, that makes Glass and Reggio’s collaboration indispensible. Reggio was the observer, photographing gorgeous, evocative, and sometimes terrifying modern landscapes of both the natural and unnatural variety, while Glass’ music gave the raw material emotional and thematic context. Watching these films, it is difficult to determine whether they are works of cinematic art set to music or works of musical genius set to visual accompaniment; both explanations are equally valid, for even among the names on this list, it would be difficult to find many composers and directors so directly in tune with one another’s artistic ambitions.

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