Philip Glass

Mishima

1985

References

• Nonesuch 79113.

Credits

• Original music composed by Philip Glass.
• Produced by Kurt Munkacsi.
• Conducted by Michael Riesman.
• String quartets performed by The Kronos Quartet:
• David Harrington.
• John Sherba.
• Hank Dutt.
• Joan Jeanrenaud.
• Recording engineer: Dan Dryden, Assistant: Don Christensen.
• Recorded at: Greene St. Studios and The Living Room NY.
• Remixed by: Dan Dryden, Kurt Munkacsi, Michael Riesman.
• Remixed at: The Living Room, Inc. NY.
• Mastered by: Bill Kipper, Masterdisk, NY.
• Produced for Euphorbia Productions, Ltd. NY, NY.

Tracks

1. Mishima / Opening (2:46).
2. November 25: morning (4:08).
3. 1934: grandmother & Kimitake (3:37).
4. Temple of the golden pavilion ("like some enormous music") (3:06).
5. Osamu's theme: Kyoko's house (2:58).
6. 1937: Saint Sebastian (1:05).
7. Kyoko's house ("stage blood is not enough") (5:00).
8. November 25: Ichigaya (2:11).
9. 1957: award montage (3:56).
10. Runaway horses ("poetry written with a splash of blood") (9:09).
11. 1962: body building (1:29).
12. November 25: the last day (1:30).
13. F-104: epilogue from Sun and Steel (1:59).
14. Mishima / Closing (2:57).

Links

Internet sites for Yukio Mishima.

The Internet Movie Data Base.

Notes

• Over the last fifteen years, Philip Glass has defined a new form of biographical opera. There was never any doubt that he would be the ideal composer for Mishima, a mosaic film biography. I wanted a score which would unite the film's disparate elements and propel it forward. Such a score, by definition, would be a distinct, cohesive composition.

I only wondered how to induce Glass. Money was out of the question: the film was already an egregiously under-budgeted labor of love production. I opted for a soft sell. (I've subsequently learned how remarkably resistant Philip is to a hard one.) I simply gave him the script and all the materials by and about Mishima at my disposal.

Philip responded enthusiastically and after several pre-production meetings and a trip to the Tokyo locations, wrote a score from the script as he would from a libretto. With Kurt Munkacsi and Michael Riesman he recorded a temp synthesizer version.

I edited the film to this temp score, altering it as necessary: cutting, expanding and repeating cues. I then played the edited film and score for Philip. He rewrote the music to fit the film's now-precise specifications and recorded it with a full orchestra. Later, he supervised last-minute changes during the final mix.

In keeping with the original concept, Glass has re-edited the score as a distinct musical entity. His Mishima equally serves the film and stands alone.

Paul Schrader.

Audio samples

• Saint Sebastian (533Kb )

Pictures

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