Track Listing

1. Sand Mandala
2. Northern Tibet
3. Dark Kitchen
4. Choosing
5. Caravan Moves Out
6. Reting's Eyes
7. Potala
8. Lord Chamberlain
9. Norbu Plays
10. Norbulingka
11. Chinese Invade
12. Fish
13. Distraught
14. Thirteenth Dalai Lama
15. Move to Dungkar
16. Projector
17. Lhasa at Night
18. Escape to India

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45982 in Music
• Released on: 1997-11-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English, Tibetan

Amazon.com
For the second of 1997's dueling Buddhist epics (the other being Seven Days in Tibet, scored by John Williams), director Martin Scorsese made a wise--if commercially challenging--choice in tapping noted minimalist composer Philip Glass to score Kundun. Glass (who's previously scored the avant garde documentary Koyaanisqatsi trilogy, Mishima, and the strange Candyman horror series), is the perfect choice here; his own Buddhist beliefs play a key role in meshing image and music. Glass's familiar compositional techniques are wedded on Kundun to a sensitive use of ethnic instruments and the voices of the Gyuto Monks, adding an aura of spiritual power missing from most Hollywood fare. --Jerry McCulley

What the Critics Say
Eighteen tracks traverse a wide stylistic field, accumulating a symphonic sweep.... Glass is no stranger to Tibetan culture: portentous, processional, but never pompous, he proves himself an ideal choice for this work.

Customer Reviews

Vintage Glass with Tibetan Instruments
This is vintage Glass. If you like "Koyaanisqatsi", you should like "Kundun". Like all of Glass's work, this one takes some time to get into, but once you've heard it, it becomes compelling, hypnotic, even addictive.

One of the reviewers below complains that this music isn't Tibetan enough. This is like complaining that Beethoven doesn't use Flemish folk songs enough. If you want traditional Tibetan music, buy some. If you want Philip Glass, buy "Kundun".

It's true that the music is vaguely reminiscent of "Koyaanisqatsi". This is not necessarily a bad thing, "Koyaanisqatsi" being one of Glass's greatest works.

Some of the music is also reminiscent of Bernard Herrman's score for "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Since Glass is a Minimalist instead of a Romantic like Herrman, however, don't expect to hear the great bursts of emotion you find in "Journey to the Center of the Earth". On the other hand, Herrman followed the action of the movie so closely that his score sounds like a series of unconnected pieces. "Kundun" is far more unified, and you feel like you've heard a symphony when it's over.

One of the reviewers complains that the orchestra doesn't seem to contain many Tibetan instruments. I wonder how many Westerners can recognize Tibetan instruments when they hear them. If you look at traditional non-Western instruments all over the world, you find the same general themes over and over again: flutes (like the Andean pan-pipes), horns (like the Tibetan horns heard in this music), drums, and stringed instruments (like the Chinese biba or the Japanese koto). It takes a sensitive ear to hear the difference between one of these instruments and the Western equivalent.

Hypnotic
I may be in the minority of the reviewers here, in that I have never seen the movie "Kundun". I picked up this cd because it looked interesting (I know...u can't judge a book, or cd in this case, by it's cover), but I am a great experimentor and I love 'discovering' different forms and types of music. And this looked intriguing and different. I thought it might be hard to get into, but not at all. From the opening track I was spellbound. I find the whole album to be very dark and mysterious...captivating, hypnotic and spellbinding. It is unlike any soundtrack that I own, and I love it. I've been playing it straight for the last 3 days, and the more I hear it the more I find to like. It's a wonderful cd to relax and meditate too. It is very soothing. Now I just have to see the movie too. :)

Stands on its own as a dark, enchanting suite
While I found Philip Glass's music a bit distracting while watching the film, the score by itself is incredibly beautiful. It's more accessible than some Philip Glass works, carrying very definite melodies and themes.

The horror of the Tibetan tragedy is painted in dark musical strokes, contrasted with delicate bells and chimes which can only represent the implacable dignity of the Tibetan people.

This score tells the sobering story in its own way, perhaps in a more emotionally compelling way, than does the film. Not to be missed. A true tour de force.