Naqoyqatsi (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack);

Director Godfrey Reggio's Hopi-inspired Qatsi trilogy is one of most ambitious and challenging film cycles ever attempted. With groundbreaking visuals, the non-verbal films examine--and inherently critique--the rapid transition from the natural order to a world dominated by human culture and technology. Critical to the films' success has been the music of Philip Glass, for whom the projects have variously represented an entrée into a rich film-scoring career and compelling motivation for expanding his minimalist technique. In the first two chapters (Koyaanisqatsi, 1983; Powaqqatsi, 1988), the composer's music gave poetic rhythm to the striking images of man and nature in conflict; here's he's ironically asked to be the human link to the film's cascade of oft impressionistic, digitally manipulated images. The result is some of the composer's warmest, most organically friendly music. Crucial to the soundtrack's success is the collaboration of master cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the extent of which (the musician's brooding, lyrical lines are the work's veritable arteries) elevates Glass's work to de facto Ma cello concerto. His work on the "Old World" and "New World" movements may well rank with some of his most haunting, validating Glass's sage, back-to-the future tack in the bargain. --Jerry McCulley