ABSTRACT
This chapter draws attention to the string quartet as an effective conveyance of this, and uses of cyclical repetition can also be connotative of psychological entrapment, obsession or hypnotism. It explores Compassion in Exile a documentary on the life of the Dalai Lama. Philip Glass's Heroes' symphony also demonstrates instances of a close relationship between text and context, such as in Sense of Doubt', but Glass reworks the material by transposition. Harmonic analysis clearly points towards Glass's self-referentiality on a generic level, a study of the music in relation to the visual dimension, in which the viscous movement of oil is foregrounded, demonstrates an effective partnership of music and image Glass's oscillating harmonies and gently undulating rhythms complement this scene. Glass's music is often associated with horror, conflict or bleakness, due to his fondness for uses of minor tonalities, tritones and semitonal shifts. The use of cyclical motion correlating with Glass's interest in Buddhist philosophy suggests a spiritual trope.
