Kundun: Music From The Original Soundtrack
For the second of 1997's dueling Buddhist epics (the other beingSeven 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 scoreKundun. Glass (who's previously scored the avant garde  documentaryKoyaanisqatsitrilogy,Mishima, and the strangeCandymanhorror 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 onKundunto 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