early spring 2012 series

Although it’s been said the best soundtracks are those that go unnoticed, now and then we encounter music in a film that seems to pass like a shuttle through a loom, commenting on the story at hand in ways that no actor ever could. Music gives voice to the medium itself, lighting the way where before we have felt only darkness. And while names like Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman roll off the tongues of even the most casual film enthusiasts, far too many of our great scorers do not. Little known among them is Michael Galasso, whose soundscapes Cornell proudly brings to the fore in a series of five films.

Born in Louisiana in 1949, Galasso picked up his first violin at age 3. After debuting with the New Orleans Philharmonic at 11, he went on to forge a unique and fascinating career. Those in the theater world may recognize him as a longtime collaborator of director Robert Wilson, for whom he composed a ream of incidental music. It was on the stage that his work blossomed, activated by the imminence of bodies and the indeterminacies of live performance. His reach would also extend into museum spaces in the form of sound installations, and eventually into moving pictures. He also released two invaluable recordings on the influential ECM Records label. The first of these, 1983’s Scenes, encapsulates his craft in a single title, for his harmonies and blossoming architectures seem to engage us one vignette at a time, each connected by a profound consistency of mind.

Galasso scored a dozen films, and two by Wong Kar-wai—Chungking Express (1994) and In the Mood for Love (2000)—are among the handful to be featured this spring. At once blatant and understated, the alienation expressed in Wong’s kaleidoscopic world paints its own emotional skeleton, which Galasso fleshes by the charge of his subcutaneous harmonies. Yet where in these Hong Kong gems the music’s haunting sensibilities seem the only scrim hovering between us and an utter emotional breakdown of their characters, in films like Secret Ballot (2002) and Rashevski’s Tango (2003), Galasso’s gestures dance slowly on the outside looking in. It is with Martin Provost’s Séraphine (2008), however, that his mastery was at last given the recognition it deserves by receipt of the coveted César award for best original score. This would happen just months before his passing in the summer of 2009.

At the heart of this series will be "Bring on the Lumière!", a multimedia dance-theatre-light performance choreographed by daughter, and Cornell alum, Catherine Galasso ‘06, taking place on February 10 at 7:30pm in the Schwartz Center. Catherine, an up and coming choreographer based in San Francisco, will be featuring her father’s music in the theatrical context that so inspired him, and where he will always live on through the interactivity of his legacy. All of this comes in light of a recent tribute to her father’s music in Paris. A 13-minute montage of clips from films Galasso scored, created for this tribute, will be shown in advance of Chungking Express on February 1, and Catherine will speak briefly about her father’s music and her use of it in "Bring on the Lumière!" in advance of the February 8 screening of In the Mood for Love.