Quick Talk With Philip Glass

Is it strange to be working toward someone else’s vision while writing a film score?

There are very talented people making movies. Why wouldn’t you want to work with very talented people? Is the downside that you might make some money? I won a Golden Globe [in 1999, for the soundtrack to The Truman Show]–I did pretty well! I enjoyed it, I’m shameless about it, and it’s the only time I made real money.

Are you competitive about prizes?

The big prizes–the Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur, whatever!–I never got those prizes. But the prize money wasn’t for people like me. It was for people who couldn’t manage otherwise.

Did you want your children to become musicians?

When I was a kid, I took music lessons because my family thought that that was a sign of a good education. I didn’t give my kids music education so they could become musicians. I did it because the training, the habits of work–those are lifelong accomplishments.

Do you think about your musical legacy?

It’s a useless topic to think about. No one can tell you, in 30 years, what people will be listening to. I can remember thinking as a very young man that composers like Schoenberg were going to be eternal. You don’t hear it anymore!

Were you hesitant to write about your Buddhist faith? If I’m going to write a book, and people are going to read it, is there anything I can’t say? Other than not wanting to embarrass others, there isn’t anything I can’t talk about.