St. Vincent performed a faithful version of the Philip Glass composition “Osamu’s Theme” with the violinist Jennifer Koh at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington D.C. The event took place on December 2nd and aired Wednesday the 26th on CBS.
“Osamu’s Theme” comes from Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, a 1985 Paul Schrader film scored by Glass along with the Kronos Quartet. The original revolves around hissing cymbals and a light pitter patter on the drums, jangly guitar runs punctuated by power-strums and long runs high on the scale from a violin. St. Vincent and Koh, both virtuosos in their respective fields, replicated this dynamic with ease, blitzing through an abbreviated version of Glass’ original.
In addition to celebrating Glass, this year’s Kennedy Center Honors also put a spotlight on the lifetime achievements of Cher, Reba McEntire and Wayne Shorter. The cast of Hamilton was on hand as well to be recognized “as trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.”