Recently, I started thinking about what music could accompany each of these stages, not as background noise but as a score — the way filmmakers use sound to guide our emotions through a story.
For the ending, nothing feels more poignant than Brian Eno’s “An Ending (Ascent).” Often described as the godfather of ambient music, Eno has the gift of creating sonic landscapes that make stillness feel profound. This track, originally composed for a film about space travel, captures the bittersweet ache of closure. It’s spacious and weightless, as if you’re drifting away from something beloved, recognizing both loss and liberation in the same breath.
Then comes the messy middle — that liminal, disorienting space when you’ve left one shore but haven’t yet spotted the next. For this, Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight” is the perfect companion. Richter, who blends classical composition with modern minimalism, has a way of stirring our deepest emotions.
You’ve probably heard this piece in films like Arrival or Shutter Island, where it underscores moments of profound ambiguity. The strings ache with unresolved beauty, reflecting the confusion, grief, and occasional grace of the in-between.
Finally, there’s the beginning — the gentle awakening after the fog clears. Ólafur Arnalds’ “Near Light” captures this emergence with a slow, luminous build. Arnalds, an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist, weaves piano, strings, and subtle electronics into soundscapes that feel both intimate and expansive. “Near Light” doesn’t rush the process. It starts with delicate uncertainty, then gradually invites you into warmth and openness — much like a sunrise promising possibility.
Together, these three pieces form a trilogy of transition in less than 14 minutes total. They remind us that endings, middles, and beginnings are not just abstract stages but emotional states we can feel in our bodies, often more clearly through music than words.
So the next time you find yourself in the midst of change, try listening: Eno for letting go, Richter for navigating the uncertainty, Arnalds for embracing what’s next. Sometimes the best guide through transition isn’t advice — it’s a soundtrack.
-Chip