As Russia invaded, a young boy played piano in Ukraine. Philip Glass says he never envisioned this soundtrack.

Washington Post video journalist Whitney Leaming, who is on the ground in Ukraine, heard the sound from several floors above. She ventured out into the hallway to hear more. She pulled out her video camera, filming as he played against a backdrop of swirly beige carpet below. The melodies reminded her of her mother’s own piano playing when she was a baby and could not sleep.

Leaming’s video was shared to The Post’s Instagram account, where thousands of people left comments, many calling the footage “heartbreaking.” To date, the footage has been viewed on Instagram almost 9 million times.

Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan, the composers of the music, could never have imagined that the piece would be the soundtrack to a war.

“I never thought of this music as a political piece, but it has become one,” Glass, 85, one of the most famous and most-performed of living composers, said in a statement Tuesday.

The piece, titled “Walk to School,” was written in 2020 and features on the soundtrack of science fiction drama television series “Tales from the Loop” on Amazon Prime.

Glass said living in the East Village of New York, which he said is broadly known as “Little Ukraine” due to the large number of Ukrainians there, has broadened his knowledge of their culture and his love for its people.

“I have come to know and become friends with many of my Ukrainian neighbors,” he said. “I sympathize with them, their families, and all the innocent citizens and people of Ukraine. They are living through difficulties we all hope to never face.”

Scottish-born Leonard-Morgan, 48, who now lives in Los Angeles, said the young boy’s piano playing “in the face of adversity” moved him to tears.

“I saw the clip and was moved beyond words that someone could find escapism in our music at this horrific time in their life,” he told The Washington Post on Monday.

While he did not know if the boy was “finding solace or hope” in the song, he considered it powerful that music can “transcend all boundaries” and evoke emotion.

“Music can affect each of us personally, but it can also reach a collective conscience,” Leonard-Morgan said.

Days earlier, Leonard-Morgan went on Twitter and shared the video of the boy’s piano playing, writing: “I can’t believe this is happening.” He shared emojis of a broken heart.

Almost one week after it was recorded, the boy in Ukraine who played the piano has not yet been publicly identified.

“We left [the hotel] minutes later to go out and report,” Leaming said. “I never saw the family again.”

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