I'm a little surprised to find no Steve Reich thread, but there you go!
Just found this link on Newsweek's website that has an interview with him, and a performance of his Double Sextet, the piece that just won the Pulitzer Prize. It's here (http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/popvox/archive/2009/04/24/steve-reich-on-winning-the-pulitzer-for-double-sextet.aspx). I have heard it several times performed by eighth blackbird, for whom it was written. Anyone who has been following the composer and enjoys his recent works will definitely want to hear it.
--Bruce
My favorite Reich piece has to be "New York Counterpoint". It has all the effects of minimalist looping but without the cold electronic sounds. Love when the bass clarinet kicks in during the 3rd movement. Of course my students love "Clapping Music".
I don't know that listening to a recording would be comparable, but I haa a great time witnessing two colleagues in Buffalo perform the Clapping Music.
I'm a complete sucker for Music for 18 Musicians. I'll go into binges where I'll put that on endless repeat. It's my personal favorite of the "minimalist" compositions that I've heard. The few extra chord changes make all the difference, and it is deeply profound and uplifting.
I wasn't able to get the same out of his phase music or "Drumming" -- may be my fault.
I have the Nonesuch and ECM versions of 18. I love them both- the ECM sounds more "live", but the detail in the Nonesuch is pretty impressive.
A hint of cross-pollination (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3260.msg303678.html#msg303678), perhaps?
I've just gotten to know Reich's Desert Music, and I have been listening to it obsessively for the last week. It's got some the the "typical" Reich trademarks, but it also strikes me as an unholy marriage of Stravinsky's Les Noces and Symphony of Psalms. It seems that some of the more hard core Reich fans don't like him working with larger ensembles, but I've gotten a LOT out of this.
Quote from: jowcol on May 11, 2009, 05:39:59 PM
I've just gotten to know Reich's Desert Music, and I have been listening to it obsessively for the last week. It's got some the the "typical" Reich trademarks, but it also strikes me as an unholy marriage of Stravinsky's Les Noces and Symphony of Psalms. It seems that some of the more hard core Reich fans don't like him working with larger ensembles, but I've gotten a LOT out of this.
When I first got to know
The Desert Music (back when I was in Charlottesville), it was obsessive listening for a longish while for
me, too. I should revisit the "large orchestra" version; lately I've been listening to a smaller scoring, the recording by
Alarm Will Sound.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on May 30, 2009, 02:50:40 PM
When I first got to know The Desert Music (back when I was in Charlottesville), it was obsessive listening for a longish while for me, too. I should revisit the "large orchestra" version; lately I've been listening to a smaller scoring, the recording by Alarm Will Sound.
I've been thinking of the Alarm Will Sound recording too... I really enjoy the original recording of this work but I can imagine the clarity of a smaller ensemble being to its benefit.
A very nice account of Tehillim on that Alarm Will Sound disc, too.
Quote from: hornteacher on April 29, 2009, 07:09:23 PM
My favorite Reich piece has to be "New York Counterpoint". It has all the effects of minimalist looping but without the cold electronic sounds.
He wrote a few such pieces, 'variations on a theme' . . . .
Used to like Reich, but I lost interest after Desert Music, which was a major disappointment. New York Counterpoint to me seemed lazy: the music just fades out when he runs out of ideas. It lacks the grand sweep of something like Music for 18 Musicians, which remains my favorite of his.
I don't care at this point if I never hear any Reich again. :-\
Just got word about a huge Steve Reich festival Dec. 10-16 on WQXR-FM, which will be streamed over the Internet. More info below.
--Bruce
* * * **
WQXR's "Q2" Web Stream Presents
MAXIMUM REICH: A Celebration of Steve Reich
from Thursday, December 10 to Wednesday, December 16
Streamed at www.Q2live.org
Q2, WQXR's vibrant new 24/7 music stream dedicated to contemporary classical music, kicks off its first full festival, MAXIMUM REICH: A Celebration of Steve Reich, from December 10 - 16. This week-long immersion into the work of one of the most landscape-changing composers of the last 50 years will include a comprehensive presentation of his recorded works; explorations of the influences both on and of Reich, including tributes from musicians and composers he has inspired, such as Nico Muhly, Sonic Youth, and David Lang; recent videos and exclusive downloads; and interviews and music recordings from the venerable archives of WNYC, the new owner of WQXR.
MAXIMUM REICH: A Celebration of Steve Reich will stream on Q2 from Thursday, December 10 to Wednesday, December 16. Q2 is available at www.Q2live.org, and can also be accessed through WQXR's web site, www.wqxr.org. In addition, NPR Music will run the full stream and it will feature highlights from the festival, including select recordings of live performances and Steve Reich in his own words. NPR's stream will be available at www.npr.org/music.
Highlights of the festival:
* Original and exciting new recordings of all of Reich's recorded works, many with personal introductions by Reich himself
* Exclusive rare performances and interviews from the WNYC archives, including visits with John Schaefer on New Sounds and Soundcheck, long-format interviews with Tim Page on Meet the Composer and with Leonard Lopate on The Leonard Lopate Show
* Do You Q2 blog, with celebrity tributes from contemporaries, collaborators and admirers from different fields, including: David Lang and Nico Muhly, composers; Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo; So Percussion's Jason Treuting; and Bang On A Can Allstars & Steve Reich & Musicians' Evan Ziporyn
* Reich (Remixed), a collection of Steve Reich material remixed by some of today's most important DJs and remixers
* Exclusive, time-limited download of Reich's Dance Patterns, courtesy Nonesuch Records http://nonesuch.edgeboss.net/download/nonesuch/music/075597991321/a_fl_steve_reich_daniel_variations_8_dance_patterns_332481_256.mp3
Festival schedule:
10pm nightly: Different versions of the iconic Reich composition, Music for 18 Musicians
Noon & 8pm daily: Interviews with Reich from WNYC archives
Daily focus:
Thursday: The Birth of a Style: Influences and Teachers
Friday: Counterpoint: From Vermont to Cello
Saturday: Reich in Full Voice: Vocal, Choral and Tape
Sunday: The Cave (Reich's only opera)
Monday: Live Concerts from the WNYC Archives
Tuesday: Music for Percussion
Wednesday: Reich Remixed: The Next Generation
Although there does not seem to be a lot of Reich fans here, those who are interested can listen to 8th Blackbird play his Pulitzer winning Double Sextet (http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20100211bbird) on demand.
There are three other works on the program - I have never liked Ades' Catch but the others are OK. Basically this is a program of 21st century, easy listening chamber works.
Quote from: UB on February 25, 2010, 01:16:12 AM
Although there does not seem to be a lot of Reich fans here, those who are interested can listen to 8th Blackbird play his Pulitzer winning Double Sextet (http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20100211bbird)on demand.
I heard the piece played by Sonic Generator while I was in Atlanta this past November. An agreeable experience, and (as you say), basically 21st century, easy-listening chamber music.
Not a big Reich fan myself, but I do like Different Trains a lot, and used it as part of a few public music appreciation lectures I gave.
Thanks for the link. I'm definitely a fan-- he tends to borrow from himself a lot, but, in my book, his aesthetic is a major contribution to 20th (and 21st) Century music. I thought the Daniel Variations were quite effective.
FWIW-- I've been digging into Nik Bartsch's "ritual groove music-zen funk" jazz combo Ronin recently. (The album Honlon to a lesser degree Stoa are very good.) He's mentioned Reich as a major influence, and Reich fans may want to check this group out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiV9f1_PFHE
Very gimmicky, and boring as hell. The standing ovation at the end was just embarrassing for such a banal piece of music.
I have just picked up the Bang on a Can Reich Album with the New York Counterpoint, 8 LInes (chamber group version of of the Octet) and 4 Organs.
The first two I found to be quite enjoyable-- the 8 lines I liked the best. (It didn't have that phase-echo thing he repeats in other works), and the wind parts are quite enjoyable. Still not sure if the added strings help or hurt-- I thought the balance on the Octet was strong, but this was still a good reading. ON the other end of the spectrum, 4 Organs didn't work for me. I'm not as fond of some of his deliberate "process" music-- and this one did not have the polyrhythmic richness, nor any of the melodic kernels that he has in the later works.
Is Music for a Large Ensemble a rewrite of Music for 18 Musicians? If so, was it considered unsuccessful? - as I notice that the original is discussed far more often.
I love how it crams a similar amount of material into a quarter of the length - it makes it listenable as a piece of music rather than some zen thing ;)
Quote from: Lethe on March 16, 2010, 07:14:20 AM
Is Music for a Large Ensemble a rewrite of Music for 18 Musicians? If so, was it considered unsuccessful? - as I notice that the original is discussed far more often.
I love how it crams a similar amount of material into a quarter of the length - it makes it listenable as a piece of music rather than some zen thing ;)
They aren't the same thing-- but Reich borrows from himself pretty heavily. My favorite light dose of him is the Octect.
The Four Sections is very good if you are into that sort of thing. (It refers to sections of the orchestra). The percussion section sounds like he's returned to the same well, but the other sections are more varied, and the climax at the end is really cool, IMO.
Thanks. I think that Four Sections is included in the Nonesuch 10CD retrospective so I'll give it a try sometime.
As an aside, can anybody recommend some Reich for piano? I like Piano Phase, but haven't run into much else along these lines (Glass for eg has composed a few pieces with similar spans - Two Pages, Mad Rush, for eg).
Edit: actually, make that any keyboard music. I already know Four Organs which I dislike, as I find it pedantic, maybe there are other pieces?
Quote from: Lethe on March 16, 2010, 09:19:44 AM
Thanks. I think that Four Sections is included in the Nonesuch 10CD retrospective so I'll give it a try sometime.
As an aside, can anybody recommend some Reich for piano? I like Piano Phase, but haven't run into much else along these lines (Glass for eg has composed a few pieces with similar spans - Two Pages, Mad Rush, for eg).
Edit: actually, make that any keyboard music. I already know Four Organs which I dislike, as I find it pedantic, maybe there are other pieces?
I share your opinion on Four Organs. It's process, and very little else.. Beyond what's in the retrospective, I don't know any more.
Four Organs will live on in lore as the occasion when a wag left Symphony Hall in the middle of a performance, shouting, "I CONFESS!"
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on March 17, 2010, 05:20:01 AM
Four Organs will live on in lore as the occasion when a wag left Symphony Hall in the middle of a performance, shouting, "I CONFESS!"
Love that... :D
--Bruce
I think Steve Reich's influence, as Terry Riley's, is massive. Most people are probably bored of Minimalism now or whatever, but I think the movement was very successful. Did all the music grab me? Absolutely not, but I think there were several masterpieces that came out of this movement and Reich's Music for 18 Musicians is most definitely one of them. I can't think of another piece of Minimalism that sounds as transcendent as this work. There's something about it that just elevates my mind someplace else entirely. I always find something completely new when I listen to this work. There's always a new texture revealed or a counter rhythm that didn't catch the last time.
Other works I enjoyed by Reich besides Music for 18 Musicians:
Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards
City Life
Nagoya Marimbas (I heard an arrangement of this for two guitars that was very impressive a few years ago)
Double Sextet
Different Trains
Electric Counterpoint
Music for a Large Ensemble
The Four Sections
The Desert Music
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 18, 2011, 08:42:55 PM
Other works I enjoyed by Reich besides Music for 18 Musicians:
Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards
City Life
Nagoya Marimbas (I heard an arrangement of this for two guitars that was very impressive a few years ago)
Double Sextet
Different Trains
Electric Counterpoint
Music for a Large Ensemble
The Four Sections
The Desert Music
Interestingly, though I like
Music for 18 musicians and
Nagoya marimbas, the rest doesn't grab me that much--don't care much for
The four sections and much less for
City life (as a matter of fact, on the CD with
The four sections is one of my favourites,
Music for mallet instruments, voices and organ). I usually like what the minimalists have done during the 70s, as opposed to the heavier, "plastic" stuff of later decades. But it must be added that the biggest factor in turning me to Reich was to see him and his ensemble live in a couple of concerts playing
Drumming,
Six pianos,
Music for mallet instruments,
Music for 18 musicians and
Nagoya marimbas.
Drumming live is absolutely breathtaking!
Quote from: petrarch on April 18, 2011, 10:12:17 PM
Interestingly, though I like Music for 18 musicians and Nagoya marimbas, the rest doesn't grab me that much--don't care much for The four sections and much less for City life (as a matter of fact, on the CD with The four sections is one of my favourites, Music for mallet instruments, voices and organ). I usually like what the minimalists have done during the 70s, as opposed to the heavier, "plastic" stuff of later decades. But it must be added that the biggest factor in turning me to Reich was to see him and his ensemble live in a couple of concerts playing Drumming, Six pianos, Music for mallet instruments, Music for 18 musicians and Nagoya marimbas. Drumming live is absolutely breathtaking!
Thanks for your feedback. I'll have to listen to
Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ. I don't remember it making much an impression on me the first time around, but it has been several years since I've heard it.
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 18, 2011, 08:42:55 PM
I think Steve Reich's influence, as Terry Riley's, is massive. Most people are probably bored of Minimalism now or whatever, but I think the movement was very successful. Did all the music grab me? Absolutely not, but I think there were several masterpieces that came out of this movement and Reich's Music for 18 Musicians is most definitely one of them. I can't think of another piece of Minimalism that sounds as transcendent as this work. There's something about it that just elevates my mind someplace else entirely. I always find something completely new when I listen to this work. There's always a new texture revealed or a counter rhythm that didn't catch the last time.
Other works I enjoyed by Reich besides Music for 18 Musicians:
Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards
City Life
Nagoya Marimbas (I heard an arrangement of this for two guitars that was very impressive a few years ago)
Double Sextet
Different Trains
Electric Counterpoint
Music for a Large Ensemble
The Four Sections
The Desert Music
I'm a big fan of the Octet as well.
I'm not sure if Colin McPhee was a direct influence on Reich, but you may wish to check him out. He was heavily influence by Balinese music. The Espirit Orchestra's collection of McPhee works is a pretty strong album, and still available in MP3.
http://www.amazon.com/Colin-McPhee-Tabuh-Tabuhan/dp/B0000067U3 (http://www.amazon.com/Colin-McPhee-Tabuh-Tabuhan/dp/B0000067U3)
Although the 2nd Symphony and Transitions are also very strong works, this version of Tabuh-Tabuhan blows away the one conducted by Hanson, and if you hear it, you will wonder if Reich was influenced by McPhee, or of the Espirit Orchestra was influenced by Reich in their interpretation of McPhee. Either way, you may enjoy it.
Very much looking forward to this all-Reich concert at Carnegie Hall, one week from tomorrow:
Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends
Robert Black, Electric Bass
David Cossin, Percussion
Vicky Chow, Piano
Evan Ziporyn, Clarinet and Piano
Bryce Dessner, Guitar
Taylor Levine, Guitar
Derek Johnson, Guitar
Mark Stewart, Guitar
Glenn Kotche, Drums
Kelli Kathman, Flute
Todd Reynolds, Violin
Ashley Bathgate, Cello
Gregg August, Bass
Andrew Cotton, Sound Engineer
eighth blackbird
Tim Munro, Flute
Michael J. Maccaferri, Clarinet
Matt Albert, Violin and Viola
Nicholas Photinos, Cello
Matthew Duvall, Percussion
Lisa Kaplan, Piano
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, Violin
John Sherba, Violin
Hank Dutt, Viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, Cello
So Percussion
Eric Beach
Josh Quillen
Adam Sliwinski
Jason Treuting
Reich: Mallet Quartet (NY Premiere)
Reich: WTC 9/11 (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
Reich: 2 x 5 (NY Premiere)
Reich: Double Sextet
--Bruce
Steve Reich is 75 today!
--Bruce
Last week, I saw Reich's Sextet for piano and percussion (not the mediocre Double Sextet [which I've also seen]), and I had a blast. If there is a piece that a recording cannot do justice to, this is it. You really can't get a sense of the counterpoint of the work without seeing it live. It was the work that got the loudest ovation on the program (Crumb's Vox Balaenae and Thierry de Mey's Musique de Table were also performed, and were great). I'm hoping this work gets performed more, instead of that boring Double Sextet, which seems to be the flavor of the month at the moment with Reich performers.
This is a little off topic.... but... Does anyone know why Steve always wears sports hat? I read a lot about him and somehow this question never comes up in interviews. I'm pretty curious what compels him (and some other musicians that I've known) to wear a hat as part of his public persona. What payback could be so impressive that a person willfully commits to such a faithful observation of self-imposed dress-code?
Quote from: Sandra on October 04, 2011, 10:56:46 PM
This is a little off topic.... but... Does anyone know why Steve always wears sports hat? I read a lot about him and somehow this question never comes up in interviews. I'm pretty curious what compels him (and some other musicians that I've known) to wear a hat as part of his public persona. What payback could be so impressive that a person willfully commits to such a faithful observation of self-imposed dress-code?
He's a Knee Yakka? ;D
It's mysterious. People wonder why John Zorn always seems to be wearing camo.
Quote from: lescamil on October 03, 2011, 03:23:01 PM
. . . instead of that boring Double Sextet, which seems to be the flavor of the month at the moment with Reich performers.
Didn't this garner some prize or other?
Quote from: Sandra on October 04, 2011, 10:56:46 PM
This is a little off topic.... but... Does anyone know why Steve always wears sports hat?...
Quote from: 7/4 on January 02, 2014, 02:16:19 PM
It's mysterious. People wonder why John Zorn always seems to be wearing camo.
I'm guessing it's a sort of "counter-cultural fashion statement."
Quote from: karlhenning on January 02, 2014, 02:29:03 PM
Didn't this garner some prize or other?
It won the Pulitzer recently. Shows what a joke the prize has become, especially after Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto won recently, also.
Quote from: lescamil on January 02, 2014, 02:48:35 PM
It won the Pulitzer recently. Shows what a joke the prize has become, especially after Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto won recently, also.
Yo-Yo Ma and Flava Flav walk into a bar...
The Closing of the American Mind has come to Composer-ville!! Surely we'll never recover the heights that were achieved in the 20th century. The StaliNazification has been going on since, say, 1993.
Quote from: snyprrr on January 02, 2014, 05:26:19 PM
Surely we'll never recover the heights that were achieved in the 20th century.
I don't take that personally :)
Where my own work fits in The Grand Scheme of Things, I leave to others (and not to the Stockhouseketeers) to determine. But it would be a recipie for mediocrity if any composer approaches his work with nonsense like, "oh, music will never be as good as it was then" poisoning his well.
Hmm...only two pages on Mr. Reich. What does this say about who?...who does this say about what...
Quote from: Brewski on April 22, 2011, 06:46:00 AM
Reich: WTC 9/11 (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
What was your opinion of this,
Bruce?
Quote from: milk on April 25, 2014, 05:26:30 AM
Hmm...only two pages on Mr. Reich. What does this say about who?...who does this say about what...
Yes, two pages to the untrained eye. But if you look carefully, at the end of the second page there is a 64x repeat sign :D .
A 1973 performance of Four Organs at Carnegie Hall in New York City nearly caused a riot, with "yells for the music to stop, mixed with applause to hasten the end of the piece."[5] One of the performers, Michael Tilson Thomas, recalls: "One woman walked down the aisle and repeatedly banged her head on the front of the stage, wailing 'Stop, stop, I confess.'" - Wikipedia.
Sounds like a fun time!
I saw this film years ago at university. Oh Dem Watermelons - experimental film by Robert Nelson with soundtrack by Reich:
https://www.youtube.com/v/FVTmsvTnuIg
Quote from: Sandra on October 04, 2011, 10:56:46 PM
This is a little off topic.... but... Does anyone know why Steve always wears sports hat?
He's using it as a kippah (orthodox jewish hat thing). I think one of the other downtowners (Michael Gordon?) does the same thing.
Visualizing Piano Phase:
http://www.pianophase.com/
Quote from: petrarch on July 20, 2014, 06:37:50 AM
Visualizing Piano Phase:
http://www.pianophase.com/
It is a nice visualization. I was wrongly thinking that the phase shifting of
Piano Phase is just that one of the pianists drops a sixteenth note periodically, but in fact the tempo needs to be slightly increased for a certain period of time. If the original tempo is dotted quarter note = 72 and the drifting period is 4 measures, one pianist needs to play with dotted quarter note = 73.125 for 4 measures, then return to 72. I have no idea how difficult it is for trained pianists.
(http://www.chrisbrannick.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Piano-phase-744x1024.jpg)
Yeah, as I understand it the tempo is increased. An example of adding a note would be Ligeti's first piano etude Disordre (though to a different aesthetic effect).
Speaking of these phase works, does anyone else hear a quote from Reich's Violin Phase played repeatedly by one of the pianos roughly halfway through Music for 18 Musicians?
Music for 18 does indeed include a speeded up reference to Violin Phase in one of the later sections. Nice to hear it too, but he always does get some mileage out of previous works!
Nonesuch Records Releases Steve Reich's "Radio Rewrite" on September 30
http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/nonesuch-records-releases-steve-reich-radio-rewrite-september-30-2014-08-21 (http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/nonesuch-records-releases-steve-reich-radio-rewrite-september-30-2014-08-21)
https://www.youtube.com/v/siUQp11u8tE
I have not been checking Reich's recent works but found this new release. It sounds nice.
Radio Rewrite is not one of the stronger recent Reich pieces I have heard. It's in his typical 5 movement arch form (see Sextet, Desert Music, etc), and it gets rather predictable compared to those two masterworks. The first movement to me seems to carry all of the weight and generate the most interest, but it seems to lose steam and lag for the rest of the work. I am hoping that my opinion in just based on two rather uninspired performances I have heard of the work.
Aye, I do find The Desert Music evergreen.
Steve Reich's Quartet for two pianos and two vibraphones is his latest work to be premiered, I believe. I just finished listening to a performance by Colin Currie (the dedicatée) and friends, and this is quite an excellent work. I think it is a step-up from Radio Rewrite (which I have come around to), and, true to the program notes, is a more complex, but more engaging, work than many of his later works. The textural and harmonic shifts in the piece are more frequent, but it stays cohesive. As a pianist, it's also great to hear an instrumental combination that is so common in many of his works brought to the fore and given its own musical work. I had always yearned that certain passages for this combination in works like The Four Sections and Sextet were a bit longer, and that is what you get in this piece, basically.
Quote from: karlhenning on April 25, 2014, 05:29:18 AM
What was your opinion of this, Bruce?
Hi Karl (I only stumbled across this post by accident, while searching for the Reich thread), I liked it - any of Reich's scores are worth hearing - but that said, and having heard
Corigliano's 9/11 piece and others, I am not certain that such a complicated event can be adequately expressed in music. (Or perhaps I am just "too close" to respond clearly.)
Posting now with delight, that the Southbank Centre has commissioned me to write another set of programme notes (after I did notes for two concerts there with Dudamel and the SBSOV in
Stravinsky and
Messiaen, and a third on
Kurtág's
Kafka Fragments).
This time the notes are for an all-
Steve Reich concert on 24 May, with the Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals. The line-up includes his Quartet (2013, for 2 pianos and 2 vibraphones),
Mallet Quartet (2009, for 2 marimbas and 2 vibraphones), and
Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76).
--Bruce
Happy 80th Birthday!
https://www.youtube.com/v/zY09QP6CqdM
Hard to believe Steve Reich is 80 today! Seems like yesterday -- but it was over 40 years ago -- when I bought the album below, with Violin Phase and It's Gonna Rain. (I played it endlessly, and should publicly thank my parents for not killing me. ;D )
Later today will explore one of the versions of Music for 18 Musicians, probably my current favorite of his works.
--Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on October 03, 2016, 08:49:32 AMSeems like yesterday -- but it was over 40 years ago -- when I bought the album below, with Violin Phase and It's Gonna Rain. (I played it endlessly, and should publicly thank my parents for not killing me. ;D )
Wow, I can only imagine what impact could that kind of music have back then!
I've found Reich in my early twenties, around the year 2000, way before falling in love with classical music in general, and even with all the avantgarde electronic stuff that was out there, Reich was still a revelation, something totally new and ear-opening. Can't say I'm a big fan of his later work but
City Life,
Different Trains and
Music for 18 Musicians are pieces that played an important part in my life and I revisit them regularly.
Quote from: Rinaldo on October 03, 2016, 10:16:24 AMI've found Reich in my early twenties, around the year 2000, way before falling in love with classical music in general, and even with all the avantgarde electronic stuff that was out there, Reich was still a revelation, something totally new and ear-opening. Can't say I'm a big fan of his later work but City Life, Different Trains and Music for 18 Musicians are pieces that played an important part in my life and I revisit them regularly.
And those 3 pieces are important to me, too. Others I like:
Drumming,
Tehillim, and
Music for Pieces of Wood.
--Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on October 03, 2016, 10:25:44 AM
And those 3 pieces are important to me, too. Others I like: Drumming, Tehillim, and Music for Pieces of Wood.
--Bruce
Just got the go-ahead yesterday: will be writing programme notes for a May concert of
Drumming and
Tehillim, performed by Colin Currie Percussion and Synergy Vocals at the Southbank Centre in London. This is my fifth set of notes for the Centre, so I guess it's a romance. ;D
8)
--Bruce
"Our [Nashville Symphony Orchestra] principal clarinetist, James Zimmermann, performed a completely re-imagined rendition of Steve Reich's "New York Counterpoint" using a computer and MIDI controller. It was recorded June 10, 2017 at Studio 615 in Nashville, TN. Give it a watch!"
https://www.youtube.com/v/MWMdU9p7bTY&feature=youtu.be
Fantastic composer. I fell in love with his music when around the age of twenty I listened to Music for 18 musicians. I thought, this is like the Ninth Symphony of the 20th century! Different Trains is also a fantastic composition.
I am normally not a fan of Reich but I just heard a recording of his Desert Music and for some reason I connected with this work.
Have any of you performed his music. Because of its competitive nature it may be interesting to listen to but boring to play.
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1126156493_10.jpg)
I've really been mesmerized by this lately. I don't know much about Hall but he recorded this in his house. He uses electric guitar, piano and moog. It's said he used room mics in the process. In a way, it's very organic sounding as the timbre of the elements seem to blend in an unusual and unusually seamless way.
This is the one I enjoyed -- it's on spotify and it's amazing.
(https://img.discogs.com/u5Q9l7ltP32Zic7uIBC4Y-EXBNw=/fit-in/297x297/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1960797-1255174616.jpeg.jpg)
Quote from: Mandryka on March 12, 2021, 03:02:15 AM
This is the one I enjoyed -- it's on spotify and it's amazing.
(https://img.discogs.com/u5Q9l7ltP32Zic7uIBC4Y-EXBNw=/fit-in/297x297/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1960797-1255174616.jpeg.jpg)
I'll check it out. I don't listen to this kind of music so much but my 3-year old thinks it sounds like trains and wants to hear it at night. Try the one above though for something different.
Quote from: milk on March 12, 2021, 02:28:32 AM
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1126156493_10.jpg)
I've really been mesmerized by this lately. I don't know much about Hall but he recorded this in his house. He uses electric guitar, piano and moog. It's said he used room mics in the process. In a way, it's very organic sounding as the timbre of the elements seem to blend in an unusual and unusually seamless way.
Thanks so much for posting this! I'm in the camp of those who think
Music for 18 Musicians is one of Reich's greatest, if not THE greatest, and another recording is good news. The back story -- Hall recording all the parts in his home -- is fascinating.
--Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on March 12, 2021, 07:38:47 AM
Thanks so much for posting this! I'm in the camp of those who think Music for 18 Musicians is one of Reich's greatest, if not THE greatest, and another recording is good news. The back story -- Hall recording all the parts in his home -- is fascinating.
--Bruce
You're welcome. It's a great piece of art and I like to hear it with a totally different texture. I think it completely works but I'm wondering what others think.
Quote from: milk on March 12, 2021, 08:12:57 AM
I think it completely works but I'm wondering what others think.
I don't think it's very good. It isn't surprising enough -- the rhythms and the timbres and the structure are too familiar, too much like music I already know, to make me want to really engage with it. For this very reason I think Reich's earlier music is much better -- Pendulum Music, It's Gonna Rain . . .
Quote from: Mandryka on March 13, 2021, 12:41:46 PM
I don't think it's very good. It isn't surprising enough -- the rhythms and the timbres and the structure are too familiar, too much like music I already know, to make me want to really engage with it. For this very reason I think Reich's earlier music is much better -- Pendulum Music, It's Gonna Rain . . .
I see what you mean. I think sometimes I'm just too tired these days. This recording pleased me because it's so soft and squishy. But it's not a big challenge right now. I do think the timbres are beautifully conceived. Maybe they sound easier than they should. Or, on the other hand, maybe it's a slight of hand to make them so easy. I do know from the standard percussion ensemble recordings that hearing the musicianship gives a different kind of appreciation because in this one I linked, you're not getting that exactly.
Perhaps I'll listen to something different today. Maybe Different Trains. I went to a live performance of Different Trains at the Hankyu train museum exhibition a few years back and it was bizarrely incongruous.
ETA: re Different Trains: scratch that. That's only possible live.
Quote from: milk on March 13, 2021, 03:36:45 PM
Perhaps I'll listen to something different today. Maybe Different Trains. I went to a live performance of Different Trains at the Hankyu train museum exhibition a few years back and it was bizarrely incongruous.
ETA: re Different Trains: scratch that. That's only possible live.
How about WTC 9/11?
Quote from: Mandryka on March 13, 2021, 07:59:24 PM
How about WTC 9/11?
that certainly looks like an interesting premise. I'll have a listen. Kronos seem to be a busy outfit.
What do the Reichians think of The Cave?
(I'll just say that I can imagine it's a completely different experience in the theatre, with the videos, and maybe home listening on audio only, is just not a good idea.)
Quote from: milk on March 13, 2021, 10:46:38 PM
that certainly looks like an interesting premise. I'll have a listen. Kronos seem to be a busy outfit.
The other later piece which seems to me to stand out is The Daniel Variations.
Quote from: Mandryka on March 14, 2021, 01:15:09 AM
The other later piece which seems to me to stand out is The Daniel Variations.
I don't know that stuff. Is Reich rather nerdy music? That's what a friend of mine said. And "too cerebral." I confess I don't listen to it often but I do like it from time to time.
Quote from: milk on March 14, 2021, 01:31:15 AM
I don't know that stuff. Is Reich rather nerdy music? That's what a friend of mine said. And "too cerebral." I confess I don't listen to it often but I do like it from time to time.
It is fundamentally anti intellectual music.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61b8f2xiWWL._SX466_.jpg)
The quartet here is quite complex music, and rather unpredictable. WTF? It's like Steve Reich meets James Tenney!
Quote from: Mandryka on March 14, 2021, 01:15:09 AM
The other later piece which seems to me to stand out is The Daniel Variations.
And City Life
https://www.youtube.com/v/dMcz4jhDWMI&ab_channel=AuroraRosas
Quote from: Mandryka on March 14, 2021, 01:42:16 AM
It is fundamentally anti intellectual music.
someone could see 18 as a system of patterns.
I don't know what to think about Steve Reich. I find his music interesting and boring at the same time. A common dilemma with minimalism I guess. :P
Quote from: 71 dB on March 14, 2021, 04:55:32 AM
I don't know what to think about Steve Reich. I find his music interesting and boring at the same time. A common dilemma with minimalism I guess. :P
I find some of his music interesting and some of his music boring.
Quote from: Old San Antone on April 09, 2021, 06:38:52 AM
I oppose any/all music written in reference to 9/11, actually any tragedy of that scale. Reich, Glass, Adams, and the rest working in that style are not for me, but especially not for me concerning that piece.
Out of curiosity, would the Holocaust be off limits for you as well?
Quote from: Old San Antone on April 09, 2021, 10:49:31 AM
Yes. I don't like music or art to have a message, and political messages are the worst.
Ah, I thought you were going to say something about Reich jumping in to capitalise on a human tragedy.
Quote from: Old San Antone on April 09, 2021, 11:41:56 AM
IMO, the greater the tragedy the inadequacy of music is underscored, and I feel it, in a way, trivializes the grief of those most directly impacted.
I understand, and to some extent sympathise.
Quote from: Mandryka on April 09, 2021, 12:18:51 PM
I understand, and to some extent sympathise.
I do too. Most films about the Holocaust, for example, are terrible, including Schindler's List. Lanzmann is the exception there. I've a friend who believes abstract expressionism and minimalism are meant to distract people from from their exploitation. But I much prefer art about more ontological or abstract experience. On the other other hand, how can we understand the Holocaust except through art? Not art alone of course.
Quote from: Old San Antone on April 09, 2021, 11:41:56 AM
IMO, the greater the tragedy the inadequacy of music is underscored, and I feel it, in a way, trivializes the grief of those most directly impacted.
Isn't this trivialization in the ear (and expectations) of the beholder?
My favorite composer is notorious for the political bent of almost all his works. I find nothing other than utmost respect, belief and hope in and for the causes he expressed and provided commentary on through his music.
Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz is a fitting, deeply personal commentary on the horrors of the Holocaust.
Quote from: petrarch on April 10, 2021, 10:02:47 AM
Isn't this trivialization in the ear (and expectations) of the beholder?
My favorite composer is notorious for the political bent of almost all his works. I find nothing other than utmost respect, belief and hope in and for the causes he expressed and provided commentary on through his music. Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz is a fitting, deeply personal commentary on the horrors of the Holocaust.
gosh I've never heard that piece. I shall search it today.
His latest work is very nice:
Steve Reich - Traveler's Prayer (2020)
https://www.youtube.com/v/b78wdMc3m7U
Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals
On the 50th anniversary of Clapping Music (1972), a fine appreciation (though I'm not crazy about the headline):
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music/2022/05/how-steve-reichs-clapping-music-rebooted-classical
--Bruce
Anyone who likes early Steve Reich will want to check out this fabulous new film version of Violin Phase (1967) with Jonathan Morton, principal violin of the London Sinfonietta. (Technology makes possible "Jonathan x 4," which clarifies the phasing.) Morton takes it a bit faster than the original recording, with the late, great Paul Zukofsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF479y9Gsr8
--Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on July 27, 2022, 05:57:14 AMAnyone who likes early Steve Reich will want to check out this fabulous new film version of Violin Phase (1967) with Jonathan Morton, principal violin of the London Sinfonietta. (Technology makes possible "Jonathan x 4," which clarifies the phasing.) Morton takes it a bit faster than the original recording, with the late, great Paul Zukofsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF479y9Gsr8
--Bruce
Strangely enough, I just listened to Violin Phase (for the first time). Prompted by *PJME's comments about some contemporary dancers who apparently are well known in Europe (though new to me), I googled "Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker" on youtube and stumbled across this amazing performance to it. Jaw dropping. I'd love to hear what you and others here think of it.
PD
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on January 11, 2023, 02:42:16 AMStrangely enough, I just listened to Violin Phase (for the first time). Prompted by *PJME's comments about some contemporary dancers who apparently are well known in Europe (though new to me), I googled "Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker" on youtube and stumbled across this amazing performance to it. Jaw dropping. I'd love to hear what you and others here think of it.
PD
Thanks! Watching now.
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on January 11, 2023, 02:42:16 AMStrangely enough, I just listened to Violin Phase (for the first time). Prompted by *PJME's comments about some contemporary dancers who apparently are well known in Europe (though new to me), I googled "Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker" on youtube and stumbled across this amazing performance to it. Jaw dropping. I'd love to hear what you and others here think of it.
PD
Kind of a "Western dervish" vibe, and a sort of mandala. Very nice!
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on January 11, 2023, 06:42:52 AMKind of a "Western dervish" vibe, and a sort of mandala. Very nice!
Mandala is also what came to my mind! :D I enjoyed the whole setting...the a forest, on some sort of platform with sand covering it.
PD
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on January 11, 2023, 02:42:16 AMStrangely enough, I just listened to Violin Phase (for the first time). Prompted by *PJME's comments about some contemporary dancers who apparently are well known in Europe (though new to me), I googled "Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker" on youtube and stumbled across this amazing performance to it. Jaw dropping. I'd love to hear what you and others here think of it.
PD
PD, thank you SO much for posting this. Though I'm somewhat familiar with de Keersmaeker from her appearances in New York, this was new to me. (Found this from 2011, which I didn't see at the time: https://www.rosas.be/en/publications/427-violin-phase)
Interesting how the soundtrack she chose uses a much faster tempo than the original 1969 recording with violinist Paul Zukofsky. (A cursory search to find her violinist came up dry for the moment.)
In any case, between the piece, her brilliant dancing, the woodland site (have to find out more about that, too) and the fantastic camerawork—a welcome start to the new year from someone hungry for modern dance. Thanks again!
-Bruce
Quote from: Brewski on January 14, 2023, 07:40:46 AMPD, thank you SO much for posting this. Though I'm somewhat familiar with de Keersmaeker from her appearances in New York, this was new to me. (Found this from 2011, which I didn't see at the time: https://www.rosas.be/en/publications/427-violin-phase)
Interesting how the soundtrack she chose uses a much faster tempo than the original 1969 recording with violinist Paul Zukofsky. (A cursory search to find her violinist came up dry for the moment.)
In any case, between the piece, her brilliant dancing, the woodland site (have to find out more about that, too) and the fantastic camerawork—a welcome start to the new year from someone hungry for modern dance. Thanks again!
-Bruce
So glad that you enjoyed it! I hadn't ever heard this piece of music before (let alone the original musical recording), so it was a new experience for me. And thank you for that link--quite interesting.