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Since I seem to be having a bit of reawakening with Reich's music lately. I figured it'd be a good idea to start this thread. So what are your 'Top 5' favorite Reich works? I'll start:
(In no particular)
Different Trains
Music for 18 Musicians
Electric Counterpoint
Music for Large Ensemble
Nagoya Marimbas
Your turn!
Admittedly I don't know a lot of his works, but I do enjoy these:
Music for 18 Musicians
Tehillim
Eight Lines (Octet)
City Life
The Desert Music
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on August 07, 2016, 06:47:19 PM
Admittedly I don't know a lot of his works, but I do enjoy these:
Music for 18 Musicians
Tehillim
Eight Lines (Octet)
City Life
The Desert Music
A damn fine list. I love all of these works.
I have to list more than five!
Roughly in order
Daniel Variations
It's Gonna Rain
Four Organs
Drumming
Music for 18 Musicians
City Life
Eight Lines
The Cave
Electric Counterpoint
Different Trains and Electric Counterpoint are the only works by Reich I own and know. Despite of their American Classics -series Naxos has managed avoiding Reich, which of course makes it harder to get into the composer.
Naxos has an amazing catalogue and some great performances available...but, yeah, i don't get why they sometimes just completely miss some incredibly famous composers (Reich) altogether.
At first I thought you meant the Third Reich . . . .
Music for 18 is more than likely Reich's most well known work, and arguably his greatest achievement. So I'm leaving it off my list. ;)
These are my five, starting with favorite....
New York Counterpoint
Tehillim
Music for Mallets, Voices and Organ
Drumming
Mallet Quartet
Quote from: jessop on August 07, 2016, 11:39:31 PM
I have to list more than five!
Roughly in order
Daniel Variations
It's Gonna Rain
Four Organs
Drumming
Music for 18 Musicians
City Life
Eight Lines
The Cave
Electric Counterpoint
Cheating! :) Please try to narrow it down to five. Thanks.
Quote from: jessop on August 07, 2016, 11:39:31 PM
I have to list more than five!
Roughly in order
Daniel Variations
It's Gonna Rain
Four Organs
Drumming
Music for 18 Musicians
City Life
Eight Lines
The Cave
Electric Counterpoint
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 06:48:24 AM
Cheating! :) Please try to narrow it down to five. Thanks.
Jessop, just do what MI does in every polling thread: list five, then come back a few hours later and list another five...and then the next day list another five, etc, etc. It can go on for years ;D
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 08, 2016, 06:54:56 AM
Jessop, just do what MI does in every polling thread: list five, then come back a few hours later and list another five...and then the next day list another five, etc, etc. It can go on for years ;D
Ouch! :laugh:
Quote from: 71 dB on August 08, 2016, 02:01:16 AM
Different Trains and Electric Counterpoint are the only works by Reich I own and know. Despite of their American Classics -series Naxos has managed avoiding Reich, which of course makes it harder to get into the composer.
Naxos aren't the only record company that releases recordings. Nonesuch and ECM have plenty of great Reich recordings in their catalogs to choose from. Not only that, but there are plenty of other ways to hear more of Reich's music (i. e. Spotify, YouTube). No composer unless they're so obscure and have no recordings to their name are hard to get into. You're simply limiting yourself by not allowing yourself to discover more of his music. Don't build walls. Break them down! :)
Quote from: jessop on August 08, 2016, 03:14:30 AM
Naxos has an amazing catalogue and some great performances available...but, yeah, i don't get why they sometimes just completely miss some incredibly famous composers (Reich) altogether.
Yes, Naxos isn't good at equality and balance. Liszt piano music releases keep coming until the very last transcription of God knows what is out. Reich?
Music for zero Musicians! Good for Liszt fans, bad for Reich fans. Maybe Klaus Heymann just isn't into Reich?
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on August 08, 2016, 04:07:45 AM
Music for 18 is more than likely Reich's most well known work, and arguably his greatest achievement. So I'm leaving it off my list. ;)
These are my five, starting with favorite....
New York Counterpoint
Tehillim
Music for Mallets, Voices and Organ
Drumming
Mallet Quartet
Interesting list, Greg.
New York Counterpoint is the only work from this list I haven't heard.
Mallet Quartet is a cool work. I heard it for the first-time last night along with
WTC 9/11, which was also very good.
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 07:27:03 AM
Interesting list, Greg. New York Counterpoint is the only work from this list I haven't heard. Mallet Quartet is a cool work. I heard it for the first-time last night along with WTC 9/11, which was also very good.
Check it out for sure, NY-Counterpoint is for 11 clarinets/1bass clarinet, or for one clarinetist who tapes all the parts.
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on August 08, 2016, 07:33:33 AM
Check it out for sure, NY-Counterpoint is for 11 clarinets/1bass clarinet, or for one clarinetist who tapes all the parts.
Will do, Greg. Thanks.
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 07:14:25 AM
Naxos aren't the only record company that releases recordings. Nonesuch and ECM have plenty of great Reich recordings in their catalogs to choose from. Not only that, but there are plenty of other ways to hear more of Reich's music (i. e. Spotify, YouTube). No composer unless they're so obscure and have no recordings to their name are hard to get into. You're simply limiting yourself by not allowing yourself to discover more of his music. Don't build walls. Break them down! :)
You are right MI, there is no lack of Reich recordings. It's just that it's so much easier (at least for my wallet) to explore a composer buying £3 discs rather than £10 discs. Nonesuch has a 5 disc boxset, which I might consider buying.
There is the unavoidable time limit: exploring composers A, B and C means there is less time for composers D, E, F,...
I'll try to check out Reich on Spotify. ;)
P.S. For a long time I mixed up Reich and new age composer Steve Roach. :-\ I was like is it Roach or Reich until I realised they are 2 different composers. Yes, I'd like to explore Steve Roach too (+Harold Budd etc,). So much music, so little time...
Quote from: 71 dB on August 08, 2016, 07:35:56 AM
You are right MI, there is no lack of Reich recordings. It's just that it's so much easier (at least for my wallet) to explore a composer buying £3 discs rather than £10 discs. Nonesuch has a 5 disc boxset, which I might consider buying.
There is the unavoidable time limit: exploring composers A, B and C means there is less time for composers D, E, F,...
I'll try to check out Reich on Spotify. ;)
P.S. For a long time I mixed up Reich and new age composer Steve Roach. :-\ I was like is it Roach or Reich until I realised they are 2 different composers. Yes, I'd like to explore Steve Roach too (+Harold Budd etc,). So much music, so little time...
Yes, there's so much music out there and time is indeed limited. You do bring up a curious case, though, I wonder why Naxos has avoided Reich? I mean they've recorded some John Adams, Glass, and, hell, even Terry Riley. It does seem rather odd they're skipping over him.
P. S. Harold Budd is great! Love his ambient style.
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 07:45:34 AM
Yes, there's so much music out there and time is indeed limited. You do bring up a curious case, though, I wonder why Naxos has avoided Reich? I mean they've recorded some John Adams, Glass, and, hell, even Terry Riley. It does seem rather odd they're skipping over him.
It's a trademark of Naxos to do bizarre omissions. :) Maybe they think Reich has been served well by ECM and Nonesuch, even Harmonia Mundi?
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 07:45:34 AMP. S. Harold Budd is great! Love his ambient style.
I have hardly anything by him (Harold Budd/Brian Eno: Pearl).
Quote from: 71 dB on August 08, 2016, 08:15:04 AM
It's a trademark of Naxos to do bizarre omissions.
Mennin!
I'd like to give an honorable mention to The Four Sections, which is just a beautiful work. Kind of like Reich's own take of Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra where the listener is introduced to all of the sections of orchestra and finally hearing them all playing together in the last movement.
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 08, 2016, 06:48:24 AM
Cheating! :) Please try to narrow it down to five. Thanks.
:P :P :P :P :P
Music for 18 musicians.
Music for for 18 musicians.
Music for 18 18 18 musicians musicians.
Music for musicians for 18 musi for 18 musicians
Music for 18 music music for 18 for 18 musicians.
Quote from: jessop on August 08, 2016, 03:53:27 PM
:P :P :P :P :P
;D
Man...I'm regretting not adding
The Desert Music to my initial list, but I'm afraid I love my list so much that I can't make any cuts.
Quote from: Ken B on August 08, 2016, 04:13:51 PM
Music for 18 musicians.
Music for for 18 musicians.
Music for 18 18 18 musicians musicians.
Music for musicians for 18 musi for 18 musicians
Music for 18 music music for 18 for 18 musicians.
Can't make a list, Ken? :-\
The first time I heard Music for 18 Musicians I thought to myself, "God no, this is terrible," and then I turned it off. I am now listening again. I can see what people like in this piece, though I am not admitting that I like it... I will listen a few more times and see what I think. This has a very urban, technology type feel to it. Weird stuff.
Quote from: Simula on August 08, 2016, 05:03:30 PM
The first time I heard Music for 18 Musicians I thought to myself, "God no, this is terrible," and then I turned it off. I am now listening again. I can see what people like in this piece, though I am not admitting that I like it... I will listen a few more times and see what I think. This has a very urban, technology type feel to it. Weird stuff.
First time I heard Glassongs I had a similar reaction. I hated it. But I had to listen to it again.
Am still listening to music for 18... thoughts, 'this is like drug music. The kind of music that induces a trance.' This music is also torturous at times, it makes me want to yell out, 'shut the @#% up.' At times it makes me long for silence. However, I am still open to the possibility that this might grow on me, I hope not, but stranger things have happened.
Quote from: Simula on August 08, 2016, 05:03:30 PM
The first time I heard Music for 18 Musicians I thought to myself, "God no, this is terrible," and then I turned it off. I am now listening again. I can see what people like in this piece, though I am not admitting that I like it... I will listen a few more times and see what I think. This has a very urban, technology type feel to it. Weird stuff.
The beauty of
Music for 18 Musicians, for me, lies in all of the rhythmic patterns that evolve over time. It's this kind of quality in the music that gives the impression of time that has, in some strange way, been suspended. It's music that isn't traditional sounding by any stretch of the word, but, yet, there's a humanizing force that seems to be propelling the music forward. It is also music that you either love or remain indifferent to. Unlike your own experience, I loved this work from the first-time listen. I suppose, if anything, it quenched my need to hear something that was different and outside of the box.
Quote from: Simula on August 08, 2016, 05:31:02 PM
Am still listening to music for 18... thoughts, 'this is like drug music. The kind of music that induces a trance.' This music is also torturous at times, it makes me want to yell out, 'shut the @#% up.' At times it makes me long for silence. However, I am still open to the possibility that this might grow on me, I hope not, but stranger things have happened.
I think it's all a matter of perception.
Music for 18 Musicians is a work that challenged our notions of what music could be. It's only torturous if you allow it be. There's only two sides of this coin: you can either accept the music on it's own terms and try to become one with it or you can reject it and call it 'crap' or 'boring'. Like I said, it's all a matter of our own perception of the music. If the music does grow on you and you do indeed end up enjoying it, then that's great, but don't force yourself to like something you have no feel for whatsoever. I mean it's like me and Messiaen. I gave up. I have no reason to return to the composer and try to believe I'll understand his music the next time around. I won't (and lord knows I've tried), but that's okay, we're not obligated to like anything and this certainly could apply to you and Reich.
Just finished listening to "M4-18M" on Spotify (Ensemble Signal/Harmonia Mundi).
This music is quite similar to the two works by Reich I already knew. I do like everything that happens in the music (especially the use of bass clarinet), but I wish Reich would take his ideas further and do something far more radical (since I listen to a lot of music with rhythms and sequences, I don't find this music very radical in that sense). Despite of that, this would be a nice addition to my CD collection. :)
Quote from: Simula on August 08, 2016, 05:31:02 PM
Am still listening to music for 18... thoughts, 'this is like drug music. The kind of music that induces a trance.' This music is also torturous at times, it makes me want to yell out, 'shut the @#% up.' At times it makes me long for silence. However, I am still open to the possibility that this might grow on me, I hope not, but stranger things have happened.
You would love Ligeti's micropolyphonic music seriously
Music for 18 Musicians might be my favorite piece, like, ever! So aside from that:
Different Trains
Electric Counterpoint
Music for a Large Ensemble
Piano Phase
(plus Eight Lines, Clapping Music, Proverb, Tehillim, The Desert Music, Six Marimbas, Drumming, WTC 9/11 among others)
I generally prefer Glass and J.C. Adams to Reich, but I do like these works a fair amount:
Music for 18 Musicians
Triple Quartet
Different Trains
City Life
Proverb
An aside - I was intrigued to discover Four Sections, which quite surprisingly is basically Reich writing a Symphony. :o ;D And he starts it slowly, which is cool.