Steve Reich

It is not extremely common to see Steve Reich on tour. He plays only a handful of locations every so often. However if you do get the opportunity to catch one of his performances by all means do. He is perhaps the most consistently original and interesting talents in modern classical music.
He has helped innovate techniques that have been translated to both experimental and pop realms. Given the nature of Reich’s music it makes sense that his ideas are palatable to both these areas. Reich’s music is laden with experimental tendencies and fresh ideas, but you can also hear a paradoxical conventionalism underlying his work. Reich was composing music in the classical circuit where every one worshiped the atonal music of Arnold Schoenberg. To paraphrase Reich it was a laughable matter to try to have a traditional melody in a classical piece of music at that time. Reich was not persuaded by this trend and took his chances. The results were on the surface simplistic and absorbable, but mixed with complicated rhythmic patterns and recording techniques that have remained fascinating to this day. Reich was one of the first musicians to use sampling as a main element in his music. This technique of course has blown up in both the electronic, hip-hop and experimental community. He also has been renowned for his more recent uses of sparse vocal melodies being intertwined into complicated mosaics. If Reich is remembered for anything it is probably his unique weavings of tempo changes and steady shifting rhythmic alternations. I was very fortunate to see the So Percussion perform “Steve Reich’s drumming” piece. As you may have guessed the only instruments on stage were percussive. This piece and the group’s performance of it totally changed my perspective on what a drum could be. They worked in a mechanical like way. Their arms were vibrating like a piston in a car engine. The movements were so precise and calculated I could not believe they were being produced by a human. The performance was astonishing.
Taking into account that drums provide very little melodic features if any at all I did not know how long the performance could hold my attention. After seeing the show I am not even sure how such a thought could have crossed my mind. Various types of drums phased in and out with each other building off of other patterns and decaying and accelerating into wild tempo changes.
I was left with just a little taste of Reich’s work and was left hungry for more. I was devastated that I missed out on his legendary “Music for 18 Musicians” and Johnny Greenwood’s performance of “Electric Counterpoint”; however I was thrilled I was able to attend one of his lectures. His music is eccentric and complicated, but Reich is as easy going as can be. He was very accommodating to the audiences’ questions answering in a very intelligent and often comedic manner. After hearing Reich’s music and listening to his commentary on it, I can see why musician's as far ranging from Sufjan Steven’s to the Orb triumph his name.

An amazing evening, showcasing a satisfying variety of Reich's work. We found the visual onslaught of the final piece (Hindenburg, Bikini, Dolly) overwhelming and slightly exhausting at over an hour running time. Perhaps that's intentional but we found the first two parts more interesting. Overall an exciting and memorable night of ground-breaking music.

Unbelievable. Waited 13 years to see a performance of Music for 18 Musicians, and it was definitely one of the best musical experiences of my life. Go see any ensemble perform any of his works, you won't be disappointed.