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Steve Reich was recently called "our greatest living composer" (The New York Times), "America’s greatest living composer." (The Village VOICE), “...the most original musical thinker of our time” (The New |
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Yorker) and “...among the great composers of the century” (The New York Times).. From his early taped speech pieces It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) to his and video artist Beryl Korot’s digital video opera Three Tales (2002), Mr. Reich's path has embraced not only aspects of Western Classical music, but the structures, harmonies, and rhythms of non-Western and American vernacular music, particularly jazz. "There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them," states The Guardian (London). |
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[[File:Steve Reich2.jpg|thumb|right| Reich performing clapping music in 2006]] |
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'''Stephen Michael Reich''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|aɪ|ʃ}};<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/nls/other/sayhow.html#r |title=Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures |date=May 2006 |publisher=National Library Service |accessdate=October 15, 2009. See also here [http://iowapublicradio.org/dictionary/errata.htm#R] and [http://download.itv.com/southbankshow/reich.m4a here (sound clip)]}}</ref> born October 3, 1936) is an American composer who, along with [[La Monte Young]], [[Terry Riley]], and [[Philip Glass]], pioneered [[minimal music]] in the mid to late 1960s.<ref name=Mertens>Mertens, W. (1983), ''American Minimal Music'', Kahn & Averill, London, (p.11).</ref><ref>Michael Nyman, writing in the preface of Mertens' book refers to the style as "so called minimal music"{{Vague|date=June 2013}}<!-- What is the significance of "so called" in this context, and should it cause us to recast the claim to which this is attached? --> (Mertens p.8).</ref><ref>"The term 'minimal music' is generally used to describe a style of music that developed in America in the late 1960s and 1970s; and that was initially connected with the composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass." Sitsky, L. (2002), ''Music of the twentieth-century avant-garde: a biocritical sourcebook,''Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. (p.361)</ref> |
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In April 2009 Steve Reich was awarded the Pulitzer prize in Music for his composition 'Double Sextet'. |
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His innovations include using [[tape loop]]s to create [[Phasing (music)|phasing]] patterns (for example, his early compositions ''[[It's Gonna Rain]]'' and ''[[Come Out (Reich)|Come Out]]''), and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts (for instance, ''[[Pendulum Music]]'' and ''[[Four Organs]]''). These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced [[contemporary music]], especially in the US. Reich's work took on a darker character in the 1980s with the introduction of historical themes as well as themes from his Jewish heritage, notably the [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition|Grammy Award]]-winning ''[[Different Trains]]''. |
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Performing organizations around the world marked Steve Reich's 70th- birthday year, 2006, with festivals and special concerts. In the composer's hometown of New York, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center joined forces to present complementary programs of his music, and in London, the Barbican mounted a major retrospective. Concerts were also presented in Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Baden-Baden, Barcelona, Birmingham, Budapest, Chicago, Cologne, Copenhagen, Denver, Dublin, Freiburg, Graz, Helsinki, Los Angeles, Paris, Porto, Vancouver, Vienna and Vilnius among others. In addition, Nonesuch Records released its second box set of Steve Reich’s works, Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective, in September 2006. The five-CD collection comprises fourteen of the composer’s best-known pieces, spanning the 20 years of his time on the label. |
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Reich's style of composition influenced many composers and musical groups. Reich has been described as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vct73 |title=Radio 3 Programmes – Composer of the Week, Steve Reich (b. 1936), Episode 1 |publisher=BBC |date=October 25, 2010 |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> and the critic [[Kyle Gann]] has said Reich "may...be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-07-13/music/grand-old-youngster |last=Gann |first=Kyle |authorlink=Kyle Gann |title=Grand Old Youngster |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=July 13, 1999 |accessdate=September 27, 2008}}</ref> |
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In October 2006 in Tokyo, Mr. Reich was awarded the Preamium Imperial award in Music. This important international award is in areas in the arts not covered by the Nobel Prize. Former winners of the prize in various fields include Pierre Boulez, Lucian Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Richard Serra and Stephen Sondheim. |
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On January 25, 2007, Reich was named the 2007 recipient of the [[Polar Music Prize]], together with jazz saxophonist [[Sonny Rollins]]. On April 20, 2009, Reich was awarded the 2009 [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] recognizing ''[[Double Sextet]]'', first performed in Richmond March 26, 2008. The citation called it "a major work that displays an ability to channel an initial burst of energy into a large-scale musical event, built with masterful control and consistently intriguing to the ear."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2009-Music |title=The 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Music |publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes |accessdate=October 16, 2011}} With short biography and ''Double Sextet'' data including Composer's Notes.</ref> |
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In May 2007 Mr. Reich was awarded The Polar Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of music. The prize was presented by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The Swedish Academy said: "...Steve Reich has transferred questions of faith, society and philosophy into a hypnotic sounding music that has inspired musicians and composers of all genres." Former winners of the Polar Prize have included Pierre Boulez, Bob Dylan, Gyorgi Ligeti and Sir Paul McCartney. |
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== Career == |
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In December 2006 Mr. Reich was awarded membership in the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and in April 2007 he was awarded the Chubb Fellowship at Yale University. In May 2008 he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. |
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=== Early life === |
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Born in New York and raised there and in California, Mr. Reich graduated with honors in philosophy from Cornell University in 1957. For the next two years, he studied composition with Hall Overton, and from 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Juilliard School of Music with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti. Mr. Reich received his M.A. in Music from Mills College in 1963, where he worked with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. |
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Reich was born in New York City to the Broadway lyricist [[June Carroll|June Sillman]]. When he was one year old, his parents divorced, and Reich divided his time between New York and California. He was given piano lessons as a child and describes growing up with the "middle-class favorites", having no exposure to music written before 1750 or after 1900. At the age of 14 he began to study music in earnest, after hearing music from the [[Baroque music|Baroque period]] and earlier, as well as music of the 20th century. Reich studied drums with Roland Kohloff in order to play [[jazz]]. While attending [[Cornell University]], he minored in music and graduated in 1957 with a B.A. in Philosophy.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} Reich's B.A. thesis was on [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]; later he would set texts by that philosopher to music in ''[[Proverb (Reich)|Proverb]]'' (1995) and ''You Are (variations)'' (2006). |
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During the summer of 1970, with the help of a grant from the Institute for International Education, Mr. Reich studied drumming at the Institute for African Studies at the University of Ghana in Accra. In 1973 and 1974 he studied Balinese Gamelan Semar Pegulingan and Gamelan Gambang at the American Society for Eastern Arts in Seattle and Berkeley, California. From 1976 to 1977 he studied the traditional forms of cantillation (chanting) of the Hebrew scriptures in New York and Jerusalem. |
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For a year following graduation, Reich studied composition privately with [[Hall Overton]] before he enrolled at [[Juilliard School|Juilliard]] to work with [[William Bergsma]] and [[Vincent Persichetti]] (1958–1961). Subsequently he attended [[Mills College]] in [[Oakland, California]], where he studied with [[Luciano Berio]] and [[Darius Milhaud]] (1961–1963) and earned a master's degree in composition. At Mills, Reich composed ''Melodica'' for [[melodica]] and [[tape recorder|tape]], which appeared in 1986 on the three-LP release ''Music from Mills''.<ref>[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r202182|pure_url=yes}} Music from Mills] at [[Allmusic]]</ref> |
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In 1966 Steve Reich founded his own ensemble of three musicians, which rapidly grew to 18 members or more. Since 1971, Steve Reich and Musicians have frequently toured the world, and have the distinction of performing to sold-out houses at venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall and the Bottom Line Cabaret. |
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Reich worked with the [[San Francisco Tape Music Center]] along with [[Pauline Oliveros]], [[Ramon Sender]], [[Morton Subotnick]], and [[Terry Riley]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=David|title=The San Francisco Tape Music Center|year=2008|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24892-2}}</ref> He was involved with the premiere of Riley's ''[[In C]]'' and suggested the use of the eighth note pulse, which is now standard in performance of the piece. |
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Mr. Reich's 1988 piece, Different Trains, marked a new compositional method, rooted in It's Gonna Rain and Come Out, in which speech recordings generate the musical material for musical instruments. The New York Times hailed Different Trains as "a work of such astonishing originality that breakthrough seems the only possible description....possesses an absolutely harrowing emotional impact." In 1990, Mr. Reich received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition for Different Trains as recorded by the Kronos Quartet on the Nonesuch label. |
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=== 1960s === |
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In June 1997, in celebration of Mr. Reich's 60th birthday, Nonesuch released a 10-CD retrospective box set of Mr. Reich's compositions, featuring several newly-recorded and re-mastered works. He won a second Grammy award in 1999 for his piece Music for 18 Musicians, also on the Nonesuch label. In July 1999 a major retrospective of Mr. Reich’s work was presented by the Lincoln Center Festival. Earlier, in 1988, the South Bank Centre in London, mounted a similar series of retrospective concerts. |
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Reich's early forays into composition involved experimentation with [[twelve-tone composition]], but he found the rhythmic aspects of the twelve-tone series more interesting than the melodic aspects.<ref>Malcolm Ball [http://www.oliviermessiaen.org/malcolmball/reich.htm on Steve Reich]</ref> Reich also composed film soundtracks for ''[[Plastic Haircut]]'', ''[[Oh Dem Watermelons]]'', and ''Thick Pucker'', three films by [[Robert Nelson (filmmaker)|Robert Nelson]]. The soundtrack of ''Plastic Haircut'', composed in 1963, was a short tape collage, possibly Reich's first. The ''Watermelons'' soundtrack used two old [[Stephen Foster]] [[minstrel show|minstrel tunes]] as its basis, and used repeated phrasing together in a large five-part [[canon (music)|canon]]. The music for ''Thick Pucker'' arose from street recordings Reich made walking around San Francisco with Nelson, who filmed in black and white 16mm. This film no longer survives. A fourth film from 1965, about 25 minutes long and tentatively entitled "Thick Pucker II", was assembled by Nelson from outtakes of that shoot and more of the raw audio Reich had recorded. Nelson was not happy with the resulting film and never showed it. |
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In 2000 he was awarded the Schuman Prize from Columbia University, the Montgomery Fellowship from Dartmouth College, the Regent’s Lectureship at the University of California at Berkeley, an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of the Arts and was named Composer of the Year by Musical America magazine. |
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Reich was influenced by fellow minimalist [[Terry Riley]], whose work ''[[In C]]'' combines simple musical patterns, offset in time, to create a slowly shifting, cohesive whole. Reich adopted this approach to compose his first major work, ''[[It's Gonna Rain]]''. Composed in 1965, the piece used a fragment of a [[sermon]] about the end of the world given by a black [[Pentecostal]] street-preacher known as Brother Walter. Reich built on his early tape work, transferring the last three words of the fragment, "it's gonna rain!", to multiple tape loops which gradually move out of phase with one another. |
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The Cave, Steve Reich and Beryl Korot's music theater video piece exploring the Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, was hailed by Time Magazine as "a fascinating glimpse of what opera might be like in the 21st century." Of the Chicago premiere, John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The techniques embraced by this work have the potential to enrich opera as living art a thousandfold....The Cave impresses, ultimately, as a powerful and imaginative work of high-tech music theater that brings the troubled present into resonant dialogue with the ancient past, and invites all of us to consider anew our shared cultural heritage." |
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The 13-minute ''Come Out'' (1966) uses similarly manipulated recordings of a single spoken line given by Daniel Hamm, one of the falsely accused [[The Harlem Six|Harlem Six]], who was severely injured by police.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/Occupied-Territory-Baldwin1966.htm |title=A Report from Occupied Territory JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987) |publisher=mindfully.org |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The survivor, who had been beaten, punctured a bruise on his own body to convince police about his beating. The spoken line includes the phrase "to let the bruise’s blood come out to show them." Reich rerecorded the fragment "come out to show them" on two channels, which are initially played in unison. They quickly slip out of sync; gradually the discrepancy widens and becomes a reverberation. The two voices then split into four, looped continuously, then eight, and continues splitting until the actual words are unintelligible, leaving the listener with only the speech's rhythmic and tonal patterns. |
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Three Tales, a three-part digital documentary video opera, is a second collaborative work by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot about three well known events from the twentieth century, reflecting on the growth and implications of technology in the 20th century: Hindenburg, on the crash of the German zeppelin in New Jersey in 1937; Bikini, on the Atom bomb tests at Bikini atoll in 1946-1954; and Dolly, the sheep cloned in 1997, on the issues of genetic engineering and robotics. Three Tales is a three act music theater work in which historical film and video footage, video taped interviews, photographs, text, and specially constructed stills are recreated on computer, transferred to video tape and projected on one large screen. Musicians and singers take their places on stage along with the screen, presenting the debate about the physical, ethical and religious nature of technological development. Three Tales was premiered at the Vienna Festival in 2002 and subsequently toured all over Europe, America, Australia and Hong Kong. Nonesuch is releasing a DVD/CD of the piece in fall 2003. |
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Reich's first attempt at translating this phasing technique from recorded tape to live performance was the 1967 ''[[Piano Phase]]'', for two pianos. In ''Piano Phase'' the performers repeat a rapid twelve-note [[melody|melodic]] figure, initially in unison. As one player keeps tempo with robotic precision, the other speeds up very slightly until the two parts line up again, but one sixteenth note apart. The second player then resumes the previous tempo. This cycle of speeding up and then locking in continues throughout the piece; the cycle comes full circle three times, the second and third cycles using shorter versions of the initial figure. ''Violin Phase'', also written in 1967, is built on these same lines. ''Piano Phase'' and ''Violin Phase'' both premiered in a series of concerts given in New York art galleries. |
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Over the years, Steve Reich has received commissions from the Barbican Centre London, the Holland Festival; San Francisco Symphony; the Rothko Chapel; Vienna Festival, Hebbel Theater, Berlin, the Brooklyn Academy of Music for guitarist Pat Metheny; Spoleto Festival USA, West German Radio, Cologne; Settembre Musica, Torino, the Fromm Music Foundation for clarinetist Richard Stoltzman; the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Betty Freeman for the Kronos Quartet; and the Festival d'Automne, Paris, for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. |
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A similar, lesser known example of this so-called [[process music]] is ''Pendulum Music'' (1968), which consists of the sound of several microphones swinging over the loudspeakers to which they are attached, producing [[feedback]] as they do so. "Pendulum Music" has never been recorded by Reich himself, but was introduced to rock audiences by [[Sonic Youth]] in the late 1990s. |
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Steve Reich's music has been performed by major orchestras and ensembles around the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta; the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; The Ensemble Modern conducted by Bradley Lubman, The Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by David Robertson, the London Sinfonietta conducted by Markus Stenz and Martyn Brabbins, the Theater of Voices conducted by Paul Hillier, the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano; the Saint Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin; the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Neal Stulberg; the BBC Symphony conducted by Peter Eötvös; and the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. |
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Reich also tried to create the phasing effect in a piece "that would need no instrument beyond the human body". He found that the idea of phasing was inappropriate for the simple ways he was experimenting to make sound. Instead, he composed ''[[Clapping Music]]'' (1972), in which the players do not phase in and out with each other, but instead one performer keeps one line of a 12-quaver-long (12-eighth-note-long) phrase and the other performer shifts by one [[quaver]] beat every 12 bars, until both performers are back in unison 144 bars later. |
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Several noted choreographers have created dances to Steve Reich's music, including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker ("Fase," 1983, set to four early works as well as"Drumming,"1998 and “Rain” set to “Music for 18 Musicians”), Jirí Kylían ("Falling Angels," set to “Drumming Part I”), Jerome Robbins for the New York City Ballet ("Eight Lines") and Laura Dean, who commissioned "Sextet". That ballet, entitled "Impact," was premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, and earned Steve Reich and Laura Dean a Bessie Award in 1986. Other major choreographers using Mr. Reich's music include Eliot Feld, Alvin Ailey, Lar Lubovitch, Maurice Bejart, Lucinda Childs, Siobhan Davies and Richard Alston. |
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The 1967 prototype piece ''[[Slow Motion Sound]]'' was not performed although [[Chris Hughes (record producer)|Chris Hughes]] performed it 27 years later as ''[[Slow Motion Blackbird]]'' on his Reich-influenced 1994 album ''[[Shift (Chris Hughes album)|Shift]]''. It introduced the idea of slowing down a recorded sound until many times its original length without changing pitch or timbre, which Reich applied to ''[[Four Organs]]'' (1970), which deals specifically with augmentation. The piece has [[maraca]]s playing a fast [[eighth note]] [[pulse (music)|pulse]], while the four organs stress certain eighth notes using an 11th chord. This work therefore dealt with [[repetition (music)|repetition]] and subtle rhythmic change. It is unique in the context of Reich's other pieces <!-- how so - "unique"? --> in being linear as opposed to cyclic like his earlier works— the superficially similar ''[[Phase Patterns]]'', also for four organs but without maracas, is (as the name suggests) a phase piece similar to others composed during the period. ''Four Organs'' was performed as part of a [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] program, and was Reich's first composition to be performed in a large traditional setting. |
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In 1994 Steve Reich was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1995, and, in 1999, awarded Commandeur de l’ordre des Arts et Lettres. |
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=== 1970s === |
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In 1971, Reich embarked on a five-week trip to study music in [[Ghana]], during which he learned from the master drummer Gideon Alorwoyie. Reich also studied [[Bali]]nese [[gamelan]] in [[Seattle]]. From his African experience, as well as [[A. M. Jones]]'s [[Studies in African Music (book)|''Studies in African Music'']] about the [[Ewe music|music of the Ewe]] people, Reich drew inspiration for his 90-minute piece ''[[Drumming (Reich)|Drumming]]'', which he composed shortly after his return. Composed for a nine-piece percussion ensemble with female voices and [[piccolo]], ''Drumming'' marked the beginning of a new stage in his career, for around this time he formed his ensemble, [[Steve Reich and Musicians]], and increasingly concentrated on composition and performance with them. Steve Reich and Musicians, which was to be the sole ensemble to interpret his works for many years, still remains active with many of its original members. |
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After ''Drumming'', Reich moved on from the "phase shifting" technique that he had pioneered, and began writing more elaborate pieces. He investigated other musical processes such as [[augmentation (music)|augmentation]] (the temporal lengthening of phrases and melodic fragments). It was during this period that he wrote works such as ''[[Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ]]'' (1973) and ''[[Six Pianos]]'' (1973). |
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In 1974, Reich began writing what many would call his seminal work, ''[[Music for 18 Musicians]]''. This piece involved many new ideas, although it also hearkened back to earlier pieces. It is based on a [[cycle (music)|cycle]] of [[chord progression|eleven chords]] introduced at the beginning (called "Pulses"), followed by a small section of music based on each [[chord (music)|chord]] ("Sections I-XI"), and finally a return to the original cycle ("Pulses"). This was Reich's first attempt at writing for larger [[musical ensemble|ensembles]]. The increased number of performers resulted in more scope for psychoacoustic effects, which fascinated Reich, and he noted that he would like to "explore this idea further". Reich remarked that this one work contained more harmonic movement in the first five minutes than any other work he had written. Steve Reich and Musicians made the premier recording of this work on [[ECM Records]]. |
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Reich explored these ideas further in his frequently recorded pieces ''[[Music for a Large Ensemble]]'' (1978) and ''[[Octet (Reich)|Octet]]'' (1979). In these two works, Reich experimented with "the human breath as the measure of musical duration ... the chords played by the trumpets are written to take one comfortable breath to perform".<ref>Liner notes for ''Music for a Large Ensemble''</ref> Human voices are part of the musical palette in ''Music for a Large Ensemble'' but the wordless vocal parts simply form part of the texture (as they do in ''Drumming''). With ''Octet'' and his first orchestral piece ''[[Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards]]'' (also 1979), Reich's music showed the influence of Biblical [[cantillation]], which he had studied in [[Israel]] since the summer of 1977. After this, the human voice singing a text would play an increasingly important role in Reich's music. |
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{{cquote|The technique [...] consists of taking pre-existing melodic patterns and stringing them together to form a longer melody in the service of a holy text. If you take away the text, you're left with the idea of putting together small motives to make longer melodies – a technique I had not encountered before.<ref>Schwarz, K. Robert. ''Minimalists'', Phaidon Press, 1996, p.84 and p.86.</ref>}} |
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In 1974 Reich published the book ''Writings About Music'', containing essays on his philosophy, aesthetics, and musical projects written between 1963 and 1974. An updated and much more extensive collection, ''Writings On Music (1965–2000)'', was published in 2002. |
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=== 1980s === |
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Reich's work took on a darker character in the 1980s with the introduction of historical themes as well as themes from his Jewish heritage. ''[[Tehillim (Reich)|Tehillim]]'' (1981), [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] for ''[[psalm]]s'', is the first of Reich's works to draw explicitly on his Jewish background. The work is in four parts, and is scored for an ensemble of four women's voices (one high [[soprano]], two lyric sopranos and one [[alto]]), [[piccolo]], [[flute]], [[oboe]], [[English horn]], two [[clarinet]]s, six percussion (playing small tuned [[tambourine]]s without jingles, clapping, [[maraca]]s, [[marimba]], [[vibraphone]] and [[crotales]]), two [[electronic organ]]s, two violins, [[viola]], cello and [[double bass]], with amplified voices, strings, and winds. A setting of texts from psalms 19:2–5 (19:1–4 in Christian translations), 34:13–15 (34:12–14), 18:26–27 (18:25–26), and 150:4–6, ''Tehillim'' is a departure from Reich's other work in its formal structure; the setting of texts several lines long rather than the fragments used in previous works makes melody a substantive element. Use of formal [[counterpoint]] and functional [[harmony]] also contrasts with the loosely structured minimalist works written previously. |
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{{listen |
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| filename = Pat Metheny-Electric Counterpoint III Fast.ogg |
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| title = Pat Metheny "Electric Counterpoint III Fast" (1989) |
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| description = 25 seconds of "Electric Counterpoint III Fast" performed by Pat Metheny. Composed by Steve Reich. From [http://www.discogs.com/release/108357 "Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint"] album. |
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| format = [[Ogg]] |
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}} |
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''[[Different Trains]]'' (1988), for [[string quartet]] and tape, uses recorded speech, as in his earlier works, but this time as a melodic rather than a rhythmic element. In ''Different Trains'' Reich compares and contrasts his childhood memories of his train journeys between New York and California in 1939–1941 with the very different trains being used to transport contemporaneous European children to their deaths under [[Nazism|Nazi]] rule. The [[Kronos Quartet]] recording of ''Different Trains'' was awarded the [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition]] in 1990. The composition was described by [[Richard Taruskin]] as "the only adequate musical response—one of the few adequate artistic responses in any medium—to [[the Holocaust]]", and he credited the piece with earning Reich a place among the great composers of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4D91F3FF937A1575BC0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |last=Taruskin |first=Richard |authorlink=Richard Taruskin |title=A Sturdy Musical Bridge to the 21st Century |work=The New York Times |date=August 24, 1997 |accessdate=September 27, 2008}}</ref> |
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=== 1990s to present === |
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In 1993, Reich collaborated with his wife, the video artist [[Beryl Korot]], on an opera, ''[[The Cave (opera)|The Cave]]'', which explores the roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam through the words of [[Israel]]is, [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]], and [[United States|Americans]], echoed musically by the ensemble. The work, for percussion, voices, and strings, is a musical documentary, named for the [[Cave of Machpelah]] in [[Hebron]], where a mosque now stands and [[Abraham]] is said to have been buried. The two collaborated again on the opera ''[[Three Tales (opera)|Three Tales]]'', which concerns the [[Hindenburg disaster|''Hindenburg'' disaster]], the testing of [[nuclear weapon]]s on [[Bikini Atoll]], and other more modern concerns, specifically [[Dolly the sheep]], [[cloning]], and the [[technological singularity]]. |
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As well as pieces using sampling techniques, like ''Three Tales'' and ''[[City Life (Reich)|City Life]]'' (1994), Reich also returned to composing purely instrumental works for the concert hall, starting with ''Triple Quartet'' (1998) written for the [[Kronos Quartet]] that can either be performed by string quartet and tape, three string quartets or 36-piece string orchestra. According to Reich, the piece is influenced by [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]]'s and [[Alfred Schnittke]]'s string quartets, and [[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]]'s ''Yo Shakespeare''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevereich.com/articles/NY-VT.html |title=From New York to Vermont: Conversation with Steve Reich |publisher=Stevereich.com |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> This series continued with ''Dance Patterns'' (2002), ''Cello Counterpoint'' (2003), and sequence of works centered around Variations: ''You Are (Variations)'' (2004) (a work which looks back to the vocal writing of works like ''Tehillim'' or ''The Desert Music''), ''[[Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings]]'' (2005, for the [[London Sinfonietta]]) and ''Daniel Variations'' (2006). |
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Invited by [[Walter Fink]], he was the 12th composer featured in the annual [[Rheingau Musik Festival#Portraits of living composers|Komponistenporträt]] of the [[Rheingau Musik Festival]] in 2002. |
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In an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', Reich stated that he continued to follow this direction with his piece ''Double Sextet'' (2007), which was commissioned by [[eighth blackbird]], an American ensemble consisting of the instrumental quintet ([[flute]], [[clarinet]], violin or [[viola]], cello and piano) of [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]]'s piece ''[[Pierrot Lunaire]]'' (1912) plus percussion. Reich states that he was thinking about Stravinsky's ''[[Agon (Stravinsky)|Agon]]'' (1957) as a model for the instrumental writing.{{cn|date=March 2014}} |
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Reich was awarded the 2009 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Music, on April 20, 2009, for ''[[Double Sextet]]''.<ref>"2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music," ''The New York Times'', April 20, 2009.</ref> |
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December 2010 [[Nonesuch Records]] and [[Indaba Music]] held a community remix contest in which over 250 submissions were received, and Steve Reich and Christian Carey judged the finals. Reich spoke in a related BBC interview that once he composed a piece he would not alter it again himself; "When it's done, it's done," he said. On the other hand he acknowledged that remixes have an old tradition e.g. famous religious music pieces where melodies were further developed into new songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/steve-reich-remix-contest |title=Steve Reich Remix Contest – 2x5 Movement 3 |publisher=Indaba Music |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> |
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In May 2011, Steve Reich received an [[honorary doctorate]] from the [[New England Conservatory of Music]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://necmusic.edu/commencement-2011 |title=Commencement 2011 | New England Conservatory |publisher=Necmusic.edu |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> |
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== Influence == |
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Reich's style of composition has influenced many other composers and musical groups, including [[John Coolidge Adams|John Adams]], the [[progressive rock]] band [[King Crimson]], the new-age guitarist [[Michael Hedges]], the art-pop and electronic musician [[Brian Eno]], the experimental art/music group [[The Residents]], the composers associated with the [[Bang on a Can]] festival (including [[David Lang (composer)|David Lang]], [[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]], and [[Julia Wolfe]]), and numerous [[indie rock]] musicians including songwriter [[Sufjan Stevens]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/66792 |last=Wise |first=Brian |title=Steve Reich @ 70 on WNYC |year=2006 |publisher=[[WNYC]]}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://dn.sapo.pt/2006/11/12/artes/o_passado_presente_steve_reich_porto.html |author=Joana de Belém |title=O passado e o presente de Steve Reich no Porto |date=November 12, 2006 |work=[[Diário de Notícias]] |language=Portuguese}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref> and instrumental ensembles [[Tortoise (band)|Tortoise]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tortoise/a-lazarus-taxon.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060917055800/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tortoise/a-lazarus-taxon.htm |archivedate=September 17, 2006 |last=Hutlock |first=Todd |title=Tortoise – A Lazarus Taxon |work=[[Stylus Magazine]] |date=September 1, 2006}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/230069/review/5941937/tnt |last=Ratliff |first=Ben |title=TNT : Tortoise : Review |date=March 23, 1998 |work=Rolling Stone}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guelphjazzfestival.com/2008_season/performers/tortoise_illinois |title=Performers: Tortoise (Illinois) |year=2008 |publisher=Guelph Jazz Festival}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref> [[The Mercury Program]] (themselves influenced by Tortoise),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2001-05-10/music/we-have-liftoff |last=Stratton |first=Jeff |title=We Have Liftoff |work=[[Broward-Palm Beach New Times]] |date=May 10, 2001}} Retrieved September 27, 2008.</ref> and [[Godspeed You! Black Emperor]] (who titled an unreleased song "Steve Reich").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brainwashed.com/godspeed/music.html |title=sad |publisher=Brainwashed.com |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> |
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John Adams commented, "He didn't reinvent the wheel so much as he showed us a new way to ride."<ref>[[John Coolidge Adams|John Adams]]: "...For him, pulsation and tonality were not just cultural artifacts. They were the lifeblood of the musical experience, natural laws. It was his triumph to find a way to embrace these fundamental principles and still create a music that felt genuine and new. He didn't reinvent the wheel so much as he showed us a new way to ride." See for instance the articles section of the {{cite web|url=http://www.stevereich.com/|title=Steve Reich Website|accessdate=January 31, 2010}}</ref> He has also influenced visual artists such as [[Bruce Nauman]], and many notable choreographers have made dances to his music, [[Eliot Feld]], [[Jiří Kylián]], Douglas Lee and [[Jerome Robbins]] among others; he has expressed particular admiration of [[Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker]]'s work set to his pieces. |
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In featuring a sample of Reich's ''[[Electric Counterpoint]]'' (1987) the British [[ambient techno]] act [[the Orb]] exposed a new generation of listeners to the composer's music with its 1990 production ''[[Little Fluffy Clouds]]''.<ref name=Emmerson>Emmerson, S. (2007), ''Music, Electronic Media, and Culture'', Ashgate, Adlershot, p.68.</ref> In 1999 the album ''Reich Remixed'' featured "[[remix|re-mixes]]" of a number of Reich's works by various electronic dance-music producers, such as [[DJ Spooky]], [[Kurtis Mantronik]], [[Ken Ishii]], and [[Coldcut]] amongst others.<ref name=Emmerson/><ref>[http://www.discogs.com/release/27570 Reich Remixed:] album track listing at www.discogs.com</ref> |
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Reich often cites [[Pérotin]], [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]], [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]], and [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] as composers whom he admires and who greatly influenced him when he was young.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevereich.com/articles/Anne_Teresa_de_Keersmaeker_intervies.html |title=Questions from Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker & Answers from |publisher=Steve Reich |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> Jazz is a major part of the formation of Reich's musical style, and two of the earliest influences on his work were vocalists [[Ella Fitzgerald]] and [[Alfred Deller]], whose emphasis on the artistic capabilities of the voice alone with little vibrato or other alteration was an inspiration to his earliest works. [[John Coltrane]]'s style, which Reich has described as "playing a lot of notes to very few harmonies", also had an impact; of particular interest was the album ''[[Africa/Brass]]'', which "was basically a half-an-hour in F."<ref name="Zuckerman">{{cite web|url=http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/interview_reich.html |title=Steve Reich Interview with Gabrielle Zuckerman, July 2002 |publisher=Musicmavericks.publicradio.org |accessdate=October 16, 2011}}</ref> Reich's influence from jazz includes its roots, also, from the West African music he studied in his readings and visit to Ghana. Other important influences are [[Kenny Clarke]] and [[Miles Davis]], and visual artist friends such as [[Sol LeWitt]] and [[Richard Serra]]. Reich has also stated that he admires the music of the band [[Radiohead]], which led to his composition ''Radio Rewrite''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alexis |last=Petridis |authorlink=Alexis Petridis |title=Steve Reich on Schoenberg, Coltrane and Radiohead |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/01/steve-reich-schoenberg-coltrane-radiohead |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 28, 2013 |accessdate=March 1, 2013 }}</ref> Reich recently contributed the introduction to ''Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture'' (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. [[DJ Spooky]]. |
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== Recent projects == |
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Reich has the world premiere of a piece, ''[[WTC 9/11]]'', written for String Quartet and Tape, a similar instrumentation to that of ''[[Different Trains]]''. It was premiered in March 2011 by the [[Kronos Quartet]], at [[Duke University]], North Carolina, USA.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} |
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On March 5, 2013 the [[London Sinfonietta]], conducted by Brad Lubman, at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] in [[London]] gave the world premiere of ''[[Radio Rewrite]]'' (for ensemble with 11 players), inspired by the music of [[Radiohead]]. The programme also included ''Double Sextet'' (for ensemble with 12 players), ''Clapping Music'', for two people and four hands (featuring Reich himself), ''Electric Counterpoint'', with electric guitar by Mats Bergstrom accompanied by a layered soundtrack, as well as two of Reich's small ensemble pieces, one for acoustic instruments, the other for electric instruments and tape.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0zyf |title=Radio Rewrite, Double Sextet |publisher=bbc.co.uk |year=2013 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref> |
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== Quotations == |
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{{Quotation|[...] I drove a cab in San Francisco, and in New York I worked as a part-time social worker. [[Philip Glass|Phil Glass]] and I had a moving company for a short period of time. I did all kinds of odd jobs [...] I started making a living as a performer in my own ensemble. I would never have thought that it was how I was going to survive financially. It was a complete wonder. |
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<br> |
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—''From an interview with Richard Kessler, 1998''<ref name="NewMusicBox">{{cite web|url=http://www.newmusicbox.org/archive/firstperson/reich/index.html|title=Steve Reich Interview (7/98) – Richard Kessler, Executive Director of the American Music Center, talks with Steve Reich|date=July 1998|work=NewMusicBox|publisher=[[American Music Center]]|accessdate=April 10, 2011}}</ref>}} |
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{{Quotation|The point is, if you went to Paris and dug up [[Debussy]] and said, 'Excusez-moi Monsieur...are you an impressionist?' he'd probably say 'Merde!' and go back to sleep. That is a legitimate concern of musicologists, music historians, and journalists, and it's a convenient way of referring to me, Riley, Glass, [[La Monte Young]] [...] it's become the dominant style. But, anybody who's interested in French [[Impressionism]] is interested in how different Debussy and [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] and [[Satie]] are—and ditto for what's called [[minimalism]]. [...] Basically, those kind of words are taken from painting and sculpture, and applied to musicians who composed at the same period as that painting and sculpture was made [...]. |
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<br> |
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—''From an Interview with Rebecca Y. Kim'', 2000<ref>http://www.stevereich.com www.stevereich.com</ref>}} |
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{{Quotation|All musicians in the past, starting with the middle ages were interested in popular music. (...) [[Béla Bartók]]'s music is made entirely of sources from [[Hungarian folk music]]. And [[Igor Stravinsky]], although he lied about it, used all kinds of Russian sources for his early ballets. [[Kurt Weill|Kurt Weill's]] great masterpiece [[Dreigroschenoper]] is using the [[cabaret]]-style of the [[Weimar Republic]] and that's why it is such a masterpiece. Only artificial division between popular and classical music happened unfortunately through the blindness of [[Arnold Schoenberg]] and his followers to create an artificial wall, which never existed before him. In my generation we tore the wall down and now we are back to the normal situation, for example if [[Brian Eno]] or [[David Bowie]] come to me, and if popular musicians remix my music like [[The Orb]] or [[DJ Spooky]] it is a good thing. This is a natural normal regular historical way. |
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<br> |
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—''From an Interview with Jakob Buhre''<ref>Buhre, Jakob. [http://www.planet-interview.de/interviews/steve-reich/41593/ Interview with Steve Reich: We tore the wall down], ''Planet Interview'' (August 14, 2000). Accessed September 20, 2006.</ref> |
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}} |
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== Works == |
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=== Music === |
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* Soundtrack for ''[[Plastic Haircut]]'', tape (1963) |
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* ''Music for two or more pianos'' (1964) |
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* ''Livelihood'' (1964) |
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* ''[[It's Gonna Rain]]'', tape (1965) |
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* Soundtrack for ''[[Oh Dem Watermelons]]'', tape (1965) |
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* ''[[Come Out (Reich)|Come Out]]'', tape (1966) |
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* ''Melodica'', for melodica and tape (1966) |
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* ''[[Reed Phase]]'', for soprano saxophone or any other reed instrument and tape, or three reed instruments (1966) |
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* ''[[Piano Phase]]'' for two pianos, or two marimbas (1967) |
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* ''[[Slow Motion Sound]]'' ''concept piece'' (1967) |
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* ''[[Violin Phase]]'' for violin and tape or four violins (1967) |
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* ''My Name Is'' for three tape recorders and performers (1967) |
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* ''[[Pendulum Music]]'' for 3 or 4 microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers (1968) (revised 1973)<ref name="writings">*{{cite book |
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| last = Reich |
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| first = Steve |
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| title = Writings on Music |
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| publisher=New York University Press |
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| date = 1975 (New Edition) |
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| location = USA |
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| pages = 12–13 |
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| isbn = 0-8147-7357-5 }}</ref> |
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* ''[[Four Organs]]'' for four electric organs and maracas (1970) |
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* ''[[Phase Patterns (Reich)|Phase Patterns]]'' for four electric organs (1970) |
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* ''[[Drumming (Reich)|Drumming]]'' for 4 pairs of tuned bongo drums, 3 marimbas, 3 glockenspiels, 2 female voices, whistling and piccolo (1970/1971) |
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* ''[[Clapping Music]]'' for two musicians clapping (1972) |
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* ''[[Music for Pieces of Wood]]'' for five pairs of tuned claves (1973) |
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* ''[[Six Pianos]]'' (1973) – transcribed as ''[[Six Marimbas]]'' (1986) |
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* ''[[Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ]]'' (1973) |
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* ''[[Music for 18 Musicians]]'' (1974–76) |
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* ''[[Music for a Large Ensemble]]'' (1978) |
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* ''[[Octet (Reich)|Octet]]'' (1979) – withdrawn in favor of the 1983 revision for slightly larger ensemble, ''[[Eight Lines]]'' |
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* ''[[Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards]]'' for orchestra (1979) |
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* ''[[Tehillim (Reich)|Tehillim]]'' for voices and ensemble (1981) |
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* ''[[Vermont Counterpoint]]'' for amplified flute and tape (1982) |
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* ''[[The Desert Music]]'' for chorus and orchestra or voices and ensemble (1983, text by [[William Carlos Williams]]) |
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* ''[[Sextet (Reich)|Sextet]]'' for percussion and keyboards (1984) |
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* ''[[New York Counterpoint]]'' for amplified [[clarinet]] and tape, or 11 clarinets and [[bass clarinet]] (1985) |
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* ''Three Movements'' for orchestra (1986) |
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* ''[[Electric Counterpoint]]'' for electric guitar or amplified acoustic guitar and tape (1987, for [[Pat Metheny]]) |
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* ''[[The Four Sections]]'' for orchestra (1987) |
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* ''[[Different Trains]]'' for string quartet and tape (1988) |
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* ''[[The Cave (opera)|The Cave]]'' for four voices, ensemble and video (1993, with [[Beryl Korot]]) |
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* ''Duet'' for two violins and string ensemble (1993) |
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* ''Nagoya Marimbas'' for two [[marimba]]s (1994) |
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* ''[[City Life (Reich)|City Life]]'' for amplified ensemble (1995) |
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* ''[[Proverb (Reich)|Proverb]]'' for voices and ensemble (1995, text by [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]) |
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* ''[[Triple Quartet]]'' for amplified string quartet (with prerecorded tape), or three string quartets, or string orchestra (1998) |
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* ''Know What Is Above You'' for four women’s voices and 2 [[tamborim]]s (1999) |
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* ''[[Three Tales (opera)|Three Tales]]'' for video projection, five voices and ensemble (1998–2002, with [[Beryl Korot]]) |
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* ''Dance Patterns'' for 2 xylophones, 2 vibraphones and 2 pianos (2002) |
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* ''Cello Counterpoint'' for amplified cello and multichannel tape (2003) |
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* ''[[You Are (Variations)]]'' for voices and ensemble (2004) |
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* ''[[For Strings (with Winds and Brass)]]'' for orchestra (1987/2004) |
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* ''[[Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings]]'' dance piece for three string quartets, four vibraphones, and two pianos (2005) |
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* ''[[Daniel Variations]]'' for four voices and ensemble (2006) |
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* ''[[Double Sextet]]'' for 2 violins, 2 cellos, 2 pianos, 2 vibraphones, 2 clarinets, 2 flutes or ensemble and pre-recorded tape (2007) |
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* ''[[2x5]]'' for 2 drum sets, 2 pianos, 4 electric guitars and 2 bass guitars (2008) |
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* ''[[Mallet Quartet]]'' for 2 marimbas and 2 vibraphones or 4 marimbas (or solo percussion and tape) (2009) |
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* ''[[WTC 9/11]]'' for String Quartet and Tape (2010) |
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* ''Finishing the Hat'' for two pianos (2011) |
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* ''[[Radio Rewrite]]'' for ensemble (2012) |
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* ''Quartet'' for two vibraphones and two pianos (2013) |
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=== Selected discography === |
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* ''[[Drumming (Reich)|Drumming]]''. Steve Reich and Musicians (Two recordings: [[Deutsche Grammophon]] and [[Nonesuch Records|Nonesuch]]) [[So Percussion]] (Cantaloupe) |
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* ''[[Music for 18 Musicians]]''. Steve Reich and Musicians (Two recordings: [[ECM (record label)|ECM]] and Nonesuch), Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble (Innova), [[Ensemble Modern]] (RCA). |
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* ''[[Octet/Music for a Large Ensemble/Violin Phase]]''. Steve Reich and Musicians ([[ECM (record label)|ECM]]) |
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* ''Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards/Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ/ Six Pianos''. [[San Francisco Symphony Orchestra]], [[Edo de Waart]], Steve Reich & Musicians (Deutsche Grammophon) |
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* ''[[Tehillim (Reich)|Tehillim]]/[[The Desert Music]]''. [[Alarm Will Sound]] and OSSIA, Alan Pierson (Cantaloupe) |
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* ''[[Different Trains]]/[[Electric Counterpoint]]''. [[Kronos Quartet]], [[Pat Metheny]] (Nonesuch) |
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* ''You Are (Variations)/Cello Counterpoint''. [[Los Angeles Master Chorale]], Grant Gershon, Maya Beiser (Nonesuch) |
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* ''[[Steve Reich: Works 1965-1995]]''. Various performers (Nonesuch). |
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* ''[[Daniel Variations]]'', with ''Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings''. [[London Sinfonietta]], Grant Gershon, Alan Pierson (Nonesuch) |
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* ''[[Double Sextet/2x5]]'', [[Eighth Blackbird]] and [[Bang on a Can]] (Nonesuch) |
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* ''[[Piano Phase]]'', transcribed for guitar, Alexandre Gérard (Catapult) |
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* ''Phase to Face'', a film documentary about Steve Reich by Eric Darmon & Franck Mallet (EuroArts) [http://www2.euroarts.com/artikel/dvd/?id=005812_steve_reich_phase_to_face DVD] |
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=== Books === |
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* ''Writings About Music'' (1974), Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, ISBN 0-814-7735-83 |
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* ''Writings On Music (1965–2000)'' (2002), ISBN 0-195-1117-10 |
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== Further reading == |
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* D.J. Hoek. ''Steve Reich: A Bio-Bibliography.'' Greenwood Press, 2002. |
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* K. Robert Schwarz. ''Minimalists.'' Phaidon Press, 1996. |
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== See also == |
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* [[Minimalist music]] |
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* [[Steve Reich and Musicians]] |
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== Notes == |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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{{reflist|30em}} |
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<!-- No longer referenced: #{{note|grove}}Paul Griffiths: 'Steve Reich', [[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove Music]] Online ed. L. Macy (Retrieved November 7, 2005) [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] --> |
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<!-- No longer referenced: #{{note|stevereich.com}}[http://www.stevereich.com/ www.stevereich.com] --> |
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<!-- No longer referenced: #{{note|johnson}}[http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=48vw03 Steve Reich's ''Drumming''] review by [[Tom Johnson (composer)|Tom Johnson]], originally published on December 9, 1971. --> |
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</div> |
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== References == |
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* Potter, Keith (2000). ''Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. Music in the Twentieth Century series. Cambridge, UK; New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. |
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* {{cite book |
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| last = Reich |
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| first = Steve |
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| coauthors = Hillier, Paul (Editor) |
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| title = Writings on Music, 1965–2000 |
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| publisher=Oxford University Press |
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| date = April 1, 2002 |
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| location = USA |
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| page = 272 |
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| isbn = 0-19-511171-0 }} |
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* {{cite book |
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| last = Reich |
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| first = Steve |
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| title = Writings About Music |
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| publisher=Press of the [[Nova Scotia College of Art and Design]] |
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| year = 1974 |
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| location = Halifax |
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| page = 78 |
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| isbn = 0-919616-02-X }} |
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== External links == |
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{{wikiquote}} |
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{{commons category}} |
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{{Refbegin}} |
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* {{official website |www.stevereich.com/ }} |
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* [http://www.lsre.co.uk/ London Steve Reich Ensemble] (official) |
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* {{BrahmsOnline|2700}} |
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* [http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/memory/memorials0/europe-during-war0/ Music and the Holocaust – Different Trains] |
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{{Refend}} |
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; Interviews |
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{{Refbegin}} |
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* [http://www.vitaminic.co.uk/vita/specials/steve_reich/part1.jsp A Steve Reich Interview with Christopher Abbot] |
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* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/reich.html Two interviews with Steve Reich] by Bruce Duffie (October 1985 & November 1995) |
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* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/archive/firstperson/reich/ Steve Reich Interview (7/98) with Richard Kessler] |
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* [http://www.topologymusic.com/index.php/time-and-motion-an-interview-with-steve-reich/ Time and Motion: an interview with Steve Reich, by Robert Davidson, 1999] |
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* [http://www.disquiet.com/stevereich-script.html A Steve Reich Interview with Marc Weidenbaum, 1999] |
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* [http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20000717.atc.06.rmm "Drumming" – Interview & analysis], selected as one of the [http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html NPR 100] most important musical works of the 20th century. [[RealAudio]] format, timing: 12:46, July 2000 |
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* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=3810 In Conversation with Steve Reich, by Molly Sheridan, June 2002] |
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* [http://www.ensemble-modern.com/english/kritiken/archiv/i-a021.htm Steve Reich and Beryl Korot interviewed by David Allenby, 2002] |
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* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/homeentertainment/story/0,,1114656,00.html An interview in ''The Guardian'', January 2, 2004] |
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* [http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=63fp00 The Next Phase: Steve Reich talks to Richard Kessler About Redefinition and Renewal, 2004] |
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* [http://adventuresinmusic.biz/Archives/Interviews/stevereich.htm "How Small a Thought it Takes to Fill a Whole Life" – An Interview with Not-So-Minimalist Composer Steve Reich on AdventuresInMusic.biz, 2005] |
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* [http://www.ensemble-modern.com/english/kritiken/archiv/i-a024.htm A Steve Reich Interview with Hermann Kretzschmar on ''You Are (Variations)'', 2005] |
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* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/feature/0,,1602076,00.html The beaten track, an interview with Reich, by Andrew Clements, The Guardian, October 28, 2005] |
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* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/theview/archive/20060529.html An interview with Steve Reich on RTE television, National Broadcaster in Ireland, May 29, 2006] |
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* [http://www.musicomh.com/classical_features/reich_1006.htm An interview with Steve Reich on musicOMH.com, October 2006] |
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* [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/39540/Interview_Interview_Steve_Reich Interview: Steve Reich], by Joshua Klein, November 22, 2006. |
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* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6209213 "Steve Reich at 70"] from NPR ''Fresh Air'' broadcast October 6, 2006 includes interview about "It's Gonna Rain", "Drumming", and "Tehillim" that first aired in 1999 and another on "Different Trains" from 1989 (RealAudio format, timing: 39:25) |
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* [http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/?url=/MediaComposite/CMDI/CMDI000001900/default.htm "Video Interview (Feb. 2006)"], Cité de la musique, Paris, France |
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* [http://www.flypmedia.com/issues/29/#8/1 "Two Arts Beating As One" – Interviews with Steve Reich and his wife Beryl Korot with video and audio clips, May 2009] |
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* [http://www.sfbg.com/2013/03/12/unexplored-terrain?page=0,0 "Unexplored terrain"] Composer Steve Reich draws out Radiohead's melodic fragments for new work - Interview with Steve Reich about his new work, March 2013 |
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{{Refend}} |
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; Listening |
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{{Refbegin}} |
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* [http://radiom.org/detail.php?omid=C.1971.03.14 Steve Reich at UC Berkeley University Museum] (November 7, 1970) Streaming audio |
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* [http://www.whitney.org/www/exhibition/stevereich.jsp Steve Reich at the Whitney] "October 15, 2006" MP3 |
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* [http://download.itv.com/southbankshow/reich.m4a Reich speaks about Daniel Variations for the South Bank Show] |
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{{Refend}} |
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; Others |
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{{Refbegin}} |
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* [http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/reich.html Classical Music Pages: Steve Reich biography] |
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* {{BrahmsOnline|2700}} |
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* [http://www.duke.edu/~dks3/Reich/ ''A Description/documentary of Steve Reich''] from Duke University, includes sound samples and quotes |
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* [http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/reich.html EST:] ''Steve Reich'' by Roger Sutherland |
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* [http://www.columbia.edu/ccnmtl/draft/ben/feld/mod1/readings/reich.html Music as a Gradual Process] by Steve Reich |
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* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/news/further_info.asp?NewsID=10960&LangID= Steve Reich: You Are (Variations) premiere in LA (October 2004)] |
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* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6155645 New York Fetes Composer Steve Reich at 70] from [[National Public Radio|NPR]] |
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* [http://www.newyorker.com/critics/music/articles/061113crmu_music Fascinating rhythm. Celebrating Steve Reich.] Article by Alex Ross from The New Yorker. |
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* [http://www.polarmusicprize.se/newSite/press200701.shtml Steve Reich & Sonny Rollins winners of the Polar Music Prize for 2007] Press release of Polar Prize announcement |
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{{Refend}} |
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* {{LCAuth|n81022275|Steve Reich|104|}} |
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{{Steve Reich}} |
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{{Polar Music Prize}} |
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{{PulitzerPrize Music 2001–2010}} |
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{{PulitzerPrize Music Finalists 2001–2010}} |
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{{Authority control |VIAF=113910813 |LCCN=n/81/022275 |GND=119286769 }} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Reich, Steve |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American composer |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = October 3, 1936 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City, New York, USA |
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[[Category:Steve Reich| ]] |
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[[Category:20th-century classical composers]] |
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[[Category:Nonesuch Records artists]] |
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[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]] |
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Revision as of 08:10, 6 May 2014
Steve Reich was recently called "our greatest living composer" (The New York Times), "America’s greatest living composer." (The Village VOICE), “...the most original musical thinker of our time” (The New Yorker) and “...among the great composers of the century” (The New York Times).. From his early taped speech pieces It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) to his and video artist Beryl Korot’s digital video opera Three Tales (2002), Mr. Reich's path has embraced not only aspects of Western Classical music, but the structures, harmonies, and rhythms of non-Western and American vernacular music, particularly jazz. "There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them," states The Guardian (London).
In April 2009 Steve Reich was awarded the Pulitzer prize in Music for his composition 'Double Sextet'.
Performing organizations around the world marked Steve Reich's 70th- birthday year, 2006, with festivals and special concerts. In the composer's hometown of New York, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center joined forces to present complementary programs of his music, and in London, the Barbican mounted a major retrospective. Concerts were also presented in Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Baden-Baden, Barcelona, Birmingham, Budapest, Chicago, Cologne, Copenhagen, Denver, Dublin, Freiburg, Graz, Helsinki, Los Angeles, Paris, Porto, Vancouver, Vienna and Vilnius among others. In addition, Nonesuch Records released its second box set of Steve Reich’s works, Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective, in September 2006. The five-CD collection comprises fourteen of the composer’s best-known pieces, spanning the 20 years of his time on the label.
In October 2006 in Tokyo, Mr. Reich was awarded the Preamium Imperial award in Music. This important international award is in areas in the arts not covered by the Nobel Prize. Former winners of the prize in various fields include Pierre Boulez, Lucian Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Richard Serra and Stephen Sondheim.
In May 2007 Mr. Reich was awarded The Polar Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of music. The prize was presented by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The Swedish Academy said: "...Steve Reich has transferred questions of faith, society and philosophy into a hypnotic sounding music that has inspired musicians and composers of all genres." Former winners of the Polar Prize have included Pierre Boulez, Bob Dylan, Gyorgi Ligeti and Sir Paul McCartney.
In December 2006 Mr. Reich was awarded membership in the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and in April 2007 he was awarded the Chubb Fellowship at Yale University. In May 2008 he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Born in New York and raised there and in California, Mr. Reich graduated with honors in philosophy from Cornell University in 1957. For the next two years, he studied composition with Hall Overton, and from 1958 to 1961 he studied at the Juilliard School of Music with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti. Mr. Reich received his M.A. in Music from Mills College in 1963, where he worked with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud.
During the summer of 1970, with the help of a grant from the Institute for International Education, Mr. Reich studied drumming at the Institute for African Studies at the University of Ghana in Accra. In 1973 and 1974 he studied Balinese Gamelan Semar Pegulingan and Gamelan Gambang at the American Society for Eastern Arts in Seattle and Berkeley, California. From 1976 to 1977 he studied the traditional forms of cantillation (chanting) of the Hebrew scriptures in New York and Jerusalem.
In 1966 Steve Reich founded his own ensemble of three musicians, which rapidly grew to 18 members or more. Since 1971, Steve Reich and Musicians have frequently toured the world, and have the distinction of performing to sold-out houses at venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall and the Bottom Line Cabaret.
Mr. Reich's 1988 piece, Different Trains, marked a new compositional method, rooted in It's Gonna Rain and Come Out, in which speech recordings generate the musical material for musical instruments. The New York Times hailed Different Trains as "a work of such astonishing originality that breakthrough seems the only possible description....possesses an absolutely harrowing emotional impact." In 1990, Mr. Reich received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition for Different Trains as recorded by the Kronos Quartet on the Nonesuch label.
In June 1997, in celebration of Mr. Reich's 60th birthday, Nonesuch released a 10-CD retrospective box set of Mr. Reich's compositions, featuring several newly-recorded and re-mastered works. He won a second Grammy award in 1999 for his piece Music for 18 Musicians, also on the Nonesuch label. In July 1999 a major retrospective of Mr. Reich’s work was presented by the Lincoln Center Festival. Earlier, in 1988, the South Bank Centre in London, mounted a similar series of retrospective concerts.
In 2000 he was awarded the Schuman Prize from Columbia University, the Montgomery Fellowship from Dartmouth College, the Regent’s Lectureship at the University of California at Berkeley, an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of the Arts and was named Composer of the Year by Musical America magazine.
The Cave, Steve Reich and Beryl Korot's music theater video piece exploring the Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac, was hailed by Time Magazine as "a fascinating glimpse of what opera might be like in the 21st century." Of the Chicago premiere, John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The techniques embraced by this work have the potential to enrich opera as living art a thousandfold....The Cave impresses, ultimately, as a powerful and imaginative work of high-tech music theater that brings the troubled present into resonant dialogue with the ancient past, and invites all of us to consider anew our shared cultural heritage."
Three Tales, a three-part digital documentary video opera, is a second collaborative work by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot about three well known events from the twentieth century, reflecting on the growth and implications of technology in the 20th century: Hindenburg, on the crash of the German zeppelin in New Jersey in 1937; Bikini, on the Atom bomb tests at Bikini atoll in 1946-1954; and Dolly, the sheep cloned in 1997, on the issues of genetic engineering and robotics. Three Tales is a three act music theater work in which historical film and video footage, video taped interviews, photographs, text, and specially constructed stills are recreated on computer, transferred to video tape and projected on one large screen. Musicians and singers take their places on stage along with the screen, presenting the debate about the physical, ethical and religious nature of technological development. Three Tales was premiered at the Vienna Festival in 2002 and subsequently toured all over Europe, America, Australia and Hong Kong. Nonesuch is releasing a DVD/CD of the piece in fall 2003.
Over the years, Steve Reich has received commissions from the Barbican Centre London, the Holland Festival; San Francisco Symphony; the Rothko Chapel; Vienna Festival, Hebbel Theater, Berlin, the Brooklyn Academy of Music for guitarist Pat Metheny; Spoleto Festival USA, West German Radio, Cologne; Settembre Musica, Torino, the Fromm Music Foundation for clarinetist Richard Stoltzman; the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Betty Freeman for the Kronos Quartet; and the Festival d'Automne, Paris, for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.
Steve Reich's music has been performed by major orchestras and ensembles around the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta; the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; The Ensemble Modern conducted by Bradley Lubman, The Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by David Robertson, the London Sinfonietta conducted by Markus Stenz and Martyn Brabbins, the Theater of Voices conducted by Paul Hillier, the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano; the Saint Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin; the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Neal Stulberg; the BBC Symphony conducted by Peter Eötvös; and the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
Several noted choreographers have created dances to Steve Reich's music, including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker ("Fase," 1983, set to four early works as well as"Drumming,"1998 and “Rain” set to “Music for 18 Musicians”), Jirí Kylían ("Falling Angels," set to “Drumming Part I”), Jerome Robbins for the New York City Ballet ("Eight Lines") and Laura Dean, who commissioned "Sextet". That ballet, entitled "Impact," was premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, and earned Steve Reich and Laura Dean a Bessie Award in 1986. Other major choreographers using Mr. Reich's music include Eliot Feld, Alvin Ailey, Lar Lubovitch, Maurice Bejart, Lucinda Childs, Siobhan Davies and Richard Alston.
In 1994 Steve Reich was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1995, and, in 1999, awarded Commandeur de l’ordre des Arts et Lettres.