Octet (Reich)

Octet is a work by American minimalist composer Steve Reich. It was originally scored for string quartet, two pianos, and two clarinets doubling both bass clarinet and flute as well as piccolo. It was completed in April 1979, and was premiered on June 21, 1979, by members of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble. Octet was later rescored by Reich by adding a string quartet, under the title Eight Lines.

Octet consists of a single movement about 15-18 minutes long, in quick 5/4. The core of the work is a syncopated piano ostinato, superimposed over transposed and shifted versions of itself. The woodwinds and strings play fragmented versions of these figures in unison with the pianos, as well as melodies of their own and slow drones in the background. The piece makes extensive use of imitative polyphony and incremental building of melodies.

The work is divided into five sections with mostly gradual changes between them. It is entirely diatonic, although with occasional modulations — these are subtle, playing on ambiguities formed by leaving out one degree of the scale.

References

• Reich, Steve (2002). Writings on Music, 1965–2000. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 0-19-511171-0.