Composer of the Week

I regret my trip to New York did not yield a new post.  Mostly due to exhaustion between the city trip and roof work the following day, I decided to ponder this week’s composer and also the impact of Steve Reich’s music on society.

Regarding Reich, I think it is safe to say that the accessibility of Reich’s ideas is what makes him so popular among so many diverse groups of music listeners.  The Who’s Baba O’Riley for example opens with a synthesizer motive that is reminiscent of some of the phasing found in Reich’s music.  Other contemporary artists have been known to use his ideas, and it seems that music students and music patrons the world over are constantly amazed by his music–or the process of his music.  For all its simplicity, performances of Reich’s music requires great skill, concentration, and musicianship.

Try writing a piece using some of the concepts defined earlier in the blog or styled after Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain. I did this about a year and a half ago, the resulting Noon a portion of a presentation on Avante Garde Music.  The title, palindromic in nature, is for piano and marimba and explores minimalist components in a palindromic form.  I found the composition process exciting, but difficult at times.  Credit was immediately dished over to Reich and other composers who have made careers in such areas of composition.  Perhaps it is the simple act of doing that helps us appreciate the complexity of the process.  And to his credit, Reich has made the process a simple act of listening.