“I discovered that the most interesting music of all was made by simply lining the loops in unison, and letting them slowly shift out of phase with other.” - Steve Reich
The number 34 entry in our top 50 classical music recordings of all-time is a seminal recording of Music for 18 Musicians by minimalist composer Steve Reich performed by the Steve Reich Ensemble and recorded by ECM records in 1978. One of the most popular, approachable, and powerful minimalist compositions ever created, Reich composed it between 1974 and 1976, it was premiered in 1976 in New York, and this groundbreaking recording was made in 1978. Although the piece says 18 musicians, Reich recommends performing it with more than just 18.
The composer
Stephen Michael Reich was born in New York City in 1936. He is most known for being one of the leading 20th century composers, and in particular for his contribution to the minimalist movement in music beginning in the mid to late 1960s. Although Reich eschews the term “minimalist” to describe his music, especially his more recent music, he will probably always be connected to Minimalism. Minimalism is a modern form of music that employs limited or minimal musical materials. Prominent features of minimalist music include repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units.The truth is over the course of his career Reich has embraced a variety of styles, integrating different sound worlds and theories. But perhaps his most well-known composition, his Music for 18 Musicians, certainly contains repetitive patterns, pulses, and overlapping phrases, and thus meets a minimalist definition.
As a teen, Reich took piano lessons but his first musical revelation came when he first heard the music of Bach and Stravinsky at the age of 14. He also heard bebop and jazz, and began playing the drums in a jazz band. During his time at Cornell University, Reich would continue playing with a jazz band, but earned his degree in Philosophy. In 1957 he moved to New York City and entered the Julliard School. It was at Julliard he would meet Philip Glass (who would go on to become another well-known modern composer), and would first be exposed to 12-tone music, most famously advocated by Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg. 12-tone music defined as a technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any one note through the use of tone rows, orderings of the 12 pitch classes. All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a particular key. Reich was indeed influenced by 12-tone practice in his development as a composer, and he appreciated the logical and mathematical emphases.
Reich eventually met avant-garde composer Terry Riley in California, and he would actually perform in the premiere of Riley’s In C. Riley took a more “tonal” approach, steering somewhat away from 12-tone, and Reich liked this direction. Subsequently, Reich would experiment with loops and sounds from instruments, voices, speech, and melodies. He would layer the sounds next to, and on top of, each other creating repeating loops but also varying the rhythms to be in sync and out of sync with each other. Returning to New York, Reich formed an ensemble with Glass to play their music. While that group only lasted from 1968 to 1971, later Reich formed Steve Reich and Musicians which would go on to national and world tours.
In the 1970s, Reich would study abroad in Ghana and would be influenced by the dance styles and instruments he found there, and later would also encounter Indonesian gamelan music in Seattle and Berkeley, California. These experiences would broaden Reich’s view of rhythms and sound, and they led directly into his composing Music for 18 Musicians in 1974-1976.
Reich’s music is seen by some as a rejection of much of western classical music in that he wanted the compositional process to be evident in the music itself and for the gradual process of the creation of a work to be as transparent as possible. Reich discovered that by layering musical phrases and rhythms, he could create a large and colorful pastiche, which in Music for 18 Musicians is by turns moving, hypnotic, luminous, beautiful, and yet almost trance-like. Reich would not adhere to any strict process or structure in the creation of most of his works, again distinguishing him from more traditional classical composers.
Music for 18 Musicians
Music for 18 Musicians, considered a Minimalist masterpiece, repeats phrases over and again in a steady tempo, and contains some of the most compelling and interesting harmonies and sounds you will ever hear. Reich uses aural appeal as the main driving force here, and you will notice it is very pleasing to listen to repeatedly. There is a very “tonal” aspect to the piece, striking colors and moods that may be surprising or unexpected. But this is also “feel good” music that moves together in a pulse, and adds or subtracts voices or instruments along the way.
Music for 18 Musicians is based on a cycle of eleven chords. Each chord creates its own small piece of music, and then it cycles through to return to the opening series at the end. Harmonies and melodies are augmented for further development, and human voices, breath, and clarinet are used to great effect to vary the timbre. The pulsing notes are played as long as possible by the musician, while the augmentation happens with notes layered on top, also pulsing.
Music for 18 Musicians occupies a sort of middle ground between stark minimalism and traditional classical music because it certainly takes a different approach and leads to a completely “other” listening experience, but it is also harmonic and includes fascinating, varied, and mesmerizing harmonies which build into something truly memorable and interesting.
The World Premiere was performed in April 1976 at Town Hall, NYC, the European Premiere, October 1976 at the Metamusik Festival, Berlin.
With only 18 musicians, the parts are divided as follows:
Violin
Cello
Female voice
Female voice
Female voice
Piano
Piano
Piano and maracas
Marimba and maracas
Marimba and xylophone
Marimba and xylophone
Marimba and xylophone
Metallophone and piano
Piano and marimba
Marimba, xylophone, and piano
Clarinet and bass clarinet
Clarinet and bass clarinet
Female voice and piano
In short, it is a brilliant modern piece of music that is pure genius.
The Recording
Even though now there are several excellent recordings of Music for 18 Musicians by various groups, the original 1978 recording remains the benchmark both for its sound quality but also for its groundbreaking impact historically.
When the album Music for 18 Musicians by the Steve Reich Ensemble was released by ECM in 1978, the reception was exceptional. All Music wrote at the time, "when this recording was released in 1978, the impact on the new music scene was immediate and overwhelming. Anyone who saw potential in minimalism and had hoped for a major breakthrough piece found it here. The beauty of its pulsing added-note harmonies and the sustained power and precision of the performance were the music's salient features; and instead of the sterile, electronic sound usually associated with minimalism, the music's warm resonance was a welcome change." Robert Christgau wrote of Music for 18 Musicians: "In which pulsing modules of high-register acoustic sound—the ensemble comprises violin, cello, clarinet, piano, marimbas, xylophone, metallophone, and women's voices—evolve harmonically toward themselves. Very mathematical, yet also very, well, organic—the duration of particular note-pulses is determined by the natural breath rhythms of the musicians—this sounds great in the evening near the sea." Other critics agreed that Music for 18 Musicians was the high-point for minimalist composers, and the influence the piece had on the music world cannot be overstated.
In BBC Music Magazine’s review: “All Reich’s experiments came together in this tour de force of ultra-disciplined bliss. The structure is tightly logical as ever: human breaths (voices, wind) measure against heartbeats (mallets) and longer wave forms. You can feel the sheer force of the composer driving this performance of almost superhuman finesse; every note glistens in a perfectly balanced, glowing recording.”
Listening to the quality of the performance on this recording, one is tempted to be taken in by its simplicity, the organic nature of the rhythms, and the hypnotic pulses. However, this is not a simple work to perform. It is rigorous, complex, and requires a high level of ability. What I like most about this original recording of the work is the tightness of the ensemble playing and their ability to adhere so well together to the rhythmic discipline required. A few other recordings have somewhat brighter or more immediate sound, but for me this recording best captures the essence of the work. One other small detail is that on this recording the entire piece is played through as one continual movement of about 56 minutes. On some other recordings, it is split into many movements. Personally I don’t have a preference, but other listeners might.
Other recordings
There are several other fine recordings of Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, but two in particular I like a lot:
Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, Bill Ryan director. Released in 2013 on the Innova label, what I enjoy about this recording is how there is more rhythmic flexibility and interpretive freedom. A bit of a different take from the original album, but also very fine.
Steve Reich and Musicians, recorded by Nonesuch and released in 1998, this is probably the second best known recording of the work. It has the benefit of better sound than the 1978 version, but perhaps marginally less disciplined playing. It is still a really great recording.
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Notes":
AllMusic
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/steve_reich_186025
Brennan, Gerald. Hoek, D.J. Morrison, Chris. Schrott, Allen. Woodstra, Chris. All Music Guide to Classical Music, The Definitive Guide. All Media Guide. Pp. 1085-1087. Backbeat Books, San Francisco. 2005.
Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
Colannino, Justin; Gómez, Francisco; Toussaint, Godfried T. (2009). "Analysis of Emergent Beat-Class Sets in Steve Reich's 'Clapping Music' and the Yoruba Bell Timeline". Perspectives of New Music. 47 (1): 111–134. ISSN 0031-6016. JSTOR 25652402.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_18_Musicians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-tone_technique
https://www.classical-music.com/features/recordings/50-greatest-recordings-all-time/