Steve Reich

§ October 14th, 2008 § Filed under Informational Posts

Please post 250 words on the Reich perfomance and 75 words responding to another student’s post by Wednesday night. 

Samples of Steve Reich:

Music for 18 Musicians, section II

Eight Lines

Different Trains feat. Israel Contemporary String Quartet

Four Organs, partial, South Bank Show - start at 1:00

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  • § edamasco
  • § October 17th, 2008

I had this favored on my youtube account awhile back.

It’s a duet; both begin in together with the same rhythm, then one person is clapping the same rhythm throughout while the other shifts an eighth note every couple of bars until the two return in unison.

The concept is clever, and apparently it works. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhhIZscEE_g

  • § John Oros
  • § October 27th, 2008

BAM’s Steve Reich Evening may be a lot of things, but it definitely is not a toe-tapper. Reich’s concepts challenge the conventional thoughts of rhythm and beat through out all of his pieces. Dueling Pianos, microphone pendulums and one hundred metronomes play in different time signatures, or sometimes a time signature of circumstances to create a “rhythm” that morphs and misconstrues the listeners’ perception. Pendulum Music begins with two “musicians” taking two microphones that dangle from the ceiling and releasing them over large droning amps. As both microphones swing over the amps, they pick up the feedback. Everyone can attest to the particular methodical “rhythm” of a pendulum, because intuition allows listeners to guess the moment when the microphone will swing over the microphone. With the two droning microphones swinging, however, their individual momentums create unexpected moments of rhythmic tension—at times they swing together, at times it seems like one is chasing the other. Piano Phase takes the pendulum concept to the ivory keys. One piano begins a thematic concept of music, while a second one joins in with a different meter. Although, initially they sound together, as the two pianos continue their sequence they come in and out of moments of tight rhythmic congruence. Coupled with the dancers movements, the Piano Phase evokes a revolutionary idea about the definition of a “beat.” One traditionally was a specific moment in time that is followed by sequential equally distributed moments in time becomes more like the ripple effect of a stone in a pond. Each “beat” has repercussions and a flowing nature that will eventually ripple onto another beat. Just like ripples in waves, one beat sets of a chain reaction that sometimes “goes with the flow” and other times disrupt it. Another piece by György Ligeti ironically uses the instrument that keeps strict rhythmic time to disorient an audience member trying to do so. With one hundred metronomes ticking away, the listener cannot help but try to justify the clicking and ticking into some sort of set rhythm. Although it all it sounds like is popping corn, as the other metronomes die own, the ability to ascertain certain instruments ticking lets the listener reason that that one meter had been ticking the entire piece. Allowing the listener to justify other noise surrounding at least one unsporatic aspect of the piece. Whether its looking at rhythm as a natural occurrence, unlike the manmade set meter or rediscovery rhythm beneath the drone of 100 beats, Steve Reich Evening transforms the listeners traditional perception of rhythm.

  • § rscherer
  • § October 27th, 2008

The Steve Reich show at BAM was engaging due to Reich’s ability to control the pacing of the music and dancers so well. The musicians and dancers would perform out of synch with each other, and then in sync, and move back and forth between keeping the same rhythms and totally different ones. Anyone who has ever danced or played an instrument can tell you that while staying perfectly in line with another performer can be difficult, it is often harder to go against another’s rhythm. Yet Reich is able to coordinate simple rhythms in these complicated and sometimes “dueling” ways to, in a sense, pull the audience in through combinations of the basics. The artists themselves really deserve a great deal of credit due to the immense difficulty of their tasks. For example, the girls in the turning dance were really performing simple moves, but faced the challenge of following their own piano’s rhythm, sometimes staying in step with each other and sometimes being the total opposite. This requires a real sense of discipline and attention (and a very strong right arm)! The xylophone players also performed similar pieces. At times the rhythm felt unified, and at other times each musician played his own. The overall effect was a sort of lulling, relaxing feeling that the music simply carried the audience through. All the artists involved, including Reich, must have a true talent and an ear for music to be able to so carefully monitor their movements and rhythms and so purposefully move both in sync and out of sync.

  • § Sharon Steinerman
  • § October 27th, 2008

I didn’t attend the performance. From what I’ve seen above and from what I’ve heard from others, it sounds like I really missed out.

  • § damoore
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich composed various pieces of works that was rather unique and catchy to the ear. Though all were interesting, the piece that was most appealing was “Pendulum Music.” This piece set the precedent for the rest of the show because it gave brief insight to what Steve Reich was about: unique and combines innovative elements that most have not seen before. Who would think that a pendulum’s movement could be transformed into a sound that everyone must follow. The stage is completely black and the only light visible is the light that is focused on the two individuals walking towards the pendulums. These two individuals who appear to be a male and a female each pick up a pendulum and then release it. The forces keep the pendulums swinging for sometime, and these two individuals sit on a box facing each other and the swinging pendulums. The sound moves along with the two pendulums and each moving pendulum has its own sound because one was either moving slower or faster than another. When the two met in the middle the sound somehow combined and made it appear as if it was only one pendulum to begin with. The movement continued for sometime with the rapid sounds following it. After five minutes the pendulums slowed down and so did the sound following it. The pendulums eventually came to stop and the two individuals left quietly. The reason why this piece stood out the most was because it was not like the rest of the pieces that included lively light, sounds and dancers moving with the music. The pendulums were the focus of the music and the simple swinging back and forth was enough. The simplicity of this piece was very ambiguous and allowed the viewers to interpret what they think occurred and what the pendulums could have meant. It could have meant time, continuum or how two opposites attract and the pendulums will eventually come together at the end because it had to stop at some point and end at the same point it began.

  • § Mia Blackwood
  • § October 27th, 2008

I spent the majority of the Steve Reich show wishing I were somewhere- anywhere- else. I believe I understand the point. It was interesting to see the patterns created by translating the phases, but each piece was severely dragged out. I say interesting in that I felt myself watching intently to try to catch each translation. And for the beginning of each performance, I felt I did a good job of following along. However, as each one progressed I lost that interest. I followed the translations for a few rounds each time. Then I was done. I saw the pattern and was ready for something new. The worst part is that I was aware of what my experience would be from the very beginning. The microphone pendulum was so neat. I thought it was amazingly creative to swing them over speakers rather than actually playing an instrument. It was a great way to introduce the concept of shifting phases, showing how naturally it occurs without even being forced by human hand. After the microphones synced a few times, though, I was ready for it to end the show to continue. It was loud and obnoxious, and my head was seriously craving some Advil. I was also really frustrated with the piece with the two dancers. I could nothing but pity for the girls on stage. As if it’s not bad enough performing the same dance every show, their dance consists of the same few combinations repeated over and over and over and over. I cannot imagine how sick they must be of that dance. I appreciated the fact that they ran the combinations enough times for me to obtain an understanding of how they shifted away and back to each other. I had difficulty at first figuring out who was shifting and who was keeping the beat. It’s too bad the choreographer beat it into the ground. I was excited when I first saw the dancers, thinking that it would give us something pleasing to watch while the instruments turned the same notes into road kill. You can only imagine my disappointment when the trend continued and their dance made me feel like I was watching a video on loop while my arms were tied down so I couldn’t shut it off. That is what the entire show was. It was a series of looped videos and the audience members were prisoners tied to their chairs.

  • § apolonetskaya
  • § October 27th, 2008

If Steve Reich’s music is anything, it is unique. His show, ‘Steve Reich Evening,’ featured seven works that demonstrated his minimalistic style. His first act, “Pendulum Music,” consisted of two microphones swinging dangerously over a speaker type machine. At first the pendulums are swinging together but they eventually lose their synchronization and one pushes ahead of the other. As they swing over the speakers, they make thundering whines, sometimes at the same time, sometimes out of sync with each other. In the beginning of the piece, the rate is normal, almost like a regular heart monitor rhythm. Eventually, however, the microphones begin making smaller arcs and the rhythm speeds up as it takes less and less time for the microphone to go over the machine. This is when the microphones begin sounding like a more neurotic heartbeat, going bu-bump, bu-bump. It is a very uncomfortable sound that elicits an anxious feeling out of the audience. It’s as if the entire hall is contained within a giant heart as the beating gets louder and louder. Eventually, the beat slows down and so does the pounding in the audience’s ears. The fading away of the piece can be likened to the fading of life as the heart ceases to pound. As much of Steve Reich’s work has to do with the Holocaust, it might not be a far reach to say that this, too, may have been inspired by the atrocity. The sound made by the microphones, the slowing beating of a heart, can come to personify the death that was encountered in every corner of the Nazi invaded countries and death camps.

  • § apolonetskaya
  • § October 27th, 2008

Response to Rebecca Scherer:

I agree with everything Rebecca said. The difficulty of the music and dancing is overshadowed by how simple it sounds and looks. The audience cannot possibly wrap their heads around how much training and skill it takes to dance and play against the music. This is the paradox of minimalism. It is this seemingly simple technique that underscores the difficulty of the piece and makes a minimalistic piece, like Reich’s, so beautiful.

  • § edamasco
  • § October 27th, 2008

Overall, Steve Reich’s music elicits an emotion that slowly and modestly engages the listener because it is unlike another other form of music that we are familiar with. Nonetheless, his music is still entrancing. Usually, we are accustomed to the appeal of popular music and the convention of classical pieces; however, while a lot of popular and classical music focuses a lot on melody and phrasing, Reich’s compositions turn away from what makes music traditionally catchy and concentrates on rhythm and meter to captivate his audience. In comparison to what most of us are used to listening, Reich’s music is almost unexpressive in tone and pitch, but his ability to manipulate a bar of a given rhythm truly compels listeners to engage themselves in the song.

In Marimba Phase and Piano Phase, Reich plays around with tempo and rhythm, justifying that convention is not needed to create music that enraptures the listener. By staggering the tempos, Reich builds up a tension that forces his audience to ravel their minds around the sound; it is easy to get lost within the music, but when the listener is active and engaged, one can notice where Reich changes speed or rhythm. The active audience member wants to hear a perfect harmony and a uniform tempo; therefore, Reich’s music creates this conflict in dissonance and unsteadiness. When the rhythms and tempos finally matched in unison at the end, as well as the choreography, I felt like a resolution had been reached.

Reich’s music unites the elements of an aesthetically pleasing sound and the function of numbers in music. Literally, his compositions almost seem mathematical with his cunning and ingenious use of rhythm and tempo. To me, I thought that Reich’s minimalistic music cleverly spites the formulaic characteristics of non-contemporary music that is sometimes complex.

  • § vbaldassare
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich Evening was definitely something I otherwise would have never seen, and I am so glad I was able to experience it. And it certainly was an experience. Unlike attending an “ordinary” musical performance, during this performance I got lost in the uneven beats of Steve Reich’s music. What struck me about Steve Reich’s music was the contrast between simplicity and complexity. The piece in which this contrast was most apparent to me was “Piano Phase” (1982). As a pianist, I could appreciate the complicated melodies that were being played, however, I was astounded by how effortlessly the pianists were able to play out of synch. By playing more or less the same melodies throughout the piece, you hear simplicity. But Reich takes those melodies, has two pianists play them, and puts them out of synch with each other. This is where complexity comes in. While it takes a great deal of skill to play in synch with someone else, it becomes a totally different level to be able to play out of synch with another player. It is this contrast that drew me in and kept me interested in the performance. I never stopped being intrigued by this disconnected harmonizing. The dancers perfectly complimented the piano performance. Watching them perform the same movements over and over, spinning in circles, moving in and out of synch was absolutely mesmerizing. Even though the melodies and dance moves were repeated, I believe it only added to the music instead of making it boring. This unique music creates a wonderful contrast between the simple and the complex.

  • § Melissawilliams
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich’s music is very different from anything that I have ever heard and for Anne Teresa Keersmaeker to choreograph a complete show to just his music was astounding. The musicians did not play the same harmonies and at first it seemed as though it did no mesh together, but after a while you start to hear the marvelous tune and also see that the choreographed moves go perfectly with the music. The movements were precise and sharp, but also sensual and smooth in certain areas. Transitioning from very sharp movements to very loose and fluidic movements is hard enough, but to count beats and stay in sync with the music seems very difficult. In the piece with the two female dances you could see this transition the best. They went from sharp turns to beautiful synchronized movements. At many parts of the piece one girl would move to one beat and the other girl would move to the other beat. They were moving to the whole song and not just one aspect.

During the second dance performance with all of the dancers running around the stage, it was hard to focus on one aspect because there was so much going on. The music was playing and everyone or a small group of people had one specific beat to the song and others had another beat. While watching the show, I had a very difficult time paying attention to just one person. The whole performance was amazing, although the first piece Pendulum Music was confusing, you later see that the universal theme of the show was how things out of sync can still make a harmony and form something beautiful. This is not only applicable to music and dance, but to our everyday lives as well.

  • § jganley
  • § October 27th, 2008

“Pendulum Music” was the first piece performed at Steve Reich’s recent presentation at Brooklyn Academy of Music. The stage setup was very simple as it had two speakers about a foot apart from each other lined up vertically, and two microphones that were suspended from the top of the stage. Two dancers proceeded to grab the microphones, face one another at opposite ends of the stage, and then swing the microphones so that they resembled “pendulums.” Then, the dancers sat motionless at the sides of the stage as to not distract the audience from this purely musical performance.

The piece was a creative blend of art and science as one associates pendulums with elementary school science class. As the microphones swung over the speakers they gave off a loud “whoop” sound. One loud “whoop” sound would be followed by silence until the other microphone would move over a speaker. Although this thought may be childish, if one were to close their eyes, the presentation sounded like the light saber battles in the Star Wars movies. As the presentation proceeds, the sound keeps repeating and has the desired hypnotizing effect on the audience. The piece is more of a novelty than a serious, classical musical piece and it adds comedic jest into the repertoire of one of the most respected American composers.

The piece drags on for several minutes, and one even starts to wonder if Steve Reich has created a perpetual motion device. However, the microphones started to lose momentum, and crossed the speakers in unison more often, which created thunderous “whooping” roars, which greatly pleased the crowd. Eventually the pendulums lost much of their momentum, the two dancers brought the microphones to rest over the two speakers, and one powerful “whoop” sound definitively ended the performance. This performance although mostly a novelty, finds meaning when one associates the swinging pendulum with time, since a pendulum is often a symbol for time. The repeated swinging of the microphones over a lengthy duration is a comment that time and life in general is monotonous. In fact, people simply try to pass the time, and they only yearn for the exciting, action-packed moments in life. In the performance these exhilarating moments were represented by the times when the microphones crossed the speakers at the same time.

  • § rlee
  • § October 27th, 2008

I honestly did not enjoy most of the pieces of the evening. I found them to be very repetitive and couldn’t wait for some of them to end. However, “Eight Lines”, I believe, was perfect. While most of the other performances of the night had only one instrument, the “Eight Lines” piece had a wide array of instruments which kept me intrigued through the whole piece. The music was filled with Reich’s style of repeating phrases of music with slight distinct changes, but at the same time, implemented dance to help the audience see what was to come and what exactly was happening. Throughout the performance, dancers were always walking away from the circle they danced in, which was followed by the corresponding instrument to fade out of the music. There were other times when one instrument would be a melody while the others were simply there to complement the melody or to create a fullness of sound. The background instrument dancers in this case would be dancing with longer, subtle movements, moving almost as a group, while the dancer representing the lead instrument would be dancing with excitement, drawing attention to herself with sharp movements, using most of the stage while doing so.

  • § kmaller
  • § October 27th, 2008

I’m a mallet percussionist and I love dance, so I really expected to love this performance. Perhaps I would, if the performance as a whole were about 20 or 30 minutes long, as opposed to each dance lasting that long. Some aspects were innovative, for example, the intersecting shadows during the first dance, and the dancers were undeniably talented and skilled. Innovation and professionalism were, however, overshadowed greatly by the monotony involved in the duration and the repetition of the pieces.

What most disturbed me though was that, in my opinion, rather than enhance the music, the choreography completely missed the essence of Reich’s music. The genius of Reich’s music lies in its intricacy – how the pieces blend beautifully despite conflicting rhythms and, at times, dissonance. The voices on their own are redundant and bland; the beauty lies in them coinciding. While this is stunning aurally, it does not translate nearly as effectively visually, because, while one can listen to all voices at the same time, it is incredibly difficult to watch 8 dancers simultaneously. In being forced to watch one individual dancer at a time, we lose the beauty of multiplicity. In attempting to imitate genius not possessed by himself, the choreographer inadvertently takes the humanity away from Reich’s music, rendering it mechanized, unfeeling and cold. Reich’s music is consistently evocative, but this interpretation left me with no emotions besides boredom, irritation, and sleepiness.

  • § itall
  • § October 27th, 2008

There is something so subtle and entrancing about one metronome. The steady, rhythmic ticks tend to lull one to sleep. Normally, one would not think to have a metronome be a piece of music but musician extraordinaire Steve Reich is not normal. He conceived a piece where many metronomes would be flicked on and left until they are done ticking. They are left to at first sound chaotic and haphazard when they begin and gradually move to a dull roar as they all go and finish as that started with a jumbled up manner. There is something so tremendous and awe inspiring as approximately one hundred metronomes going at once. The din created defies that usual associations people have with metronomes. There is no organized steady rhythm. There is instead a sort of organized chaos that slowly winds down to nothingness. Upon first glance, this may seem just like a metronome going but lurking beyond the obvious lies an actual though and intent. A metronome has always been a sign of order because like a clock, it times the music being played. It creates boundaries within which music happens. Many metronomes do not create boundaries for music. They are the music. The metronomes become instruments that create music. It is in a way like the fact that one voice can easily be heard and understood but once other voices join that one voice, all that is heard is not that one voice but the vague rolling thunder that is the crowd’s sound.

  • § jgreen
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich’s music is a jarring difference from the usual music that we would expect to hear on the radio. However, Reich’s use of repetition and having the instruments fall out of sync is a strange combination but it strangely fits the kind of music that he wants the audience to listen to. The choreography also enhances the listening experience and I found myself more drawn to the music rather than the dancers on stage. The only instance where this didn’t serve to enhance the music was the piece with the two female dancers. The dance brought out the repetitiveness of the piece but in what most would see as a negative way. I enjoyed how the dancers themselves fell in and out of sync, mirroring the music that they were dancing to, but after the 5th time of seeing this, it grew tiresome. The piece I actually yearned to see more of was the final piece with the drummers. It ended too abruptly for my liking but the following encore did make up for it. The dancers did try to paint a story with their movements, but that story was often lost in translation, which forced me to listen more to the music instead of watching them. The choreography and music was a good combination which made for a good show.

  • § glue
  • § October 27th, 2008

The Steve Reich music and dance exhibition at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was the least upbeat performance thus far to say the least. The performance consisted of Steve Reich’s particularly interesting brand of music, accompanied by dance at some points. Steve Reich’s music is especially repetitive and plays with subtlety in music and subtle changing in tone. To the unaccustomed listener, these practices could make for an especially tedious and unchanging performance. Despite the repetitiveness and apparent ease with which the musicians played their pieces, they required great skill and patience in order to play such seemingly unchanging musical pieces without error. For this I commend them. I am sure that if the music was less repetitive and maybe incorporated more instruments, that those of us in the class without a musical background would have been much more entertained. This performance was not however without its silver lining. The last dance of the show in which all the dancers were involved was captivating. I was amazed by the incredible feats of acrobatics that the dancers did without colliding with each other. The offbeat dancing was in itself something to marvel at. It resembled a finely crafted masterpiece of dance that was set to elevator music. Additionally, just to think that a choreographer could have come up with dances that could and would complement Steve Reich’s music made sitting through the performance worthwhile. I would not dissuade and friends and family from going because it was an experience in itself to observe such an interesting work of art.

  • § hkeehn
  • § October 27th, 2008

One hundred acoustic metronomes are set on stage in a dense grid and are lit from the side to the exclusion of everything else on stage. Then a group of inconspicuous stage hands clothed in back enter and unceremoniously and quickly set them all in motion. The front curtains are drawn, and the audience watches and listens to a dwindling and phasing cacophony of ticking for the next four minutes. In an earlier scene, two percussionists face off on abutting, identical marimbas. They play simple, repeated, slowly morphing arpeggios at minutely different tempos. The result is an incredibly slow phasing effect, where they come in and out of sync, creating new melodies with each phase.
These two scenes from the Steve Reich dance performance seemed to most delicately bridge the gap between what is music and what isn’t. The metronomes require no effort in execution, only preparation and concept. The chance rhythms created are just that: coincidental and unintended unity. In contrast, the marimba duet requires incredible musicianship and technical skill, and every note is pre-determined and planned. The irony is that the mechanical piece is happenstance, and the human piece is computer-like in its precision. However, the two are alike in the near-total absence of emotion and feeling. There is no expression, only execution, and this seems to go against every cliché about music as a bare expression of emotion. Steve Reich forces listeners to look for the music in the coincidental and everyday, claiming that music does not have to be heard in the concert hall or composed by a musician.

  • § ahum
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich Evening was a beautiful blend of striking choreography and trance-like music. Combined with the skillful performance of the Ictus musicians, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s dynamic choreography literally brought life to Reich’s rhythmic sequences. I found the show to be quite paradoxical in the way it juxtaposed the hypnotic beat of Steve Reich’s music with De Keersmaeker’s jolting choreography. The show began with a contraption that swung like a giant pendulum, almost as if hypnotizing the audience with its lulling swoops. The continuous sound came together and apart, as if slowly penetrating the minds of each individual. From then on, each of Steve Reich’s pieces was like a trance in itself, in which repetitive melodies blended into one another seamlessly. De Keersmaeker complemented the music’s catchy rhythms with upbeat choreography. Each dancer performed their steps with rigorous enthusiasm, kicking their legs out in large arcs and exaggerating their swift hand motions.
All the performances were very impressive in terms of the musicians staying on beat and the dancers in sync but overall I had a hard time keeping my mind focused on the show. At the start of each act, I was anticipating the next production but after listening to a length of the shifting measures and figuring out the pattern of the dance choreography, the performance lost its spark and started to drag on longer than my attention could keep up with. Though the pieces were lengthy, I was very impressed with the technical accuracy shown by the Ictus musicians and how they created precise harmony out of what could be mistaken for a cacophony of sounds.

  • § Angela
  • § October 27th, 2008

Steve Reich’s show demonstrates a unique combination of music and dance that appeal to the audience. One of the themes that I found Steve Reich is trying to present in his performance is repetition. One of the pieces that depict endless repetition includes The “Piano Phase,” which I was truly engaged. Two pianists, one on the right side and the other on the left side seemed to be playing in unison but soon enough, we realized that one of them is playing at a faster pace but at the end, they finished at the same place. They were playing notes at the same time but the notes were different from one another, which makes the music sort of complicated. At the same time, they were two dancers who wore ghost-like pale dresses with white socks and sneakers and had short and black hair. I really liked the shadows they casted because they were only two of them but soon you see three and then four when they started to dance. They looked like ballerinas in a musical box who spin around and follow the music. However, I could not believe that the dancers were so calmed and focused when they had to stretch out their arms and made endless spins. The choreography seemed to be very simple and captivating with numerous turns of the same movements throughout. It created a sense of robotic cycle with no ending. Even though it was a bit tedious, the mesmerizing quality of the piece drew me into the continuous rhythms of the dance for twenty minutes or so. Overall, Steve Reich’s music and dance are very unique in its own way by correlating the choreography and music together with repetition throughout, which drew attention to the public.

  • § igrechtchouk
  • § October 27th, 2008

The Steve Reich performance is a one of a kind experience, as it combines the mentality of the audience with the dance and music of the show. It was unlike any other performance that I have seen, mixing different elements of choreography with a coninuous flow of music. Although all the piece differed in idea and content, the tone and overall musical presentation was almost uniform throughouty the show, I think that it is throuugh this aspect that the audience’s mental state was much more engaged than their bodies or their self-aware mind. Each piece was rather lengthy, or at least it seemed to be because of its repetition. Although the last two dances were very well choreographed and actually showed variety between the dancers, the almost nauseating, repetitive tonality of the music took away from the highly skillful and impressive techniques of the dancers. I found the piano piece combined with the two dancers most captivating. Although their bodies moved almost as one, the lighting that created three shadows, made the backdrop come to lie and unite the dancers into a single dark, flowing body.
I came to enjoy the performances of the dancers much more than the music, usually the music in a show excites and gives life to the audience and the dance number, but in this situation I felt that it actually took away from the piece as a whole entity. I was hoping for something more powerful and more captivating and thus was a little disappointed.

  • § Angela
  • § October 27th, 2008

I concur with “vbaldassare” about the simplicity vs. complexity of the “Piano Phase.” The pianists were performing an excellent job by playing complicated melodies very easily out of synch. The choreography fitted with the music by creating endless repetition of the same moves, which in turn did, created a mesmerizing sensation. At first, the dancers made basic movements but as time passed by, we could see the complexity in the dance for the effort and focus of the dancers.

  • § John Oros
  • § October 27th, 2008

I really like the way Harper explains Reich’s music as something that “forces listeners to look for the music in the coincidental and everyday.” With the metronomes, its easy to compare the steady beat of the many metronomes as the many different paces and objectives of pedestrians on the street. Together it’s an indiscernible hustle and bustle yet if one can focus in on one person, the individual rhythm of walking is its own steady beat. The Reich performance highlights this ability to uncover musical rhythms and phrases beneath all the clamor that surrounds. Since I had tried throughout the pieces to discern a certain rhythm, I found myself justifying the rhythm of applause or even the crowds conversation after the show.

  • § ahum
  • § October 28th, 2008

I disagree with Jeanetta’s comment that the two female dancers’ performance was dull and repetitive because that piece was one of my favorites of the evening. I enjoyed the simplicity of the choreography, because it reflected the subtle shifting tempos of Steve Reich’s music. From the intersecting shadows and their advancing and retreating positions on the stage, I felt that everything about that piece illustrated the beauty of symmetry. That being said, I feel that it was necessary to go through the same choreography so many times because it was as if the two women danced up to a climax and then, like a denouement, finished by repeating the same series of steps in reverse order to complete the symmetrical theme of the show.

Whether I enjoyed the Steve Reich event, I can’t quite say, though the underlying concepts of the performance were compelling. It almost felt like an exercise in absurdism: the cyclical structures, the rhythmic repetitions, the recurring dance movements. Much like many absurdist plays I’ve read and viewed clips of, every aspect of the production gave off a very minimalistic atmosphere. However, under this general ambiance of minimalism, the astute listener/viewer could pick out surprisingly complex subtleties. It was fascinating – albeit a little tiring on my eyes and ears – to detect the slight, gradual changes in the musical rhythms and the movements of the dancers. I was amazed by the way the beats, melodies, and movements seemed to drift in and out of sync. Nevertheless, after a while of trying to deconstruct each number, I found myself becoming fatigued. At this point I would give up and relax, letting myself become hypnotized. I would allow the repetitive sounds and sights to sink into my brain and fall into a half-asleep daze. I’m unsure if this would be a criticism or merely just the performance’s true intent. Does Reich want his compositions to be experienced actively – with constant attention paid to every tiny alteration and nuance – or passively – where the audience sits back and falls into a trance? This was a question I still cannot answer.

To tread back to an earlier point, there was one piece in particular that reminded me greatly of traditionally absurdist elements. In the piece, each dancer had an assigned array of movements, a few set paths, and a designated musical accompaniment. Throughout this number the performers danced within an outlined circle, which could have stood for the cyclical quality of life. Reinforcing the idea of a cyclical existence, each dancer repeated their patterns over and over down the routes planned out for them on the stage (by white lines). I wonder if Reich and the choreographer had the absurdist philosophy in mind, since much of the performance seemed to be an expression of it.

I think John made a very thought-provoking point in his commentary on the metronome piece:

“With one hundred metronomes ticking away, the listener cannot help but try to justify the clicking and ticking into some sort of set rhythm.”

John here brings up an interesting characteristic of many of Reich’s compositions. Like Paul McCarthy and writers such as Joan Didion, Reich seems to challenge our human attempts to bring order to experience. In the performance we saw, the movements and music contained parallel rhythms that would slowly wander in and out of sync (as I mentioned before). With these sometimes agreeing and sometimes competing rhythms, Reich conjures ambiguity as to whether the performance is “working” at any given point in time. I found myself becoming anxious, trying to imprint an overall narrative line in each piece; the viewer desperately tries to seek closure.

On the other hand, Reich may be trying to say that there IS an order in the disorder of our experience - we just have to actively search for it.

Food for thought.

  • § tnunez
  • § October 28th, 2008

I emerged from ‘Steve Reich Evening’ feeling incredibly anxious. The cause of this is hard to pinpoint, as there were a number of things that were just so grating about it. It might have been due to the repetitiveness of every element of the show, or simply because of Reich’s infatuation with the xylophone. The length of the performances themselves was also extremely agitating, and I found myself checking my watch every few minutes. They were unceasing and lacked variety, but perhaps that was Reich’s intention, in order to evoke something in the spectator. That being said, I still feel that the performances would have been more effective had they been half as long. However, Anne Teresa Keersmaeker’s choreography helped matters, as the dancers were quite mesmerizing. The lack of variation in their movements, and the way their shadows slid across the walls, was somewhat spooky when coupled with the music. The dances were properly matched to Reich’s aesthetic. Once again, though, the repetition took away from its beauty.
While there is certainly much about ‘Steve Reich Evening’ that is possible to criticize, not all of its value was lost on me. The ease with which both the musicians and dancers performed their unsynchronized functions was impressive. When out of synch, it is particularly easy to lose focus, but there were no obvious blunders. This was particularly impressive when considering the length of each performance. ‘Steve Reich Evening’ was certainly a memorable experience, just not really well suited to my taste (or my nerves).

  • § tnunez
  • § October 28th, 2008

“The repeated swinging of the microphones over a lengthy duration is a comment that time and life in general is monotonous. In fact, people simply try to pass the time, and they only yearn for the exciting, action-packed moments in life.”

I would really like to believe that James’ assessment is the reason behind the duration of the performances, rather than some sort of vanity on Reich’s part. The music can indeed be seen as a metaphor for the monotony of life, the irritating quality of it imitating the way that life breaks us down day by day. The “whoops” contributed to my dislike of the show, but it seems accurate to compare them to those thrilling moments in life. I can appreciate Reich’s work much more in this context.

  • § hkeehn
  • § October 28th, 2008

I essentially agree with Tatiana. I think that most of us were at least a little annoyed by the way the pieces would continue until you were tired of them, and then go on for another five minutes. And, I agree that while it may serve a higher artistic purpose, Reich probably loses some of his audience right off the bat with all of that repetition. But I also think that, like McCarthy, Reich has no responsibility to cater to our pop-sensibilities. There is something to be said for the way Reich challenges the listener.

  • § edamasco
  • § October 28th, 2008

I agree with Katharine’s comment; overall, the performance did drag on. I also agree that the dancing did not do Reich’s music justice. I felt that the movements became monotonous and dull since the performances lasted around 15 minutes long. Perhaps if the choreographer decided to incorporate different dance moves, then we would have probably been more engaged in the show. Personally, I was more enthralled by the music and paid more attention to when the rhythms shifted or changed. I thought that De Keersmaeker made the choreography too “mechanical,” as Katharine said, and therefore was too literal in her interpretation of Reich’s music. Indeed, Reich’s music sounds simple, but a closer examination reveals its intricacy. I believed that De Keersmaeker focused too much on creating a show that mimicked Reich’s music in dance form; instead, she leaves the audience “unfeeling and cold,” as Katharine replied. In my opinion, I would have enjoyed Reich’s music if a visual interpretation were left to my own imagination.

  • § klin
  • § October 28th, 2008

Steve Reich’s music is cyclic, mathematical, and calculated; it seemed to be more like math and science than music. I walked into the performance preparing myself to enjoy the music through emotions or relaxation; I found however that while I was listening I spent more time trying to decide how the music made me feel than actually feeling anything in the first place. Instead, I was focused trying to follow when one rhythm would change and predict when they would merge back together and what those patterns were supposed to mean and how the dance fit in with the music. As a musician, I also wondered how Reich wrote out his music - much of it was probably not done with traditional tempo markings or 5 lined staves. I wondered how they rehearsed the music and how the musicians communicated to each other when to change to the next phase of the music (especially in the marimba piece where the duration of each phrase seemed to be up to each musician’s intuition rather than the composer’s). Last week we also talked about how Steve Reich’s music sounds like a possible soundtrack for city life and made connections between his music and living in the city. His music was made up of individuals who each had their own thing to play and by playing those phrases on top of each other they created a meshed of sound that swelled and slowed sometimes rather pleasingly; kind of like how every person in the city rushes by each other each intent on his or her individual task but overall, those individuals make up a society. I also focused on the stage setup and lighting for each piece. The final one before the encore for example had a backdrop of panels that from left to right; the first panel was white and the last panel was grayish and the panels in between were increasingly gray. It went very well with Reich’s music in that each panel was an individual and were each different, but together they achieved a unified gradient.

  • § bterranova
  • § October 28th, 2008

Steve Reich is a master of the overlapping of rhythms and melody. His arrangements for xylophone, piano, and drums all begin with one line that is later taken over by another musician who repeats it. The original musician slightly changes the pattern and continues. They go back and forth, picking up patterns from each other and changing their own, while always incorporating a low downbeat that keeps their music together. The sound is slightly chaotic and random but it is cohesive. The piece, Marimba Phase, only involves two glockenspiel players, but their overlap makes it sound as if hundreds are playing. They are perfectly synchronized in their progression and effortlessly change arrangements in the music.
Although this style of music seems very obscure, it is not completely original. The beginning pattern with different rhythms added on top of it is very reminiscent of the African drum circle. In this form of music, a drummer begins with a simple beat while others chime in with his or her own. Reich pays tribute to this in the last performance of the night where all the musicians came out with blocks and were creating rhythms. This style of music is very trance like; there becomes a point where you cannot make out which musician is playing what. It brings on a feeling of anxiety due to so many things occurring at once, yet also relaxation because the melody itself is very soothing. Reich’s experimentation with timing brings on a whole new meaning to contemporary music. Some would never think that microphones swinging back and forth as a pendulum or a series of ticking metronomes would make a piece, however, these experimentations with time and different instruments make Reich’s work different and enjoyable.

  • § klin
  • § October 28th, 2008

The point where Tyler questions whether Steve Reich’s work is meant to be listened to passively or attentively is a meta idea in that when one questions whether he or she is supposed to be questioning, the music is still actively engaging the audience. Perhaps that is why Reich wrote his music to drone on repetitively – so that we would have time to wonder about the why’s of his music. If his pieces were shorter we would only get to the point of appreciating the subtle differences in rhythms instead of delving deeper.

  • § bterranova
  • § October 28th, 2008

I agree with Katharine, I feel the very static and repetitive dance took away from the intricacy of the music being played. Later in the performance, the audience was faced with the complete opposite, very erratic and individual dancing. In this case, it was too confusing to focus on the several music lines and the quick changing dancing. Perhaps a happy medium between these two would have made the evening more enjoyable.

  • § damoore
  • § October 28th, 2008

Response to Eliza:

Steve Reich is a unique musician who does turn away from the convention of music today. He plays around with sounds, tempos and beats to show that its not necessary to create a consistent rhythm throughout. The sound and music does not have to be appealing to the listener.

  • § marywilliams
  • § October 28th, 2008

The music of Steve Reich has a hypnotic effect to the untrained ear (such as mine). The pieces challenge audience’s concept of music. There is undoubtable merit in Reich’s music, which uses complex and overlapping rhythms to convey a trace-like simple sound. The minimalist style in both the music and dance searched for beauty in monotony and simplicity, forcing audiences to willfully search for beauty and significance in what was previously unassociated with music or dance, such as in the first piece when two microphones swung over speakers. No one danced and no person created the music. It was an innovative combination of modern technology and the post-modern idea that beauty (and music) is only perspective; why can’t that be considered music? From the start, Reich challenges the common held notions of what music should be. Dancers tried to mirror the disconnect within the patterns of the music and still retain its overall monotonous and unified sound. During the performance I often thought of the dancers as being in a trance. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker choreographed the dancers to be at times in sync, as is standard in dance. Yet other times she had each dancer do a separate movement, creating chaos on stage. One of my favorite techniques that she used was to have people dancing on stage without music, causing the audience to consider dance as an art in and of itself. Usually dance is so heavily tied to its corresponding music that it is only considered in conjunction with the music. In the final piece, dancers and musicians stand on stage together and even interact, allowing audiences to observe dance and music as separate entities as well as view them as a unified art. The overall performance was designed to provoke thought and an uncertain wave of emotions in reaction to the performance and I think in that it succeeded. But even though I did enjoy it over all, if one or two songs had been cut out, I still would have understood the point and probably would have enjoyed it even more.

  • § marywilliams
  • § October 28th, 2008

“At this point I would give up and relax, letting myself become hypnotized. I would allow the repetitive sounds and sights to sink into my brain and fall into a half-asleep daze. I’m unsure if this would be a criticism or merely just the performance’s true intent. Does Reich want his compositions to be experienced actively – with constant attention paid to every tiny alteration and nuance – or passively – where the audience sits back and falls into a trance? This was a question I still cannot answer.”

I think Tyler asks an excellent question. If you asked anyone that question about any performance I believe you would receive mixed answers but I believe the commonly held standard of attending a performance, especially a classical performance, is that you actively engage in the music while also experiencing the overall effect wash over you. Perhaps Steve Reich is challenging this motion as well, or perhaps this is just coming from someone who knows nothing about music; I can pick out distinct rhythms and patterns in his music but I couldn’t analyze them or say anything intelligent about it if I tried. The dancers suggest a balance of accepting the chaos of the music as order. They were often dancing differently yet strangely in sync with each other and the music.

  • § jcammarata
  • § October 28th, 2008

While at the Steve Reich performance, I watched, listened and waited. Then I waited some more, and even when I though there could hardly be any waiting left to be done, the same old song and dance loitered around in my eyes and looped in my ears. There were redeeming aspects and clever ideas behind each performance in the show, and the unified shadows of the dancing girls synced with two pianos even tottered on the brink of being entertaining. But every time my amusement was soon matched with annoyance, only to be replaced with apathy. As the show went on and on I simply ceased to care. Then the music started to make sense. By accepting its repetition not as the looping of Reich’s music but as a part of it, it was as if some pieces of the puzzling sound clicked into place.
Reich’s music is the sound of math and physics, following patterns definable by formulas and theorems as well as notes and measures. The very first act, letting two pendulums fall from a different height, is making music from an introductory physics lesson. The swinging instruments slowly but surely became out of sync with one another only to come full circle and pass over their bases at the same time again; this time with a little less velocity, going back a shorter distance than the swing before. The spiracle pattern of the pendulums applied to every act after: in the repetitive but dwindling tick of the metronomes; in the circular and yet changing dance of the two dancers sharing a shadow; in the repeating but slightly shifting pace of the xylophone players. The music and dance would always wind around and around, coming full circle every time, somehow slightly different from before.

  • § silyas
  • § October 28th, 2008

The Steve Reich showcase at BAM was truly a unique performance and one, which I was entirely unaccustomed to. The music was beautiful and unlike any other works I had previously heard. I especially enjoyed the use of the xylophone, which in modern music is often bereft and thus made this show more enjoyable because of the incorporation of numerous instruments that many listeners have previously never listened to. Along with the xylophone, the use of metronomes and microphones increased the originality of the performance. However, I felt that the show was drawn out and much longer than it should have been. Many of the individual pieces seemed to be droning on, and I was often wondering when they would end. The show was nearly two hours in length, although it was comprised of only a handful of performances. Although the use of certain instruments was unique, after a while it just became monotonous and simply was not entertaining. The different dance styles, although initially enhancing the beauty of the show, also became repetitive and at times I simply found myself to be bored. However, I did not feel the show to be a total waste of time. The music was soothing and the contrasting styles used in the dances were very creative. I found the dance involving the two women and their shadows to be the most enjoyable, because the dancers flowed in and out of sync beautifully. To align such a contrasting dance over such a long duration of time is a very impressive feat and a piece I will not soon forget.

  • § silyas
  • § October 28th, 2008

Harper makes an excellent point with his final statement describing Steve Reich’s music as a work that can be heard in any situation throughout the day and does not have to take place in a concert hall to be regarded as unique and entertaining. One of the most impressive aspects of Reich’s music is the precision involved in each separate piece and the excellent execution of the music. Unusual instruments such as metronomes and xylophones create beautiful melodies as the music flows in an out of sync, ultimately creating an unexpected unity.

  • § igrechtchouk
  • § October 28th, 2008

Ultimately I feel that the entire class has a similar idea about the show. I agree with many of the comments, that the music was very “trance-like” and somewhat monotonous, especially to the untrained ear, and that the choreography was very rhythmic and flowed along with the music. I agree with the statement that the instruments used were very unique and in conjunction to their uncommon status the sounds that they produced creating an unheard of combination of sounds. I think that many people enjoyed the piece with the two dancers more because of their moves. They were very unified and the spinning moves along with the the movement of their left arms, creating just enough interest but did not overwhelm the audience as some of the other dance pieces did. I also agree with the statement that the music was very skillfully executed and meticulous in sound.

  • § itall
  • § October 28th, 2008

It is, if I may make an understatement, interesting to note that quite a few people were captivated or at least puzzled by the metronome piece as I was. Each of us tried to make sense of a piece that may not have been meant to make sense and each of us got a different outcome. I find that the best part of that piece. the fact that different people are able to see it differently is a testament to the artist’s talent and his ambiguous yet still very present and real intent.

  • § rscherer
  • § October 28th, 2008

I agree with Beth’s post about the glockenspiel performers. Each musician followed his own rhythm, rarely staying in sync with the other. I really liked her description about this piece and how it resulted in the sound of seemingly hundreds of glocks playing at once. It’s also interesting to hear about the apparent African origins of this type of out-of-sync percussion.

  • § glue
  • § October 28th, 2008

In response to Suleyman’s comment, I have to agree when I say that the show was interesting if anything. I also agree with him in the sense that I also felt that the show was drawn out longer than what felt necessary. If anything stood out from the show it would have to be the sheer originality of the type of music and the dancers’ interpretation of it.

  • § jganley
  • § October 28th, 2008

In response to DeAsia Moore:

“The reason why this piece stood out the most was because it was not like the rest of the pieces that included lively light, sounds and dancers moving with the music. The pendulums were the focus of the music and the simple swinging back and forth was enough. The simplicity of this piece was very ambiguous and allowed the viewers to interpret what they think occurred and what the pendulums could have meant.”

I agree with DeAsia that “Pendulum Music” was the most intriguing piece of the performance due to its sheer simplicity. In my interpretation of the piece, I found the swinging of the pendulums to simply represent time. However, DeAsia’s thought that the performance can be open to ambiguous interpretations is a brilliant one. Whereas in most of the other performances, the dancers interpret the music within their dances, “Pendulum Music” involves only musical equipment. Therefore, interpretation is merely left to you, the audience.

  • § kmaller
  • § October 28th, 2008

Responding to Mary’s and Tyler’s responses…

Perhaps the intent of the show was to captivate the audience through a “trance-like” depiction of Reich’s music. Studying music theory for two years has, however, taught me to listen and watch actively. While listening actively to Reich’s music is fulfilling, the same could not be said for the dances. Maybe if I could have detached myself from the performance, I’d have a much fuller enjoyment of the show.

(I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant…but the piece “Marimba Phase” was played on two Marimbas…Xylophones and Glockenspiels are entirely different instruments. Xylophones rarely span more than 3 octaves, and glockenspiels are made of metal, usually brass. Just clarifying, as a nerdy mallet percussionist.)

  • § vbaldassare
  • § October 28th, 2008

I liked the way Karen described Steve Reich’s music as mathematical and scientific. However, instead of taking away from the music, I felt it added to it. I love to see the boundaries between the sciences and art be crossed. However, instead of trying to follow the rhythms and predict what would come next, I found myself enjoying them and simply listening to them weave in and out without worrying when they would resolve.

  • § rlee
  • § October 28th, 2008

I agree with “tnunez” in the idea that the performances were too long. I feel that I would have enjoyed the performances if they were a bit shorter. However, I disagree with the idea that the pieces were too repetative. I feel like that was the Reich’s style. If the pieces weren’t as repetative as they were, I think I would have lost the hypnotic feel that I had experienced.

  • § jcammarata
  • § October 28th, 2008

Harper’s comment on Steve Reich making us look for music that can be found in every day life is something that I agree with and felt while at the performance. For these professional musicians who have such a great amount of skill to be playing something that while incredibly precise, drops what we know from pop music (from the “music just makes sense” cliche’s even to the entertaining aspect of it.) Reich uses his music not as a means to please our ear, but instead as a tool to provoke our thoughts as to what music really is.

  • § Melissawilliams
  • § October 28th, 2008

In response to Katharine’s post:

I agree with what she stated about how De Keersmaeker’s takes away from Steve Reich’s music. The choreography was beautiful, but it wasn’t as intricate as I wanted it to be. Watching the dancers of “Piano Phase” repeat the same spinning move over and over became very boring after a while. Steve Reich’s music needed to be expressed better in the choreography.

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