The Minimal Music of Steve Reich

 Steve Reich is one of those composers who is closely linked with Minimal Music, a term coined in the 1970s by Michael Nyman. Minimal Music's central ideas – among others – is the repetition of the same or similar structures, and the layering of different sounds on top of each other. The effect of this is in high contrast to the typical orchestral music preferred in traditional Western music.        

       Terry Riley's “In C” from 1964 is probably the initiating piece for this musical genre, although it is far too close-minded to put all the music based on this minimalist approach under one and the same genre. In any case, the Terry Riley piece is something that, despite its claim to be different, feels almost as if it was a piece of typical Western orchestral music. At least to me in 2023. In 1964, I suppose, it sounded alien, and maybe even alienating, to listeners.
        Back to Steve Reich. His “It's Gonna Rain” (1965) immediately conjured up images of Martin Luther King's 1967 “I Have a Dream” speech. Of course, preceding this by two years, he could not have used that now famous (and otherwise popularised speech). In this work, he reduces the spoken word of a preacher to the bare elements of the few words that he recorded by chance, and plays and replays those words seemingly indefinitely. Gradually reducing entire words to just elements of sounds of those words. Interestingly enough, it reverberates in a certain way; it has a trance-like feel. Pierre Schaeffer's earlier works with a recording machine come to mind when thinking of this. What Reich did here is certainly not new but the possibilities technology has opened up by this time have helped enormously. Tape recorders enable Avant-garde musicians to take their ideas to new heights instead of being bound to a studio environment as Schaeffer seemed to be. At the same time, this piece also reminds me of Lucier's “I Am Sitting in a Room” (1968). As this is preceding Lucier's work in which he reduces sound to its bare minimum of sound waves and signals (and thereby making it unbearable to listen to the longer it is played), either Lucier got the idea from Reich or came to the idea independently (and from the slightly different angle of focus on sound waves as opposed to the possible abilities of technology). In any case, Reich's version is much more interesting. Possibly because it is not entirely unknown to me as I have heard musicians and especially DJs and Hip Hop artists use turntables to produce a similar effect. No doubt they have taken a leaf out of Reich's book.
        His 1968 “Pendulum Music” had me scratching my head. He has microphones hanging from strings, connected to amplifiers, with speakers in front of the microphones. People then swing the microphones so that they make that awful screeching sound that anybody who has ever used a microphone is desperate to avoid. I see the idea of producing a unique tune (for want of a better word) out of..., well, minimal tonal input. Honestly, though, to me it sounded like Katzenmusik.
        “Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ” (1973) is, in my opinion, the one most people would like of all those compositions we listened to in class, combining melody and rhythm equally. The layering of the different instruments is very sophisticated. It is the same tune, slightly different at all times, and yet recognisable throughout the piece. The Butterfly Effect is, I think prevalent here when small changes lead to big effects during the playing of the piece. His time in Ghana in 1970 and its influence on his work with mallet instruments is very visible in this piece. Also his study of Indonesian Gamelan music at around the same time he composed this piece of music. Just as Varèse did with the musicians who played his compositions, Reich had to introduce and train musicians to play the music he composed. At the same time, this feels very much like music of its time, i.e. the 1970s. Maybe I am influenced by the video's very 1970s look and feel but the music would probably not sound that way in any decade before or after that.
        “Different Trains” (1988) is something else altogether. More melodic than rhythmic, using new layering methods. Live music is played, layered with two different voices and train sounds. This is also the most personal composition of those we listened to, harking back to his own childhood, using his erstwhile governess's voice, using the sound of train tracks he travelled on at the time, and focusing on the theme of his own Jewish heritage and history. Again, though, the similarities to his other works in that the composition is based on the repetition of the same few elements of sound.
        Elements in Reich's work are interesting because they are innovative, such as the constant repetition of sounds. His work does not lack rhythm, that's for sure, but it mostly lacks melodic elements that make the music more digestible if I may say so. In that, I think, Philip Glass' works are better in that respect. At least to an untrained person such as me.