Customer Reviews

Steve Reich: City Life; Proverb

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For the past twelve years Reich has labored in the shadow of his unassailable masterpiece, "Different Trains." Both its concision and its monumentality made that sampling exposition of Holocaust testimony the standard for the work Reich has accurately if immodestly claimed he was "born to do."

His more recent recorded compositions such as "The Cave" and the three works on this disc-- less visceral and emotional, perhaps, but no less powerful of insight-- have been less uniformly well received. In particular, "City Life" has been marginalized by some as a found-sound exercise in banality, utilizing performance techniques that sounded dated when the piece premiered in 1995.

The reason critics need to give it another listen has little to do with the awful coincidence in Reich's climactic choice of the earlier World Trade Center bombing aftermath as a sample source. It has a lot more to do with the sobering atmosphere progressively achieved throughout the first four movements-- a precarious balance of despair and indifference, equipoise and terror. Had this music reflected the events of 2001 rather than 1993, its composer needn't have changed a note.

With almost surgical understatement, Reich distills his stylistic hallmarks-- crystalline architecture, slow-burn intensity, razor-sharp asentimentality, and inexhaustable rhythmic drive-- into a musical observation of urban rage, unsparingly linking individual discontent to mass destruction.

No sides are taken here. Often skeptical of a composer's entitlement to expression for its own sake, Reich has always despised and successfully avoided musical agitprop. And just as he has from "Come Out" to "Different Trains," in "City Life" he provides something better, something more necessary: an indelible reflection of the ghost face of violence at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Perhaps if one tenth of the people rushing to purchase Lee Greenwood's "American Patriot" listened carefully to Reich's "City Life," there might be a measurably clearer consciousness of what has changed life in the United States, and the resentments and complacencies that have fueled those changes.

Avid listeners of Reich will recognize how this album is an evolution from his earlier minimalist tendencies, making for an incredible listening experience. Having many Reich CDs in my collection, "Proverb" is arguably my favorite work - it takes the type of attention to space from earlier works such as "18" or the Counterpoint series and guides it in a newer and fresher direction, filled with quiet beauty, grace, and peace. "City Life" can be seen similarly as an extention from "Different Trains", using samples from the people and sounds of New York City to describe the tragedy of the World Trade Center bombing. The piece is nothing short of brilliant. "Nagoya Marimbas" takes his earlier Phase works and makes it more complex, weaving melodies and harmonies in a rhythmically challenging close canon, giving the work the type of energy for which Reich is well known for and is often imitated, but unmatched. In short, this album is an essential for Reich and "post-minimalist" fans.

This CD was my first venture into the works of Steve Reich, and is probably my most frequently listened to. I have to say, these are some incredibly striking and graceful pieces to listen to. Rather than relying on traditional chordal progressions and arrangements to progress the piece, this is instead a study in pattern and melody, and (during City Life) the use of everyday sound. Being a rock fan as well as classical, I find it interesting to see the latter entering into classical music as well as where I've experienced it before (in Pink Floyd, Rick Wright, and other rock artists' works).

"Proverb" is a very interesting, mellow piece with a single lyric: "How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life." This piece recalls the medieval forms such as the organum--but with rhythms and dissonances that the ancients would have never dared explore. The lyric itself seems to be a statement of the principles of minimalism...something upon which the listener is compelled to meditate during the course of this piece. "Nagoya Marimbas", while not the most striking statement is a very interesting study of patterns--the changes are subtle and occur just in time to prevent the piece from becoming monotonous. I imagine that to play this piece would require great concentration on the part of each player, to stay with their individual contribution to it.

By far, "City Life" is the most compelling piece, and the one I initially bought this CD for. The use of sampled sounds, combined with the textures of the music itself, truly evokes the image of New York City, from the frenzied rush of cars in the first movement to the brooding ambience of the harbor, and finally, the potential for disaster reflected in the last movement. I bought this CD in the fall of 2001, and it was quite chilling to realize that the recordings Mr. Reich used in the last movement were from the *first* World Trade Center bombing...but it could just as easily fit the more recent tragedy.

I have great respect for Steve Reich and although I haven't liked everything he has done, he has composed pieces such as Come Out, Different Trains, and Tehillim which are, I believe, among the finest works of the century. He has continued to evolve stylistically while maintaining certain traits--his music is always rhythmically and sonorously interesting. I was stunned by Different Trains--it is a masterful, truly groundbreaking work in the way that it blends speech and music, and emotionally it is very effective. Come Out is similarly innovative and emotionally successful. Obviously not every piece by a single composer can be thus, but I have to disagree with the other critics here about the overall quality of the works on this CD. None of them break new ground--true, Reich uses live samplers on City Life, but that's been done for ages in popular music. And frankly, although they were all interesting for the moment, none of the pieces really engaged me the way other works of his have. I found my attention wandering, and one of the movements of City Life was downright annoying, influenced as it seems to be by rap. Old hat by now...

There are three pieces on this disc. The first, Proverb, is reminiscent of Tehillim, although on a smaller scale. At something over 14 mnutes, it seemed too long for the musical material; but parts of it, particularly the beginning, are quite lovely. However, there is very little contrast in the piece--dynamics play almost no part whatsoever, tempo is consistent although there is some slight change in levels of rhythmic activity. Reich mentions the inspiration of Perotin, although he does not elaborate further; clearly this piece is free of Romantic gesture. Interestingly, this is the most dissonant of the three works--although it is tonal, Reich prolongs dissonances such as the minor second in a way which almost makes up for the lack of dynamic contrast. The performance is absolutely superb.

The second piece, Nagoya Marimbas, is really here just for filler. Pleasant enough, it is short enough for the listener's mind not to wander, but again, not terribly engaging. Reich describes this as being virtuostic--well, yes in the sense that the players have to play lots of notes exactly in rhythm with almost no rests; but not in the sense that technique is shown off in displays of speed or range or musicality or dynamics or any of a host of means. Is a typist typing as fast as she can consistently virtuostic? Hmmm...

City Life, a five movement piece, is the big work for the biggest, most complex ensemble here. The five movements do contain contrasts of timbre, of tempo and activity, and of dynamics, making the piece more engaging than the others to most listeners. Reich uses samples of city sounds: conversation, sirens, boat horns, and the like, and assembles them with conventional musical material that bears timbral, contour, registral, rhythmic and/or pitch similarities. This is much like his earlier Different Trains, and still works very well. Each individual movement is fairly short, and the five movements are assembled to create a successful whole, and a very nice and truly contemporary sonic picture of City Life. But as clever and as well done as this is, I just can't think of it as a truly important piece--it's more of An American in Paris than a Rhapsody in Blue.

Still, all the performances are excellent, and this disc is worth a listen. Reich fans specifically and minimalist fans in general will definitely want a copy and will probably disagree with me on the ultimate quality of the works. But if you just say everything is the best, you don't really mean "the best". Even Beethoven had his "Wellington's Victory".

This 1996 release presents yet another excellent batch of minimalist compositions from Steve Reich. As a long-time progressive rock fan, I have found the music of the minimalist composers, and Steve Reich in particular, to be one of the most refreshing and exciting discoveries in a long time. My only regret is that I did not discover this music earlier. Better late than never I suppose.

The three pieces on the album are performed by the Theater of Voices and members of the Steve Reich Ensemble with Paul Hillier conducting (on Proverb), marimba virtuosos Bob Becker and James Preiss (on Nagoya Marimbas) and finally, the entire Steve Reich Ensemble with Bradley Lubman conducting (on City Life). The performances on this album are thrilling and the marimba piece in particular requires a great deal of skill to play. In addition to the traditional instrumentation, I also appreciate the use of "found sounds". Although many of the 60s-70s progressive acts that I enjoy used found sounds, their use on this album is vastly more sophisticated.

The three tracks are quite different from one another. Proverb (14:01) features three female sopranos and two male tenors along with vibraphones and two electric organs. This is an austere, haunting piece and is my favorite of the three compositions. Vocal melismas (whereby the pitch of a single syllable is changed while it is sung) are one characteristic property and apart from the introduction, the electric organs double the voices. The hypnotic Nagoya Marimbas (4:29) nicely demonstrates the use of ostinato networks (repeated patterns), which get fairly complex - I really enjoy the earthy textures of the mallet instruments on this track. City Life (23:07) follows an arch form (like Desert Music, 1984). Although the instrumental passages are good, one of the most distinctive features includes the use of samples: jackhammers, screeching tires, car alarms, and speech amongst others. The samples are spliced, looped and seamlessly integrated with the other instruments (flutes, oboes, clarinets, pianos, percussion, string quartet and bass) in choppy eighth notes and triplets. Interestingly, just like real city life, some of the sampled bits become a little grating and actually made me feel agitated.

Distributed by the Nonesuch label, this is a nice package overall and comes with an outer cardboard sleeve for the jewel case. The liner notes (written by Steve) are nicely detailed and provide in-depth technical information for each piece. The sound quality is excellent.

All in all, this is yet another wonderful example of minimalism from Steve Reich and is one of the more interesting bits of recently composed music that I have heard.

When I listened to Reich's 'City Life' tracks, I had to do a quick check on the dates on which the piece was written, to see whether composer Reich had anticipated the styles of Rap and Hip-Hop, or had appropriated them. Turns out, I believe, to be a bit of both, in the fine tradition of virtually every other major composer who borrowed from the popular (or liturgical) music of the day.

This is the most interesting piece on the CD, but 'Proverb', especially with the assistance of choral great Paul Hillier conducting, is a fine beginning in a very traditional sound, but moving on to more and more modern tempos and vocalizations. The short 'Nagoya Marimbas' is like icing on the cake. Excellent, and not totally 'autre' modern works.

If you buy only one Reich CD -- make it this one, a real beauty

The first piece on the cd, Proverb, is 14 minutes that don't seem like more than 2. A step beyond Reich's earlier Tehillim, it seems to make use of the influence of medieval composer Perotin & modernise it by adding a minimalistic keyboard which serves mostly to give form to a driving rhythm (fast pace, not cars). This piece will turn the space its flowing sound envelopes into a sort of digital cathedral. Then, Nagoya Marimbas might bring you back to reality. It's a classic Reich fabric of repetition with deliberate & slow changes. Then the title piece, which spans 5 tracks from 3 to 7 on the cd for a total of 23:07, features, on top of sparse instrumentation, some great vocal loops & tapes that are almost reminiscent of his early Come Out but more compelling, to be sure. Great cd, diverse Reich, offers a sense of protean experimentation more than compositional evolution.

ONE OF THE BEST CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CDS YOU CAN BUY. CITY LIFE IS JUST A MASTERPIECE AND A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. DO NOT MISS IT.

While I have listened to most of this cd and have thoroughly enjoyed everything I heard on it, this is mainly a response to the Good Doctor's comment about the piece Nagoya Marimbas. I would say he is correct in his description that upon hearing the piece, it isn't overly dynamic and it doesnt sound like there is much going on of abundant interest. However, a percussionist myself I started learning Nagoya to perform with a colleague later this year, and I must say the doctor may have been a bit narrowminded in his assessment. Nagoya Marimbas demands pinpoint accuracy in timing (the two contrasting parts are very easily confused, mainly because they are virtually the same at the core) and synchronization (or syncopation) with your fellow performer. When you actually put the music on the instrument, it also takes amazing accuracy, leaping from one register to the next with very little time and, of course, no room for error. So I urge the good Doctor, and anyone else, to think again before you brush aside this piece as being uninteresting. I think if you really look at what the piece entails and how it can be portrayed visually, not just musically, you could find a greater appreciation for this Reich opus. We may have a difference in opinion as to what qualifies as "virtuostic" (I am, after all, merely a college student persuing a life in music) but with the selectivity of attention one needs to be able to lock in with his or her colleague and perform Nagoya Marimbas well, it certainly is more difficult than one might initially believe. Kudos Mr. Reich!