Steve Reich: Early Works

Steve Reich (Composer), Double Edge (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Double Edge
• Composer: Steve Reich
• Audio CD (May 28, 1992)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005IYO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,830 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Reich, Steve
  • #38 in Music > Dance & DJ > Techno > Minimal Techno

Track Listings

1. Come Out, for tape

2. Piano Phase, for 2 pianos (or 2 marimbas)

3. Clapping Music, for 2 performers

4. [Part 1]

5. [Part 2]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fundemental for an understanding of reich's later works, September 14, 2002

By 

"tonetwelve" (poughkeepsie, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steve Reich: Early Works (Audio CD)

whether you are new to classical music, or minimalism, or to steve reich, this recording is essential to obtaining a further knowledge of where reich has come from.
included on this disc are four pieces:

1) come out. this is where reich begins to experiment with tape loops, using one repeated phrase, on more than one reel to reel tape machine. the phrase is drawn slowly out sync on one player, while the other player maintains its original speed (this happens on two tape players naturally). the result to begin with, is an echo, a slight reverberation. then proceeds to what sounds like delays. the process continues until the phrases come back into sync with each other.

2) piano phase: this is reichs adaptation of the phrase syncing he pioneered in 'come out' for piano.
he begins with one 12 note melodic fragment formed on five pitches (the pattern is this: e, f#, b, c#, d, f#, e, c#, b, f#, d, c#) which is played by two performers (in this case the duo 'double edge') in synchronicity with each other. they begin to move out of phase with each other (one speeds up slightly, while the other maintains a steady tempo) until they are one note apart...repeat the process until two notes, then three, then four...until they are back in alignment again. this is repeated with two other melodic fragments, and then the piece ends.

3) clapping music: another jump in reichs evolution. he takes the idea of phase modulation, and removes the transitory sections (the speeding up) and just jumps one performer ahead to the next pattern.
the pattern used is one which reich takes with him throughout his works (to name a couple, it can be found in 'music for 18 musicians, and music for pieces of wood).
the recording here features steve reich, and russ hartenberger (founding member of the percussion group 'nexus')

4) it's gonna rain: this was reichs first piece to ever deal with tape loops, and with gradually shifting phases. it has a lot of the same elements as 'come out'

reichs music follows in some of the theoretical philosophies of john cage (among others) who said "if something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. if still boring, then eight. then sixteen. then thirty-two. eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all."

reich does just that. his music has often been referred to as process oriented, because it deals so much with a process, rather than piles of notes. his music is not for everyone, but for those who can put down preconceptions, and venture into new musical realms, reichs is some of the most rewarding there is.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to ignore, January 15, 2001

By 

Clarke Boehling (Williamsburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steve Reich: Early Works (Audio CD)

Like most of you, I first heard Reich's work on "Music for 18 Musicians." I found the piece interesting, calming, and texturally rich, if perhaps a bit New Age-y--you know, "music to meditate to" or something equally ridiculous. But, having vowed to listen to the Reich Box, a recent acquisition of my school's music library, disc by disc, I began with the first one--Reich's early works--not knowing exactly what to expect. I was floored.

The speech pieces--"Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain"--are visceral, arresting, mind-melting, slabs of noise that will haunt you long after you finish listening to them. I guess this is "classical music," but I've never had classical music kick me in the face quite as hard as these frightening pieces.

"Piano Phase," on the other hand is a "process piece"--two pianos playing the same simple figure, but at slightly different speeds. Rhythms rub against each other, battling for space, then stretch out, suddenly speeding up and melting into one another only to be drawn apart again. At the halfway point, they realign, and then the process reverses, the second half unwinding itself in a mirror image of the first. The reviewer who said that this music should not be heard is absolutely wrong. This music will blow your mind, wipe it clean, and make you a new one, all in twenty minutes. Headphones are highly recommended for this particular piece.

"Clapping Music," though not as immediately arresting as the first three pieces, is still a rhythmically intoxicating web of sound.

These works are often called "rough," emblematic of a phase in Reich's career in which he has not yet refined his compositional techniques. However, to me, these pieces (and his other process pieces) have a gut impact that his later, more polished works--while still gorgeous--lack. There is something inherently beautiful in the Deistic notion of setting something into motion and letting it take care of itself. For years in Western music, the influence of the composer's imagination could be felt during every second of a given piece. Reich, however, changed all of that. In his early works, the governing processes give the music a life of its own, apart from the composer, the performer, and the audience. Don't ignore these revolutionary pieces; let the music amaze you, because it is truly amazing.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless Minimalism!!, September 11, 2003

By 

Louie Bourland (Garden Grove CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steve Reich: Early Works (Audio CD)

"Early Works" collects four of composer Steve Reich's earliest examples of minimalist music for both tapeloops and actual musical instruments. Listening to these early pieces is quite fascinating and offers a glimpse of what was to come in the music world more than 35 years later.
The first piece on the disc, "Come Out" was created in 1966 as part of a benefit for six youngsters who were arrested in the infamous Harlem riots. Reich's source material for this piece consists of a spoken phrase by a young man named Daniel Hamm. Reich takes two identical tapeloops Hamm's phrase ("Come out to show them") and allows them to gradually go out of synch with each other. As they do, the charachteristics of the human speech become more revealing as every detail of the 'come out' phrase becomes exposed. As the piece gradually moves forward, Reich doubles the loops to four and allows them to go out of synch thus adding further depth to the repeated phrase. Finally, the four loops double to eight and the phrase becomes indecipherable but highly rhythmic like a percussionist using brushes on a snare drum. 37 years later, "Come Out" can very well be considered as the first 'rap' or 'hip-hop' piece. It's repeated rhythmic tapeloops are an early example of what is now known as 'sampling'.
The second piece is "Piano Phase" composed in 1967. The principle behind this piece is having two pianists starting a repeated phrase together in unison but gradually having one pianist get a beat ahead (then two and three beats etc.) of the other pianist thus creating entirely new melodic and harmonic rhythmic patterns. This is an excellent 20-minute study of what can be done with two pianos playing the exact same thing but at different intervals.
The third piece is the short but effective "Clapping Music" composed in 1972. This piece was written for two pairs of hands clapping out a simple elementary rudiment. Like "Piano Phase", one performer plays the same thing throughout while the other jumps ahead a number of beats. On a personal note, this is an excellent piece to teach your friends. It's fun and simple to learn.
The final piece is "It's Gonna Rain" which is the earliest piece in this collection, created in 1965. This is another tapeloop piece in the style of "Come Out". The source material was recorded by Reich in a park in San Francisco and the voice belongs to a street preacher by the name of Brother Walter. "It's Gonna Rain" is presented in two parts. The first part consists of Walter's phrase 'it's gonna rain' in a repeated loop. At first there are numerous rhythmic edits in the loops showcasing the different parts of diction and pitch in the one phrase. Then an identical loop of the same phrase cuts in and gradually goes out of synch with the other. When the two loops are as far out of synch as possible, this creates a sort-of teetertotter-like effect. The loops then gradually fall back in synch which concludes the first part of this piece.
Part two's structure is almost the same as the first part but in this case, a longer compilcated loop consisting of several different phrases from Brother Walter is used. Like "Come Out", this part begins with two identical tapeloops played together in unison but then gradually go out of synch. The two loops double to four and gradually go out of synch followed by the doubling to eight loops. As the eight loops go out of synch, the sound of the piece becomes extremely chaotic - a cacophony of voices that sound as if they are in a large echo chamber. This brings "It's Gonna Rain" to a chilling close.
Without a doubt, Steve Reich is a composer that was and still is ahead of his time. His early tape experiments included on this disc have paved the way for today's DJs and electronic musicians. This music does require some patience, study and understanding. Not everyone will grasp this music upon its first listen. However, there's is no argument that this music is timeless and demonstrates the young Steve Reich coming into full bloom as a dynamic and innovative composer.