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Steve Reich: Early Works

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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.

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.

"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.

Depending on your ears, the early works on this recording will be either complete madness, or trance-like nirvana. My hunch is that many people will vote for the former, at least at first, before Reich's inventive grip helps you to perceive sounds in a way that perhaps you hadn't before. In any case, the works here are given terrific performances.

"Come Out" features the taped voice of a young black man arrested for murder, who had to squeeze his bruises so that some of the blood would "come out" to show the police he was injured. From the man's taped speech, Reich extracts the phrase "come out to show them" and repeats it dozens and dozens of times, electronically altering it so that it slowly shifts in emphasis, tone and weight. It is a mesmerizing experience. Similarly, in "It's Gonna Rain," which uses the voice of a fiery preacher named Brother Walter, Reich repeats the title phrase hundreds of times, and as the work progresses the words gradually dissolve into a huge wall of sound that is indistinguishable from its origins.

The most accessible work for most people will probably be "Clapping Music," a short, percussive study for two people well, clapping. The means are simple, but the result is much more complex. Reich explores different rhythmic patterns, and this piece, like the others, helps provide crucial understanding of some of his later, more complex works like "Drumming" or "Different Trains."

"Piano Phase" was written in 1967, for two pianists who begin playing the same figure in unison, before one pianist speeds up slightly. The unison changes into what at first sounds like an echo, but settles into a sort of chugging harmony as the pianist continues to pull ahead. Listeners who are restless when confronted with the composer's stark "Violin Phase" (employing a similar technique) might enjoy the two-piano timbre here a bit more.

I wish I could say that everyone would like this recording, but it just is not so. Although I find these pieces completely fascinating, they do require a good bit of patience, not to mention a willingness to be immersed in a rather stark and uncompromising sound world. Those who came to Reich through "18 Musicians," "Different Trains," or some of his latest compositions that incorporate video, may be left completely in the dark by these early pieces. But for those interested in Reich, or in trends in twentieth-century music, at least one hearing of this amazing recording could be considered almost essential.

Warning, this is a strange CD. It's not going to fit everyone's taste, but if you are the type that likes to explore, or extremely bored with POP music, then this is the CD for you. This was created & recorded before the computer age, yet deals with the process of the computer age. Back then some Classical Experimenters used tape loops to created multi layered repetitions of rhythm & melody. I believe the high light is "It's Gonna Rain" from a recording of a Pentecosta street preacher yelling about Noah's flood. The words "Its Gonna Rain" become rhythm with something like: "Its Its, Its Gonna Its Gonna, Gonna Gonna, Gonna Rain Gonna Rain, Rain Rain...then the piece adds layers of layers of the sermon until it becomes a vast sound effect. Believe it or not I played "It's Gonna Rain" during a Performance Art piece called "Noah's Art" where I gave out water balloons & pistols to an audience while reading & then acting out the 10 commandants. The Tape loop was used to drive everyone into a frenzy to drown me with water. It Worked. Thanks Steve.

The complete, complete control of the music on this cd feels so great to listen to. In the pieces with phased tapes of people talking, the voice is only discernible as a voice for the beginning, then the 2 tapes out of phase become just sounds that you can pick the words out of maybe if you really try. You know his earliest phase music was made by playing the same recording of someone talking on 2 tapes & speeding up one of the tapes so they each play [almost] the same thing at different times, & what more emerges between them is intense. With instrumental phase music, one of the performers periodically jumps a beat ahead while repeating the same musical phrase as the other performer. One of Reich's favorite observations of phase music is that in pure phase music the composer doesn't know anything about where the music will go that the listener doesn't know. The phase pieces on this cd are so wild. They feel so unsettling in how quasi-post-futuristic they are & in the topics of the spoken phase pieces, opening a bruise to be bleeding to be allowed medical attention & the preaching of Brother Walter on the street in San Francisco; but also feel very comfortable in the complete control. Not far into Reich's career, he stopped making phase music. With a great sampling of the phase music he did, this is essential Reich.

Think of Steve Reich's mature work, and perefect digital repetition comes to mind. Those clean repetative sounds he builds his peices on have become the trademark he is so rightly revered for.

Back in the mid-60s, the technology Reich uses simply did not exist, and creating loops of sound meant using reel to reel tape, which composers had to cut with razor blades and minipulate the speed. Painstaking work.

Reich is a minimalist in the strict genre sense. The idea is to take a small sound phrese, isolate it, and repeat it until it looses its content and simply becomes hypnotic sound.

Take "Come out." Reich loops a black man describing a police beating, where the man says "I had to take the blues blood and come out and show em." The composer isolates the phrase "come out and show em" and runs it on tapeloop until the words become unintellageable and becomes noise. This becomes mesmorizing, and Reich uses the same ideas with different speakers through this set.

On the second piece, Reich uses a tent revival evangelist, this time choosing the phrase "its gonna rain." A perfect example of reaching into an almost diametrically opposed culture to create high art. Ironically, any dance repetative dance mix of, say, Mariah Carry or Britney Spears owes some debt to Steve Reich.

Inventive, frightening, trance-inducing, this is the sound AS music, not the sound of music. Completely new for its time, it still holds up intellectually and vicerally today.

Highly reccomended.

A stoner buddy of mine turned me on to this 40 years (1967) ago and it - Come Out, in particular - blew me away. I bought a vinly copy and later replaced it with this CD. I can't imagine an eclectic CD collection being complete without a copy of this landmark album.

These 'early' works (written in the composer's 30s) already reveal Steve Reich as a musician of the future, dragging classical music out of its serialist rut, his rhythmic loops paving the way for popular dance forms, such as techno and drum'n'bass. But this forward-looking was firmly rooted in the past. 'Piano Phase', 20 minutes of duelling pianos repeating the same line, plays like a Bach fugue stuck on a groove, reminding us that great Western music has always been abstract and austere, an apotheosis of geometric patterns. Like the other pieces on this CD, the track seems merely repetitive on a first listen, but patient exploration unearths all manner of subtle variations, tempo changes, curious emphases, making for an unexpectedly thrilling listening experience. 'Come Out' and 'It's Gonna Rain' are weird preludes and fugues, a spoken word sample as the theme which is looped, distorted, imperceptibly reworked in the pieces themselves. 'It's Gonna Rain', especially, is a post-modern spiritual, the dogma of the sample's preacher fragmented, the certainty of his declamations subjected to doubt and impermenance, but the timeless humanity of his gospel fervour ringingly affirmed, defying the reproducing machine. This trick would be purloined later by Moby and Fatboy Slim, to lesser effect.

I wonder why Nonesuch rejected "It's Gonna Rain" (1965) onto the last track. It is the seminal tape composition of Reich, the one in which, by pure chance, he discovered the phasing process - letting two identitcal loops go gradually out of phase with each other - which would be the basis of his music and compositional methods for the next 20 years. The voice is that of a young black Pentecostal preacher and the words are "It's gonna rain". As the phasing out process unfolds the words become increasingly indistinct, acquiring an aggressively repetitive instrumental or electronic character. The second Part of the composition develops a slightly longer phrase along the same principle, and gives, even more than part I, the impression of rising perceptional chaos, something a character of Philip K. Dick might experience. I'd hate to have THAT diseasese, it would be frightening. The experiment is interesting but I can't say that it makes for a very pleasurable listening experience. In fact, I found the piece's 17 minutes very much an ordeal, and a test of one's patience. Maybe that's why Nonesuch rejected it on track 4.

Not that the one they selected for track 1 is much better. In "Come Out", composed in 1966, Reich pursued his experiments with tape, here taking a small bit ("come out to show them") from the phrase (presented complete at the beginning) "I had to... like open the bruise up and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them". The voice was that of Daniel Hamm, one of the six boys arrested for murder during the Harlem riots of 1964 (and subsequently acquitted) and badly beat up by the police. Again the the words become indistinct as the phasing out process unfolds, lapsing into mere swish. Its 13 minutes are very tedious.

In Piano Phase (1967) Reich moved one step further and tried to apply that phasing out technique, that seemed so closely associated with tape, to acoustic instruments. The composition first began as a short tape loop against which Reich himself tried playing live, to discover that it worked, allowing the performer "to become completely absorbed in listening" while he played. It was later completely written out in musical notation, although the simplicity of the few patterns to be played and of the phasing-out and back-in processes allow performers to play without scores. While still somewhat monotonous in its 20 minutes of repetition and clashing of simple melodic patterns, Piano Phase unfolds a sparkling and motoric energy that makes it the most appealing piece on the CD.

Clapping Music is a short (4:40) composition from 1972, requiring no other instrument than the human body (hands clapping) and using a simplified version of the "phasing out" method, with one part remaining fixed and repeating the pattern throughout, and the other miving abruptly, after a number of repast, from unison to one beat ahead, until it is back in unison with the first. The process is not necessarily entirely perceptible. Would you do perceive is four minutes of rhythmic clapping.

It is Piano Phase that earns this CD a third star. Still, the CD is mostly for those who want to remember that Reich began as an experimenter. TT 54:05, informative liner notes by Reich.