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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reich's THE CAVE defines...., April 20, 1999
By A Customer
Steve Reich's The Cave is not only music, but more, it is sound. I am learning as a fan of contemporary classical music, that sound is as important as "music". We are released from 12 tone reality.As a child, I loved the fading in and out of long distance a m stations. It was the groundwork for the textural riches of Steve Reich's The Cave as well as for much more of the contempary classics I find important. I love the reinvention of sound that happens here. I love also the intelligent musing to endless questions....Who is Abraham..Who is Sarah...Who is Hagar? From answers like " I have no idea who Abraham is or what he represents." to "Abraham Lincoln High School............that's about as far as I trace Abraham." to Carl Sagan's "I think of Abraham like this: It's 21 hundred B.C. or thereabouts. He's living in the 3rd dynasty of UR. It's a polytheistic society. The chief god is "Nana," who's the moon god. Abraham grows up, he a city kid. His father makes idols, he crafts idols.", the staccato of the music, the voices, and the answers themselves...lead us to our question, " Who is Abraham?" And we find, philosophically, we all have many ways to travel the inevitable route: question. Reich's music is as mysterious as the questions, the history of the questions. He brings together...among others, Christian, Jew, and Muslim to consider the highway to his own being, his own thought. The music is sharp and enticing, as challenging to the spirit as it is refreshing, and openly cleansing.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Responses are controversial and polarized, May 17, 2004
Interesting that the responses to this work, particularly from diehard Reich fans, are so varied. I've so enjoyed Reich since I happened upon his music by attraction to the album cover of Octet, in late 70's. I loved his first burst of success, Octet, Music for 18 Musicians, and others. The first piece to which I was truly resistant was Desert Music. It was years later when I accepted Reich's expanding pallete that I came to enjoy Desert Music. Now, even many more years later, while listening to "The Cave" from the 10 CD, Reich retrospective, I realize that this piece, "The Cave", is very very moving to me. I love the instrumental intonation or shadowing of the spoken vocal lines. But I think to appreciate this piece, one must have a mind that is invited by the theological. This is a religioius piece of music, or of a religious mindset; and it is expressed primarily through the spoken word. The spoken word is the tonal environment, much as nature and city sounds may be used as a tonal base for writing environmental music. The spoken words may turn many off, not only for its subtlely, but for it concretizing the notion of faith and speaking it into flesh. I find this work very moving and very beautiful. It certainly does not depend upon experiencing the multi-media presentation of the live performance, though I surely would enjoy seeing it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Cave - food for thought, December 5, 2003
In fact this release is incomplete: it contains the music but not the images that definitely belong to the production. It deserves a DVD release like Three Tales. It would have been 5 stars rating as DVD I guess!I was lucky to witness a live performance, so I can recall the images. However, there is much to be enjoyed by everyone, but I can imagine it needs time and effort if you're not yet familiar with the whole idea behind The Cave. My advise is:
read the booklet, hear the voices, listen to the music, feel the emotions. enjoy!
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