Steve Reich

Steve Reich
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Name	Steve Reich
Caption	Reich in 2016
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth date	3 October 1936
Birth place	New York City, U.S.
Genre	Minimalism, Contemporary classical music
Occupation	Composer
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Steve Reich and Musicians
Website	stevereich.com

Steve Reich is an American composer renowned as a pioneering figure in minimalism. His innovative work, characterized by phasing techniques and rhythmic complexity, has profoundly influenced 20th-century and contemporary classical music. Reich's compositions draw from diverse sources, including West African drumming, Balinese gamelan, and Jewish liturgical traditions, creating a distinct and influential body of work.

Early Life and Education

Born in New York City, he was exposed to music early, taking piano lessons and attending concerts at the New York Philharmonic. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in philosophy, he studied composition under Hall Overton before enrolling at the Juilliard School, where his peers included Philip Glass. His formative studies continued at Mills College in Oakland under Luciano Berio, where he was immersed in the avant-garde scene of the San Francisco Bay Area. During this period, he also worked with the San Francisco Tape Music Center, exploring tape music and musique concrète, which would directly inform his early phasing experiments.

Career

His professional career began in the mid-1960s with groundbreaking tape pieces like It's Gonna Rain. He soon formed his own ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, to perform his increasingly complex works. A pivotal research trip to Ghana in 1970 to study Ewe drumming fundamentally shaped his approach to rhythm and ensemble writing. Subsequent studies of Balinese gamelan in Seattle and Berkeley further expanded his sonic palette. Major performances at venues like the Brooklyn Academy of Music and festivals across Europe solidified his international reputation. Later collaborations with prominent groups such as the Kronos Quartet and conductors like Michael Tilson Thomas brought his music to mainstream concert hall audiences worldwide.

Compositional Style

His compositional style is defined by the technique of phasing, where two identical repeating patterns gradually shift out of sync. This creates a mesmerizing, evolving texture, as heard in early works like Piano Phase. His structures often employ additive and subtractive processes, building complexity from simple cells. The influence of non-Western music is paramount, with the interlocking rhythms of African drumming and the shimmering textures of Balinese gamelan integrated into a Western classical framework. While rooted in minimalism, his later works incorporate harmonic movement and expanded instrumentation, moving into what some term postminimalism.

Notable Works

His notable works span his entire career, each marking a key evolution in his sound. The early tape piece Come Out is a landmark of phasing. Drumming is a monumental exploration of rhythmic patterns for percussion and voices. Music for 18 Musicians is perhaps his most celebrated work, a hypnotic, expansive composition that cemented his fame. Other major pieces include the string quartet Different Trains, which uses speech melody to address the Holocaust, and the large-scale The Desert Music for chorus and orchestra, setting texts by William Carlos Williams. Later orchestral works like Three Movements for orchestra and WTC 9/11 for string quartet and tape continue his engagement with contemporary themes.

Awards and Legacy

He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Double Sextet and a Grammy Award for Music for 18 Musicians. His influence extends far beyond the classical realm, impacting generations of composers across genres, including John Adams and Brian Eno, and shaping the development of electronic music, ambient music, and techno. Institutions like the BBC and The Guardian have hailed him as one of the greatest living composers. His papers are archived at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, and his continued activity ensures his legacy as a central architect of minimalism and contemporary music.

Category:American composers Category:Minimalist composers Category:1936 births Category:Living people