Steve reich electric counterpoint

Steve Reich was born in 1936
Electric Counterpoint was composed in 1987
It is scored for solo guitar (acoustic or electric), 12 guitars and two bass guitars. The soloist plays live against a pre-recorded backing
Electric Counterpoint is in three movements, fast-slow-fast
Key Features Of Minimalism - The repetition of simple ideas. - Layered textures. - Diatonic Harmonies. - Slow harmonic rhythms. - Little variety in instrumentation
Melody And Texture
1. The melody is made up of a 1 bar motif that is repeated continuously to form an ostinato.
2. This motif is introduced by the live guitar and the top 4 guitar parts at different times (the first layer in the structure above). This creates a canon.
3. In some parts note addition is used to build up the melody, this means that notes are gradually added to a part until all the notes in the melody are heard.
4. At one point the live guitar plays a melody that is made up from selected individual notes from the other guitar parts creating a resulant melody.

Resource summary

	Created by harrisonbeckwith over 10 years ago