Contribution of Reich to 20th century music

Contribution of Reich to 20th century music

1. Pioneering composer of minimal music

   • Single chord in 'Four Organs' (1970)
   • Five word phrase in 'Come Out' (1966)
   • Rhythmic construction and reduction - the process of gradually substituting rests for beats (or beats for rests) with a constantly repeating rhythmic cycle

2. Interested in music from other parts of the world

   • Complex rhythmic structures built up of polyrhythms: 'Music for Mallet Instruments' (1970-1)
   • African music: 'Drumming' (1970-1)
   • Music of the Balinese gamelan: 'Voices and Organ' (1973)

3. Tape loops

   • Phasing patterns in early compositions
   • Phase shifting - two or more identical loops playing at slightly different speeds. Repetitions move apart and eventually arrive again at synchronization
     • Pre-recorded fragments of speech in 'It's Gonna Rain' (1965 - a preacher's voice) and 'Come Out' (1966)
     • Use of recording loops of a toy melodica in 'Melodica' (1966) - pitches determined by composer

4. Augmentation

   • Explores different approaches to phase shifting through gradual lengthening of individual notes
     • 'Violin Phase' (1967)
     • 'Phase Patterns' (1970)
     • 'Clapping Music' (1972)
   • Gradual augmentation of a single chord
     • 'Four Organs' (1970), scored for 4 electric organs and a pair of maracas
   • Chordal augmentation in 'Music for 18 Musicians'
     • Voices and winds use the length of their breath as a guide for duration
     • Sing / Play pulses on assigned pitches to creates rising and falling patterns

5. Use of sampling

   • Taped sampled speech fragments and train sounds in 'Different Trains' (1988)
   • Sampled sounds of car horns, car alarms, air brakes and pile drivers in New York City in 'City Life' (1995)

6. Introduction of themes from his Jewish heritage as is began to examine his own ethnic background

   • 'Tehillim' (1981) examined Hebrew cantillation