Steve Reich
b. 1936
Snapshot
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Steve Reich was recently called "...the most original musical thinker of our time" (The New Yorker) and "...among the great composers of the century" (The New York Times) * His instantly recognizable musical language combines rigorous structures with propulsive rhythms and seductive instrumental colour * Many choreographers have used his scores, including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Jiri Kylian and Jerome Robbins * Exclusive recording contract with Nonesuch, on which label Different Trains earned him one Grammy™ for Best Contemporary Composition and Music for 18 Musicians a second * His "documentary video opera" works The Cave and Three Tales (in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot) have expanded the boundaries of the operatic medium.
Works by Steve Reich include:
Music for Eighteen Musicians (1974-76) for voices and ensemble
City Life (1995) for ensemble
Triple Quartet (1998) for string quartet with pre-recorded tape, or string ensemble, or string orchestra
Looking Ahead: Currently composing a piece for rock band, Eighth Blackbird performs the world premiere of Reich's Double Sextet on the University of Michigan campus April 10, 2008, before bringing the work to Carnegie's Zankel Hall for the New York premiere on April 17.
"There's just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them."— The Guardian
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