The Philip Glass Ensemble and Steve Reich and Musicians come to BAM from September 9—11 as part of Nonesuch Records at BAM. Context is everything, so get even closer to the show with this curated selection of articles, audio interviews, and videos related to the artists. Once you've seen it, help us keep the conversation going by telling us what you thought below.
BAM Program Notes
The Philip Glass Ensemble & Steve Reich and Musicians (PDF)
Read
Interview
Steve Reich (Time Out New York)
Reich discusses his relationship with Nonesuch records, his love for Radio Rewrite, and more.
Article
“Steve Reich on Schoenberg, Coltrane, and Radiohead” (The Guardian)
Reich deconstructs Thom Yorke perfection, disses Elvis, and finds the Beatles “A Day In the Life” ok.
Interview
Portrait of the Artist: Philip Glass (The Guardian)
Glass opines on fame, independence, and the contested term “minimalist.”
Interview
Philip Glass Interviewed by Ira Glass (NPR)
The cousins discuss musical technique, style, and stomping on old records.
“Steve Reich: A Life In Music” (The Guardian)
Coltrane's Africa/Brass, Balinese gamelan, and Junior Walker's "Shotgun" were all influences on the young Reich.
Article
"Minimal Music, Maximal Impact" (NewMusicBox.com)
Writer Kyle Gann's ASCAP Deems Taylor Award-winning article on the music most widely associated with Glass and Reich.
Watch & Listen
Video
The Creative Pulse: A Conversation with Philip Glass (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Glass discusses his early training, jazz, Ravi Shankar, and more with flutist Claire Chase.
Video
Steve Reich: Playing/Talking Music (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Reich performs “Clapping Music” with So Percussion and talks with New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson.
Video
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (YouTube)
An in-depth look at the inner and outer workings of the minimalist savant, directed by Scott Hicks.
Video
On Reich's Four Organs and Drumming(The South Bank Show)
One caused boos at Carnegie Hall. The other was written after Reich returned from Ghana.
Video
On Reich's Music for 18 Musicians(The South Bank Show)
Reich's masterpiece was inspired by a desire to dispense with conductors.
Audio
BAM Iconic Artist Talk: Philip Glass (WNYC)
Glass and former protégé Nico Muhly talk Einstein on the Beach and more at BAM.
Worthwhile Words
Reich on minimalism:
I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear the processes happening throughout the sounding music. To facilitate closely detailed listening, a musical process should happen extremely gradually. Performing and listening to a gradual musical process resembles:
- pulling back a swing, releasing it, and observing it gradually come to rest;
- turning over an hour glass and watching the sand slowly run through the bottom;
- placing your feet in the sand by the ocean's edge and watching, feeling, and listening to the waves gradually bury them.
While performing and listening to gradual musical process one can participate in a particularly liberating and impersonal kind of ritual. Focusing in on the musical process makes possible that shift of attention away from he and she and you and me outwards (or inwards) towards it. —Steve Reich in "Music as Gradual Process" (1968)
Glass on minimalism:
This is what people used to call the needle-stuck-in-the-groove music. [...] Events happen in the music but rather more slowly than you're used to. So it was like taking a microscope and looking at something very close up and you'll see things that you never would have seen before. That happens to music when you slow down the rate of change. The music isn't slow but the rate of change is slow. —Philip Glass on NPR
Now your turn . . .
So? How did you enjoy the show? Likes? Dislikes? Surprises? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below.
So? How did you enjoy the show? Likes? Dislikes? Surprises? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below.