320
See also: Pierrot lunaire 240–245 ■ Gruppen 306–307 ■ Threnody for the Victims
of Hiroshima 310–311 ■ In C 312–313 ■ Einstein on the Beach 321F
irst performed in New York
in 1973, Reich’s Six Pianos
employs the “phasing”
technique the American composer
had developed in the 1960s. The six
pianists play the same repeated
eight-beat rhythmic pattern, but
each strikes different notes. The
repeated pattern produces richly
textured, shifting waves of sound
as the pianists move in and out of
phase with each other.Rhythm and repetition
Reich was an early adherent of
the minimalist style that began to
emerge in the United States in the
late 1950s. Pioneered by La Monte
Young and Terry Riley, soon joined
by Philip Glass and Reich, it was a
reaction against the serialism of
European composers such as
Arnold Schoenberg and Pierre
Boulez. In contrast to melodies and
harmonies based on the 12-tone
chromatic scale, minimalism used
repeated chords or sequences that
changed only by tiny increments
over the course of a piece. It was
also marked by strong rhythms.Although his style was initially
controversial, by 1976 Reich’s Music
for 18 Musicians was well received.
In the 1980s, he moved away from
strict minimalism, developing
richer harmonies and melodies.
Notable later works by Reich,
whose style has influenced both
classical and popular music,
include Different Trains (1988)
and The Cave (1993), a multimedia
opera created with his wife, the
video artist Beryl Korot. ■THE PROCESS OF
SUBSTITUTING BEATS
FOR RESTS
SIX PIANOS ( 1973 ), STEVE REICH
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Late minimalismBEFORE
1958 American composer
La Monte Young completes
his pioneering minimalist
work, Trio for Strings.1964 Terry Riley’s In C is an
influential minimalist work; it
uses simple musical fragments
to create a wavelike sound.AFTER
1978 Brian Eno’s Ambient 1:
Music for Airports introduces
minimalism into popular
music, helping to create the
new genre of ambient music.1982 Minimalism and
medieval Gregorian chant
influence the Estonian Arvo
Pärt in works such as his
St. John Passion.Reel-to-reel tapes and other
recording equipment enabled Reich,
shown here in 1982, to perfect the
phasing techniques that he would
then apply to live instruments.US_320-321_Reich_Glass.indd 320 26/03/18 1:02 PM