Latest news with #DifferentTrains
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The Documentary Podcast In the Studio: Steve Reich
For 60 years, New York composer Steve Reich has been one of classical music's most celebrated revolutionaries. Pioneering minimalism in the 1960s, a musical style based on repetition and shifting rhythms, his strange experiments with cassette tape led to orchestral masterpieces – now performed around the world. His career has not only helped define the latest era of classical music, but had an enormous influence on pop, rock and electronica. He has helped shape 20th Century music in a way few can claim to match. To mark 60 years since his first major piece,1965's It's Gonna Rain, he takes Alastair Shuttleworth through the process and stories behind some of his greatest works, including Clapping Music, Different Trains and City Life. He also reflects on his legacy, his plans for the future and what, at the age of 88, still inspires him to compose
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Post your questions for composer Steve Reich
At the age of 88, Steve Reich has had a long lifetime of artistic brilliance, harnessing power through repetition and minimalism – and as he releases a career-spanning box set, he will be answering your questions. Born in 1936, Reich (pronounced 'rysh') is one of the greatest living American composers, who after passing through a series of esteemed colleges – Cornell, Juilliard, Mills – began producing a series of works from the mid 1960s onwards that were methodical, even mathematical in their arrangements, but which became transcendent experiences for audiences. Initially using sampled speech, simple instruments and handclaps, he moved towards composing large ensemble works, and expanded his vision to encompass other countries and cultures such as those of Ghana and Bali. His Jewish heritage informed Tehillim, which set Jewish scripture to music, and his unforgettable work Different Trains, which reflected on the Holocaust. His native New York was also a big influence, from the playful New York Counterpoint to his chilling September 11 piece, WTC 9/11. Along the way he has been embraced by the classical establishment while also being a huge influence on rock and dance music. He won the Pulitzer prize for his work Double Sextet and collaborated with greats outside music, from choreographer Alvin Ailey to visual artist Gerhard Richter. His impressive body of work is now being collected by his longtime label Nonesuch into Steve Reich Collected Works, a 27-disc box set ranging from 1965's It's Gonna Rain to first recordings of his two latest works: Jacob's Ladder (2023) and Traveler's Prayer (2020). Ahead of the release on 14 March, Reich will be joining us to answer your questions about his life and work. Post them in the comments below before 6pm GMT on Thursday 6 March. His answers will be published on 21 March.
