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Conversations
Coming soon! Conversations by Steve Reich will be available Jan 18, 2022.
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First published March 8, 2022
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August 5, 2022
Come Out to Show Them
Review of the Harlequin Audio audiobook released simultaneously with the Hanover Square Press hardcover (March 8, 2022).
Conversations is a series of dialogues between the contemporary classical / experimental American composer Steve Reich (1936 -) and 19 of his most prominent collaborators and interpreters including his wife, video artist Beryl Korot (1945 -).
The audiobook edition does not use recordings of the actual real people but is instead performed by several narrators. There is nothing wrong with that except for the occasional performed laughter which is an attempt to capture the transcriptions from the original recordings as duplicated in the book. The forced chuckles don't always feel authentic. The several narrators otherwise do an excellent job, often mimicking the accents of some of the international performers (I don't think they recruited actual international equivalents of the various English, Scottish, Dutch etc. originals).
The topics of each conversation is centred around the specific Steve Reich works that the performer or collaborator worked on. The scope takes us from the early tape works such as It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966), through the works with very minimal elements such as Clapping Music (1972) and Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) up to the more complex breakout pieces such as Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76), Different Trains (1988) and the video operas The Cave (1993) and Three Tales (1998-2002). Recent works such as Reich/Richter (2019) and Traveller's Prayer (2020) are also discussed.
Conversations will probably be most appreciated by readers/listeners who have followed the 55+ year career of Reich from its very minimalist beginnings to the ultra complex ensemble works which require enormous concentration by virtuoso performers to execute. The results in performance can be quite exhilarating though, and a lot of that enthusiasm is communicated in these dialogues.
Photograph of a performance of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" at Massey Hall, Toronto on April 14, 2016 for Steve Reich 80. Photograph by Trevor Haldenby sourced from Exclaim. [Trivia Note: I attended this performance.]
Trivia and a Link
Biographical information on each of the conversationalists from the hardcover book is available as a pdf file via the publisher and Audible with the purchase of the audiobook.
The number of Steve Reich recordings is extensive and quite a number of live performances and films are available on YouTube. I particularly like the mesmering filmed performance of Dutch dancer / choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (also one of the conversations in the book) set to the music of Reich's Violin Phase (1967) which you can see on YouTube here.
Review of the Harlequin Audio audiobook released simultaneously with the Hanover Square Press hardcover (March 8, 2022).
Conversations is a series of dialogues between the contemporary classical / experimental American composer Steve Reich (1936 -) and 19 of his most prominent collaborators and interpreters including his wife, video artist Beryl Korot (1945 -).
The audiobook edition does not use recordings of the actual real people but is instead performed by several narrators. There is nothing wrong with that except for the occasional performed laughter which is an attempt to capture the transcriptions from the original recordings as duplicated in the book. The forced chuckles don't always feel authentic. The several narrators otherwise do an excellent job, often mimicking the accents of some of the international performers (I don't think they recruited actual international equivalents of the various English, Scottish, Dutch etc. originals).
The topics of each conversation is centred around the specific Steve Reich works that the performer or collaborator worked on. The scope takes us from the early tape works such as It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966), through the works with very minimal elements such as Clapping Music (1972) and Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) up to the more complex breakout pieces such as Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76), Different Trains (1988) and the video operas The Cave (1993) and Three Tales (1998-2002). Recent works such as Reich/Richter (2019) and Traveller's Prayer (2020) are also discussed.
Conversations will probably be most appreciated by readers/listeners who have followed the 55+ year career of Reich from its very minimalist beginnings to the ultra complex ensemble works which require enormous concentration by virtuoso performers to execute. The results in performance can be quite exhilarating though, and a lot of that enthusiasm is communicated in these dialogues.
Photograph of a performance of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" at Massey Hall, Toronto on April 14, 2016 for Steve Reich 80. Photograph by Trevor Haldenby sourced from Exclaim. [Trivia Note: I attended this performance.]
Trivia and a Link
Biographical information on each of the conversationalists from the hardcover book is available as a pdf file via the publisher and Audible with the purchase of the audiobook.
The number of Steve Reich recordings is extensive and quite a number of live performances and films are available on YouTube. I particularly like the mesmering filmed performance of Dutch dancer / choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (also one of the conversations in the book) set to the music of Reich's Violin Phase (1967) which you can see on YouTube here.
February 8, 2025
Have you ever been in a cozy, warm room looking out of a window at icicles above, in a warming sun, watching how water drips off each icicle with a rhythmic, slowly changing precision with its own destiny of creative volition, together with other icicles, some smaller, some bigger, with differing cadences, and being incapably overcome with a paralyzing inability to look away because the sheer beauty of light combined with the disparate pulses of water creates a symphonic cacophony of mesmerizing beauty? If you have, then Steve Reich’s music might be something for you to consider trying. But it’s not for casual listening or background noise. It will demand your attention. If you find a little to latch on to, stick with it and explore; if not, try some other pieces, keep an open mind, and give it some time. Listening to Reich is unlike any other musical experience. But you’ll find his influences in more of it than you might have noticed. Compositionally, he is always ahead of his time.
Reich’s music embodies rhythm, repetition with slow changes, and tonality. Pulses. The subtle changes can take time, the differing combination of instruments create unique sounds each instrument is incapable of producing by itself, and voices, when they occur, are instruments; the cadence of the phrase become the basis of the scores. Pulse and counterpoint are perhaps the most oft repeated terms musicians associate with his compositions. Reich, the man and musician, lives in a world with different sensibilities as compared to us mere mortals. When he hears voices, he seemingly, instinctively, breaks down the sounds made into notes. We hear words, he hears the progression of, for example, D to F to C minor. When we listen to piece, his mind of musical architecture sees the frame, the innate superstructure, around which the sounds are built and ordered. And while we hear what is, he ponders about what could be, how a slight change here, a change in progression there, or a repeating theme somewhere else might make that sound more interesting; musically and in other ways we couldn’t begin to imagine.
I became hooked on Reich sometime in the early-to-mid 90s, when I first heard Different Trains . I stumbled on an interview with Reich somewhere in which he described writing music that compared his experience of being a child in the late 30s/early 40s—before transcontinental flights existed—as he was shuttled by train between his divorced parents’ homes in New York and Los Angeles. He remembered the sounds of train whistles, of porters, of the rhythm of the train, all of it exciting and invigorating to a young child. As a Jewish adult, it occurred to him that around the same time, there were children on the other side of the world living different realities on trains: fear, confusion, terror. His was a certainty of arriving, with his nanny watching over him for the journey, in the arms of a loving parent; theirs of an uncertainty they would never fathom and virtually all would not survive.
The process of creating Different Trains was unlike anything in music that had come before. He was asked by the Kronos Quartet to compose a string quartet. He records people—his governess (nanny), a retired train porter— and finds recordings of Holocaust survivors and train sounds. As Reich writes in the liner notes of the original recording,
Using recordings to play over is a form of sampling, a technique he invented in the mid-1960s, with a recording of a street preacher in San Francisco called Its Gonna Rain . It changed music more than any piece hardly anyone heard of before. Brian Eno said this about it:
Some other great pieces to explore if you’ve gotten this far (far from complete):
Mallet Quartet ,
Clapping Music , Duet , Four Sections , The Desert Music, the latter piece inspired by a William Carlos Williams poem.
Electric Counterpoint by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
Reich’s music embodies rhythm, repetition with slow changes, and tonality. Pulses. The subtle changes can take time, the differing combination of instruments create unique sounds each instrument is incapable of producing by itself, and voices, when they occur, are instruments; the cadence of the phrase become the basis of the scores. Pulse and counterpoint are perhaps the most oft repeated terms musicians associate with his compositions. Reich, the man and musician, lives in a world with different sensibilities as compared to us mere mortals. When he hears voices, he seemingly, instinctively, breaks down the sounds made into notes. We hear words, he hears the progression of, for example, D to F to C minor. When we listen to piece, his mind of musical architecture sees the frame, the innate superstructure, around which the sounds are built and ordered. And while we hear what is, he ponders about what could be, how a slight change here, a change in progression there, or a repeating theme somewhere else might make that sound more interesting; musically and in other ways we couldn’t begin to imagine.
I became hooked on Reich sometime in the early-to-mid 90s, when I first heard Different Trains . I stumbled on an interview with Reich somewhere in which he described writing music that compared his experience of being a child in the late 30s/early 40s—before transcontinental flights existed—as he was shuttled by train between his divorced parents’ homes in New York and Los Angeles. He remembered the sounds of train whistles, of porters, of the rhythm of the train, all of it exciting and invigorating to a young child. As a Jewish adult, it occurred to him that around the same time, there were children on the other side of the world living different realities on trains: fear, confusion, terror. His was a certainty of arriving, with his nanny watching over him for the journey, in the arms of a loving parent; theirs of an uncertainty they would never fathom and virtually all would not survive.
The process of creating Different Trains was unlike anything in music that had come before. He was asked by the Kronos Quartet to compose a string quartet. He records people—his governess (nanny), a retired train porter— and finds recordings of Holocaust survivors and train sounds. As Reich writes in the liner notes of the original recording,
In order to combine the taped speech with the string instruments I selected small speech samples that are more or less clearly pitched and then notated them as possible in musical notation…The strings then literally imitate that speech melody. The speech samples as well as the train sounds were transferred to tape with the use of sampling keyboards and a computer. Kronos then made four separate string quartet recordings which were combined with the speech and train sounds to create the finished work.Reich actually tells it better in his own words better than in his liner notes, and certainly better than I ever could.
Using recordings to play over is a form of sampling, a technique he invented in the mid-1960s, with a recording of a street preacher in San Francisco called Its Gonna Rain . It changed music more than any piece hardly anyone heard of before. Brian Eno said this about it:
had a very, very big impact on me. It really set me thinking again about what music could be, and what the act of listening consisted of, because it made me realize that listening was a very creative activity. It wasn’t a passive activity.As Elizabeth Lim-Dutton says in her conversation with Reich:
I can’t help but wonder what your influence has been on rap music. The acronym RAP stands for ‘rhythm—and—poetry,’ right? So, I’m sure your music has influenced all sorts of musicians outside of the realm of classical music.Soon after, Reich followed with Come Out . As Reich recalled it:
Come Out was premiered as part of a benefit for the retrial of the Harlem Six back in about 1967. The piece consists of the words of one of the six, a Black kid mistakenly arrested for murder. He was beaten in jail and wanted to be taken to the hospital to be cleaned up, and he explained, ‘I had to like open the bruise up and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them.’ And my ear went to ‘Come out to show them.’ The speech melody was very pronounced and in C minor. When we speak, we sometimes sing. We’re not aware of it. Kids do it the most.Despite the origins of that piece, Reich was under no illusions about what music and art could do. As Leonard Bernstein famously said, “music doesn't mean anything in the ways language does, but instead means what it is.” Or as Reich said:
Finally, an artist should have no illusions about how their work will change the world. The best example I know is Picasso’s Guernica. Guernica was a small town in Spain where Franco bombed civilians for the first time in the Spanish Civil War. Picasso was in Paris and read about it in a newspaper, hence his painting is in a kind of black and white. It is clearly one of his greatest masterpieces, but did it stop civilian bombing for a millisecond? Not exactly. What followed was Coventry, Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and then 9/11. Judged as a political force, Picasso is an abject and total failure. Yet his masterpiece does serve a modest purpose beyond its mastery. The name of Guernica and its fate is at least remembered as a result of this great artist’s work.Reich is the musical genius hardly anyone ever heard about who influenced so much of what we listen to today. And will listen to tomorrow. He shaped music as far flung and seemingly unrelated as Stephen Sondheim and Radiohead. Live performances of his music are hard to find, but they’re worth the effort to go if you're in the neighborhood, as a performance of his masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians demonstrates. Conversations is a treasure trove for any Steve Reich junkie like me.
Some other great pieces to explore if you’ve gotten this far (far from complete):
Mallet Quartet ,
Clapping Music , Duet , Four Sections , The Desert Music, the latter piece inspired by a William Carlos Williams poem.
Electric Counterpoint by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
August 27, 2023
I listened to the audiobook which was a bit weird because it was actors recreating recorded conversations. I'm sure the audio and flow were better that way, but I have spoken with many of the people (including Reich) in the conversations here and it's surreal to hear actors doing a reasonably good job of impersonating them.
Other than that, what one would expect: background, anecdotes, interesting asides and technical bits, all easily digested.
Other than that, what one would expect: background, anecdotes, interesting asides and technical bits, all easily digested.
May 27, 2022
NOTE: I am a librarian and I received a DRC of this book in MOBI format from Edelweiss+.
I first encountered Steve Reich as a Freshman in college and ended up doing a class presentation on his music alongside the music of the other "Minimalists" of the 20th Century. As the years have passed, my appreciation for his contributions to the musical arts have grown. However, this book instilled in me a new appreciation for Steve Reich himself. In this collection of 19 interviews with a varied class of creative minds, from conductor Michael Tilson Thomas to Radiohead-guitarist-turned-film-composer Jonny Greenwood, I found myself immersed in the musical milieu of the past 75 years. Reich gifts readers with commentary on his compositional processes, musical aesthetics, and the interconnectedness of music with visual and performing arts. By taking the time to sit down with other notable artists, Reich demonstrates his appreciation for the other creators who have had an impact on his life and work; evidence of collaboration runs through each chapter.
As I read, I was continually awed at what a privilege it is that this book exists, for it is a mine of musical wisdom straight from the source.
The conversations felt like they were taking place in the same room in which I sat (or, more likely, on the same Zoom call with me). When composer Julia Wolfe recounted working with Jaap van Zweden, I was taken down memory lane back to the first symphony concert I ever attended, which was conducted by van Zweden. The invisible barriers between the composers, performers, and listeners was instantly broken. This is just one example of the relatability of these conversations to the experiences of seasoned listeners, and when taken at the level of the entire book they serve to make "Classical music" accessible, relatable, and ultimately more human.
I first encountered Steve Reich as a Freshman in college and ended up doing a class presentation on his music alongside the music of the other "Minimalists" of the 20th Century. As the years have passed, my appreciation for his contributions to the musical arts have grown. However, this book instilled in me a new appreciation for Steve Reich himself. In this collection of 19 interviews with a varied class of creative minds, from conductor Michael Tilson Thomas to Radiohead-guitarist-turned-film-composer Jonny Greenwood, I found myself immersed in the musical milieu of the past 75 years. Reich gifts readers with commentary on his compositional processes, musical aesthetics, and the interconnectedness of music with visual and performing arts. By taking the time to sit down with other notable artists, Reich demonstrates his appreciation for the other creators who have had an impact on his life and work; evidence of collaboration runs through each chapter.
As I read, I was continually awed at what a privilege it is that this book exists, for it is a mine of musical wisdom straight from the source.
The conversations felt like they were taking place in the same room in which I sat (or, more likely, on the same Zoom call with me). When composer Julia Wolfe recounted working with Jaap van Zweden, I was taken down memory lane back to the first symphony concert I ever attended, which was conducted by van Zweden. The invisible barriers between the composers, performers, and listeners was instantly broken. This is just one example of the relatability of these conversations to the experiences of seasoned listeners, and when taken at the level of the entire book they serve to make "Classical music" accessible, relatable, and ultimately more human.
October 7, 2022
One Of The Best Music Books In 2022 .
August 23, 2022
Steve Reich, of course is The Godfather of modern minimalism in music, likely along with Philip Glass and maybe Terry Riley. Since arising in the 1960’s, Reich has produced a significant body of work adhering to minimalist guidelines of repetitive sounds , with tape looping and pulses of notes. He was a drummer primarily but has written large orchestral pieces, works for small groups and works intermingling spoken word with sounds and music. It’s not music as we know it but he has been very successful and received numerous accolades.
This “book” is really conversations between Mr Reich and 19 other artists who are familiar with his work and may have performed it in some way. Most of these were done via Zoom during the pandemic and transcribed for the book. Of the 19, I was only familiar with Brian Eno, Stephen Sondheim and Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood.
At first this seemed like it was just going to be a Reich love fest as the discussions focused on his works and he seemed to just ask about his own pieces. This mellowed out a bit but for the most part these are conversations about Reichs creations. I was only familiar with Music for 18 Musicians so as the book progressed I would play many of the pieces mentioned via Spotify. Adding the aural component really helped me be more engaged with the conversations. Unfortunately a lot of the discussion was very technically dense for the non-musician
“…combines a rock solid certainty as to your contrapuntal destination with an ability to guard against a premature arrival..”
HUH??
That being said there was lots of interesting talk that could be understood about how different artists approached the difficult works and generally succeeded. As might be expected the best parts for me were the 3 artists I knew. I’m a big Eno fan for 50 years since his Roxy Music days and The Sondheim section was most fun.
I admit to skimming on some sections of these conversations but all in all I enjoyed these discussions and I got to hear a bunch of new music.
I recommend having Spotify or some equivalent nearby to maximize the pleasure of this book.
This “book” is really conversations between Mr Reich and 19 other artists who are familiar with his work and may have performed it in some way. Most of these were done via Zoom during the pandemic and transcribed for the book. Of the 19, I was only familiar with Brian Eno, Stephen Sondheim and Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood.
At first this seemed like it was just going to be a Reich love fest as the discussions focused on his works and he seemed to just ask about his own pieces. This mellowed out a bit but for the most part these are conversations about Reichs creations. I was only familiar with Music for 18 Musicians so as the book progressed I would play many of the pieces mentioned via Spotify. Adding the aural component really helped me be more engaged with the conversations. Unfortunately a lot of the discussion was very technically dense for the non-musician
“…combines a rock solid certainty as to your contrapuntal destination with an ability to guard against a premature arrival..”
HUH??
That being said there was lots of interesting talk that could be understood about how different artists approached the difficult works and generally succeeded. As might be expected the best parts for me were the 3 artists I knew. I’m a big Eno fan for 50 years since his Roxy Music days and The Sondheim section was most fun.
I admit to skimming on some sections of these conversations but all in all I enjoyed these discussions and I got to hear a bunch of new music.
I recommend having Spotify or some equivalent nearby to maximize the pleasure of this book.
August 29, 2024
It should be obvious, but the 5 *s is if you enjoy Reich's music. I don't think you have to be a super-fan or anything, but I also wouldn't be recommending it to my wife, who hates his music.
It's largely non-technical, so you don't have to be a musician to get a lot out of it. There's a couple of places he talks about changing meters frequently (in "Tehillim"), and there's the occasional mention of major and minor keys, but they're mostly in passing.
The book does a few things well, I think:
1. It gives the background that went into a lot of the pieces (for example, "Different Trains" started because the Kronos Quartet wanted him to write something for them, but he didn't want to write a string quartet).
2. It also gives the musical background that was going on in the classical music world through the first couple of decades of his work (primarily serialism and aleatoric music). If you're not familiar with those kinds of music, that part will go over your head, but it's only small part of the whole.
3. The various people that Reich talks to see so many different things in the music, it can make you want to go back and listen to the pieces again. For me, this was especially true with the Brian Eno chapter talking about some of the early work on tape loops. ("Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain.") I've never really liked them before, and to be honest I still don't, but I can understand better what they're all about.
4. The book can lead you to other music (not Reich's), or get you to see connections that you never considered. For me, the biggest surprise was probably Sondheim saying that his whole career consists of ripping off Reich. Obviously an exaggeration, but he clearly feels a connection between their work that I wouldn't have seen. Another is the influence of Coltrane, Radiohead, and other musicians outside of the classical world (also, of course, Stravinsky, Bach, and Perotin).
It's largely non-technical, so you don't have to be a musician to get a lot out of it. There's a couple of places he talks about changing meters frequently (in "Tehillim"), and there's the occasional mention of major and minor keys, but they're mostly in passing.
The book does a few things well, I think:
1. It gives the background that went into a lot of the pieces (for example, "Different Trains" started because the Kronos Quartet wanted him to write something for them, but he didn't want to write a string quartet).
2. It also gives the musical background that was going on in the classical music world through the first couple of decades of his work (primarily serialism and aleatoric music). If you're not familiar with those kinds of music, that part will go over your head, but it's only small part of the whole.
3. The various people that Reich talks to see so many different things in the music, it can make you want to go back and listen to the pieces again. For me, this was especially true with the Brian Eno chapter talking about some of the early work on tape loops. ("Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain.") I've never really liked them before, and to be honest I still don't, but I can understand better what they're all about.
4. The book can lead you to other music (not Reich's), or get you to see connections that you never considered. For me, the biggest surprise was probably Sondheim saying that his whole career consists of ripping off Reich. Obviously an exaggeration, but he clearly feels a connection between their work that I wouldn't have seen. Another is the influence of Coltrane, Radiohead, and other musicians outside of the classical world (also, of course, Stravinsky, Bach, and Perotin).
January 11, 2022
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this memoir, and a guide to contemporary classical music.
Steve Reich, an American composer with a list of accolades longer than some of his compositions has created in his book Conversations both a memoir of his life, but a book addressing and highlighting many of his influences over the years. Drawing on conversations recorded during the start of the COVID- 19 pandemic with previous collaborators, fellow composers and musicians who have spent their professional career pushing the envelope, Mr. Reich shares influences, opportunities, and his own creative decisions.
These conversations focus mostly on Mr. Reich, and one gets the sense that it is a live well lived. Mr. Reich through hard work and determination, plus skill, has been able to record and produce fresh music, important music. And his influence on many, such as the producer, musician Brian Eno, whose eyes were opened to the possibilities of sound by an early album of Mr. Reich's. In addition there are many other composers discussed, so keep a pen and paper as the reader will be making notes for some fascination playlists in the future.
My only complaint is while there is brief biographical sketches for those engaged in conversation, a small glossary would have been nice, since some of the musical terms went over my head. This is a minor complaint, you don't have to be a music major to enjoy or understand this book. Eavesdropping, as it were, on their conversations the reader gains an appreciations for modern works, even the works that seem so simple, take a lot of time, planning and skill to create. A very interesting book, with a lot of new music to follow up on.
Steve Reich, an American composer with a list of accolades longer than some of his compositions has created in his book Conversations both a memoir of his life, but a book addressing and highlighting many of his influences over the years. Drawing on conversations recorded during the start of the COVID- 19 pandemic with previous collaborators, fellow composers and musicians who have spent their professional career pushing the envelope, Mr. Reich shares influences, opportunities, and his own creative decisions.
These conversations focus mostly on Mr. Reich, and one gets the sense that it is a live well lived. Mr. Reich through hard work and determination, plus skill, has been able to record and produce fresh music, important music. And his influence on many, such as the producer, musician Brian Eno, whose eyes were opened to the possibilities of sound by an early album of Mr. Reich's. In addition there are many other composers discussed, so keep a pen and paper as the reader will be making notes for some fascination playlists in the future.
My only complaint is while there is brief biographical sketches for those engaged in conversation, a small glossary would have been nice, since some of the musical terms went over my head. This is a minor complaint, you don't have to be a music major to enjoy or understand this book. Eavesdropping, as it were, on their conversations the reader gains an appreciations for modern works, even the works that seem so simple, take a lot of time, planning and skill to create. A very interesting book, with a lot of new music to follow up on.
January 8, 2024
I most loved the chapters with other composers. It felt like they really got into some good stuff. Brian Eno, David Lang, Jonny Greenwood, Nico Muhly... all legends themselves and all good conversationalists, as it turns out. The chapters with the conductors/instrumentalists were interesting as well but felt like they applied more to the classical performance world and a little less generally.
I think it was Eno maybe that brought up Steve Reich's music changing the way he listened. He said it was music that forced the listener into a more active role, and thereby becoming part of the compositional act. This obviously sounds cool in theory but I also experienced this firsthand via those early Reich works. I remember paying attention to those loops phasing and hearing brand new melodies/sounds that made me question whether I was hallucinating them, whether some overdubs had been added, or if indeed they appeared simply because the two tracks had shifted to align in a special way. Glad to hear Eno (or whoever) had the same experience.
Also pretty interesting Nico Muhly calls Reich a "secret" Sacred Music composer, a label Reich seems to accept. I didn't realize quite how religious Reich's work is on the whole. Reich mentions that most of the great living composers are sacred music composers, which is pretty amazing statement and I think quite true.
I think it was Eno maybe that brought up Steve Reich's music changing the way he listened. He said it was music that forced the listener into a more active role, and thereby becoming part of the compositional act. This obviously sounds cool in theory but I also experienced this firsthand via those early Reich works. I remember paying attention to those loops phasing and hearing brand new melodies/sounds that made me question whether I was hallucinating them, whether some overdubs had been added, or if indeed they appeared simply because the two tracks had shifted to align in a special way. Glad to hear Eno (or whoever) had the same experience.
Also pretty interesting Nico Muhly calls Reich a "secret" Sacred Music composer, a label Reich seems to accept. I didn't realize quite how religious Reich's work is on the whole. Reich mentions that most of the great living composers are sacred music composers, which is pretty amazing statement and I think quite true.
November 6, 2025
As a longtime fan of Steve Reich, this book was a fun way to get more insight into his music throughout his career. It consists of conversations with collaborators and other artistic friends, arranged roughly in chronological order of the music being discussed. Listening along to the various pieces makes for a good companion piece to the book. I also recognized a lot of the names of the people featured in the book, and it was interesting to hear their perspectives on Reich's music as well as their own work.
For the most part the reading was light and engaging, although it occasionally got pretty in the weeds with music jargon and theory that was beyond my grasp. For people without a familiarity and appreciation for Reich's work there's probably not that much here for you, but for Reich fans this is a worthwhile read.
For the most part the reading was light and engaging, although it occasionally got pretty in the weeds with music jargon and theory that was beyond my grasp. For people without a familiarity and appreciation for Reich's work there's probably not that much here for you, but for Reich fans this is a worthwhile read.
January 8, 2023
I’ve been a fan of Steve Reich for a long time, first learning about him in the early 2000s, so finding out how he a had a boom where he talks shop with a bunch of musicians seemed like a slam dunk for my interests. In general, the conversations Mr. Reich has with people are very engrossing and full of geeky musical content. Some of the conversations are about works I’m not super familiar with so I wasn’t as engaged with them, but for super Reich fans this will just be gold for them. I wish there was a multimedia version of the book with samples of the works as they’re being talked about — a book talking about music with no accompaniment feels a bit lacking.
November 6, 2024
Over the past half-century or so, Steve Reich has created some of the most moving and innovative music, incorporating human voices and stories and many phenomenal conceptual innovations. I can't believe I've listened to Reich's work for decades without knowing how to pronounce his name correctly. Music for 18 Musicians, Different Trains, WTC 9/11, Drumming, and his other works are often heard here in my room. Reich's modest conversations with his many collaborators over the years are enlightening and will delight anyone interested in getting under the hood musically.
January 15, 2022
Composer Steve Reich, pioneer of the 1960s minimalist movement and a legend in the world of contemporary classical music, sat down with fellow composers, colleagues, and musicians to reflect on his career and how his work had impact on theirs. I found these conversations absolutely captivating — to the point that, while reading the book, I was compelled to listen to each piece of Reich’s beautifully mesmerizing music as it was being discussed.
January 23, 2023
Great collection of interviews highlighting the master composers collaborative endeavors while also dealing a bit into his writing process and utilization of inspiration. Gently rides the fine line between the guest interviewers over praising him and the celebration of a truly extraordinary composer.
March 22, 2022
This has a niche audience, and those that pick it up will likely enjoy it. It's tough to go wrong with this subject matter and format, especially for musicians. Recommended.
Thanks very much for the free review copy!!
Thanks very much for the free review copy!!
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March 1, 2022Individual Composer & Musician, Classical Music, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Composers & Musicians Biographies & Autobiographies
May 24, 2022
Gonna re-read this a lot, amazing conversations with amazing people.
Re-discovered a lot of Steve Reich’s music with this book.
Re-discovered a lot of Steve Reich’s music with this book.
June 7, 2022
I probably would have enjoyed this more if I knew more about Reich's work. On the positive side, since listening to these interviews, I am now seeking out Reich's work!
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August 16, 2022audiobook
January 31, 2023
An interesting smattering of conversations with previous collaborators, friends and such. Definitely gives some new insight into Reich’s process.
April 20, 2023
Breezy, casual, but informative, gave me some good listening homework; felt like being in ethnomusicology class again in 2016
June 26, 2023
“…interesting, biographical shoptalk…”
- Steve Reich
- Steve Reich
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August 1, 2024Now available in Trade Paperback!
Individual Composer & Musician, Classical Music, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Composers & Musicians Biographies & Autobiographies
Individual Composer & Musician, Classical Music, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Composers & Musicians Biographies & Autobiographies
August 9, 2022
Before reading this I thought Steve Reich was an experimental NY drummer from the 60s. I got the NY part right. I downloaded Steve Reich: Works and listened to certain pieces as they came up and really enjoyed it. Was cool reading what all went into composing something like that and even though I understood hardly any of the music theory parts of the book it was fun learning what I could from it. I think my favorite takeaway from the book was learning about Bartok.
September 24, 2023
In his book Writings on Music, 1965-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2002) American composer Steve Reich demonstrated a rare ability to explain his musical thinking in a clear and unassuming way. For this book he took inspiration from one of his favorite music books: Stravinsky in Conversation with Robert Craft (Penguin Books, 1962). Stravinsky made observations about his life and the artists he knew, prompted by Craft’s brief questions. Reich has no one like Robert Craft in his life, so he chose to have conversations with a wide variety of associates: composers, musicians, conductors, a sculptor, a choreographer, a video artist and a record company president all spoke with him. Most of the conversations were held via Zoom during the pandemic of 2020 and early 2021. As Reich notes in his Preface, the conversations generally focused on one or more compositions that the other artist either performed or had an interest in. And the order of the conversations is roughly chronological following the composition dates of the pieces discussed, producing a kind of survey of Reich’s entire body of work.
The first conversation is with composer David Lang. Lang was influenced by several early Reich compositions, notably, It’s Gonna Rain and Drumming, and they talk about Reich’s early influences (including Luciano Berio, John Coltrane, African and Balinese music and Terry Riley). Because they both have a background in formal composition studies they talk about that as well. Brian Eno talks about the impact of It’s Gonna Rain. In the then-new era of multitrack recording, there was a tendency to fill up all available audio space. But Reich’s tape-loop piece made a substantial amount of music out of minimal source materials and also presented a way of allowing sonic events to flow freely rather than be fixed as they were in the classical tradition.
The remaining conversations all give similar insight into Reich's work. If there is a weakness, it is the fact that the reader will have to be a Reich superfan to appreciate the whole book. I am a huge fan of much of Reich's music, but found myself a bit lost in some of the later chapters due to lack of familiarity with the music under discussion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy
The first conversation is with composer David Lang. Lang was influenced by several early Reich compositions, notably, It’s Gonna Rain and Drumming, and they talk about Reich’s early influences (including Luciano Berio, John Coltrane, African and Balinese music and Terry Riley). Because they both have a background in formal composition studies they talk about that as well. Brian Eno talks about the impact of It’s Gonna Rain. In the then-new era of multitrack recording, there was a tendency to fill up all available audio space. But Reich’s tape-loop piece made a substantial amount of music out of minimal source materials and also presented a way of allowing sonic events to flow freely rather than be fixed as they were in the classical tradition.
The remaining conversations all give similar insight into Reich's work. If there is a weakness, it is the fact that the reader will have to be a Reich superfan to appreciate the whole book. I am a huge fan of much of Reich's music, but found myself a bit lost in some of the later chapters due to lack of familiarity with the music under discussion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy
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