Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Another legendary entry in the ECM New Series catalogue, one of the most celebrated pieces of Post-Modern Classical music, Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians.

Fewer pieces of classical music reach our societies' cultural subconscious than one may think. During the last century, we can mention Stravinsky's Rite of Spring - probably because it was featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia, to be honest - Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Ravel's Bolero, Carmina Burana and maybe this one, Steve Reich's most famous composition. Ok, I have to say it's probably less popular than the aformentioned pieces, and much more people may recognize, say, Ravel's Bolero than Music for 18 Musicians. But still, whoever have heard of minimalism in music will probably think of this particular piece of music, even subconsciously. That or “Tubular Bell”, I don’t know.

Anyway, all that wouldn’t matter to me - and to many musicians who have been inspired by Reich in one way or another - if it wasn’t also one of the most outstanding tour de force in modern music, that is to make so-called “repetitive” music feels like one of the less linear contemporary musical experience there can be.

Won’t add anything to the thousands of pages written about Reich and this piece in particular. One of the records that f**ked my teenage brain up. I wasn’t ready for it when I stumbled across it, and I’m still blown away anytime I think about playing this one out loud. (VG+/VG+)