Steve Reich, who performed at London's Royal Albert Hall earlier this week for the BBC Proms, is the subject of the Guardian's latest Music Weekly podcast. In an extensive audio interview, Reich discusses works from throughout his career, beginning with his latest, WTC 9/11. "This is the first time that the show has featured a contemporary classical composer," says the Guardian, "but Reich's influence on a number of Music Weekly favourites such as Radiohead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Brian Eno, Sufjan Stevens and Battles is huge."
Steve Reich, who performed at London's Royal Albert Hall earlier this week as part of an all-Reich program in celebration of his 75th birthday year for the BBC Proms, is the subject of the Guardian's latest Music Weekly podcast with Alexis Petridis. In an extensive audio interview with the Guardian's Ben Beaumont-Thomas, recorded at the recent Future Everything festival in Manchester, Reich discusses works from throughout his career, beginning with his latest work, WTC 9/11. The piece, commissioned and performed by Kronos Quartet, is featured on his forthcoming Nonesuch album, along with his Mallet Quartet, performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns, featuring members of Steve Reich and Musicians.
"This is the first time that the show has featured a contemporary classical composer," says the Guardian, "but Reich's influence on a number of Music Weekly favourites such as Radiohead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Brian Eno, Sufjan Stevens and Battles is huge."
Read more and listen to the interview, which includes excerpts from WTC 9/11 and other works, at guardian.co.uk.
Also in the Guardian this week, prior to his Proms performance, Steve Reich was the subject of a piece for the paper's In praise of ... series.
"His work using looped taped voices was not only original," says the piece, "but created stunning, fluid sounds which still impress today." The writers go on to explain that "Reich cares about creating sonic beauty through harmony and rhythm," such that, "with John Adams, he created a distinctly American form of postwar music, less alien to untrained ears than some of the output of their European contemporaries."
Read the complete In praise of ... Steve Reich at guardian.co.uk.
You can listen to the BBC Prom performances of Clapping Music, Electric Counterpoint, and Music for 18 Musicians, and featured the composer on percussion and piano, along with guitarist Mats Bergström, Synergy Vocals, and Ensemble Modern, for another few days at bbc.co.uk.
To peruse the Steve Reich Nonesuch catalog and pre-order the forthcoming WTC 9/11 album, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album.
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