New York Counterpoint Eight Lines/Four Organs

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Steve Reich's take on what's popularly been called minimalism has been to illuminate the nature of musical phrases played in staccato fashion on various instruments and then variously "phase shift" their lines into new, contrapuntal relationships. This music can either delight or annoy, and Reich has done both in his time. Fortunately, on this disc the music itself is neither too complex to play nor too difficult to follow, and it could stand as an excellent primer for Reich's early minimalism. What genuinely triumphs on this disc is Octet (of 1979/80). It's an athletic work that brings various instruments into and out of play in carefully cadenced rhythmic patterns that are typical of Reich's very best writing. For Reich fans, though, there might not be anything new here; newbies, however, should be quite taken. --Paul Cook

New York Counterpoint Eight Lines/Four Organs, Music, Evan Ziporyn, Steve Reich, Bang On A Can, Chamber, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Mixed Chamber Ensemble with Keyboard, Music for Chamber Orchestra, Music for Tape/Electronics and Live Performer(s), Orchestral & Symphonic

Average customer rating:

This is not bad...

Some interesting works. Some uninteresting.

RepeticiónýRepeticiónýRepeticiónýetcý

New York School, the second generation...

New York Counterpoint Eight Lines/Four Organs

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Reich, Steve | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Reich: Triple Quartet, Music for a Large Ensemble, Electric Guitar Phase

Reich: Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint / Kronos Quartet, Pat Metheny

Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

Sextet/Six Marimbas

Tehillim

ASIN: B00004SUVK
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Tracks:

New York Counterpoint: Fast
New York Counterpoint: Slow
New York Counterpoint: Fast
Eight Lines (Octet)
Four Organs

Amazon.com

Steve Reich's take on what's popularly been called minimalism has been to illuminate the nature of musical phrases played in staccato fashion on various instruments and then variously "phase shift" their lines into new, contrapuntal relationships. This music can either delight or annoy, and Reich has done both in his time. Fortunately, on this disc the music itself is neither too complex to play nor too difficult to follow, and it could stand as an excellent primer for Reich's early minimalism. What genuinely triumphs on this disc is Octet (of 1979/80). It's an athletic work that brings various instruments into and out of play in carefully cadenced rhythmic patterns that are typical of Reich's very best writing. For Reich fans, though, there might not be anything new here; newbies, however, should be quite taken. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

This is not bad..........2002-06-21

This is, in my opinion not so good as Reich classic "Music for 18 mussicians" (I recommend Nonsuch version of that one because it is longer, more filled, has better sound than the others and sound IS importent for "cold" minimalist works I think).

Even if it not so good as "Music for 18 musicians" it is very good but I cant give THIS a five because composers/jazz musicians/rock band sometimes do masterpieces and sometimes not and this is, comparing to "Music for 18 musicians" not in the same class but it has a lot.

"New York counterpoint" reminds a BIT of piece mentioned above, "Eight lines" is a good one and "Four organs" could be annoying OR fun, depending on your mood.

This is something for both newies AND old Rech fans here but if you are completly new... start with "Music for 18 musicians" then go to "Triple Quartet" and THEN to this is my advice.

Dont let other bad reviews scare you about this. IT IS GOOD but it is a bit short (ca 45 minutes). Anyway it is intresting, fun and has a clear sound and it is very well performed.

Some interesting works. Some uninteresting........2001-11-15

In my opinion, minimalist music definitely has its hits and misses. However, Steve Reich tends to weave far more aurally interesting patterns into his music than, say, Phillip Glass. On this CD is what I consider to be one of Reich's successes; the New York Counterpoint. This work for recorded clarinet soloist is able to hold its own as an interesting piece of music. It is in some ways reminiscent of Reich's `Music for 18 Instruments,' as there are droning pulses that appear periodically and contrapuntal repetitions. The movements each have a distinct character. The first is mysterious, the second contemplative and the third silly and carefree. The third movement also incorporates jazzish rhythms into the mix. This piece is a really excellent example of using minimal means to maximum effect.
The other pieces are less interesting. The `Octet' often drags and `Four Organs' definitely does, although it has a certain hypnotic quality that the Octet lacks. Four Organs is one of those pieces that created audience uproar when it was played in New York, so it's always interesting to hear what people fussed about. Overall, `Four Organs' is the earliest and most experimental piece. By contrast it is pretty rugged; the Hammond organs create a wall of homogenous sound that really starts to grate on you unless you stop waiting for it to change. The Octet, I think straddles the line between `New York....' and `Four Organs' both chronologically and in terms of the duration of repetitions. In `New York...' things change just when they become uninteresting. In `Four Organs' things don't change and you just need to adapt yourself to what is going on. `Octet' yields a little; it is not as mechanistic as `Four Organs,' but still leaves you getting bored with the events before they change. New York Counterpoint is worth it, and 'Four Organs' is historically interesting. Perhaps the octet is interesting filler.

RepeticiónýRepeticiónýRepeticiónýetcý.......2000-08-17

La verdad es que la música de Steve Reich, es de lo más aburrida y poco creativa que uno se pueda imaginar. Al margen de alguna que otra idea bien realizada, el resto del disco es decepcionante.

Un disco para obviar.

New York School, the second generation..........2000-05-21

A composer unique in his own systematic musical processes, Steve Reich's approach to music making is one of sonic exploration, tangled complexity, and formulas laden with rhythmic intensity. Frequently based on tonal canonic motives, his harmonies phase seamlessly together to create a mesmerizing musical environment. Presented chronologically in reverse order of time composed, this recording presents three seminal works by Reich that demonstrate his unyielding evolution from minimalist to modernist. Reminiscent of the classic "Music for 18 Musicians" from the mid-seventies, "New York Counterpoint," displays Reich's pulsing sonorities, convincingly interpreted by clarinetist Evan Ziporyn. The intricate "Eight Lines," revised in 1983, blends calm, elongated string lines against a backdrop of coloristic woodwinds in contrapuntal fury. "Four Organs", composed in 1970, shows a compositional structure in the form of uncompromising minimalism. The music is absolutely static, played flawlessly by maracas and four Farfisa organs. In Reich's own words, "The tones would simply begin in unison..., and then gradually extend out like a sort of horizontal bar graph in time."

Tracks:

Come Out
Piano Phase
It's Gonna Rain, Part I
It's Gonna Rain, Part II
Four Organs

Tracks:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Tracks:

Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices And Organ
Clapping Music
Six Marimbas

Tracks:

Music For 18 Musicians: Pulses
Music For 18 Musicians: Section I
Music For 18 Musicians: Section II
Music For 18 Musicians: Section IIIA
Music For 18 Musicians: Section IIIB
Music For 18 Musicians: Section IV
Music For 18 Musicians: Section V
Music For 18 Musicians: Sectionn VI
Music For 18 Musicians: Section VII
Music For 18 Musicians: Section VIII
Music For 18 Musicians: Section IX
Music For 18 Musicians: Section X
Music For 18 Musicians: Section XI
Music For 18 Musicians: Pulses

Tracks:

Eight Lines
Tehillim: Part 1: Fast
Tehillim: Part 2: Fast
Tehillim: Part 3: Slow
Tehillim: Part 4: Fast

Tracks:

The Desert Music: First Movement
The Desert Music: Second Movement
The Desert Music: Third Movement, Part One
The Desert Music: Third Movement, Part Two
The Desert Music: Third Movement, Part Three
The Desert Music: Fourth Movement
The Desert Music: Fifth Movement

Tracks:

Works: New York Counterpoinnt: Fast
Works: New York Counterpoint: Slow
Works: New York Counterpoint: Fast
Works: Sextet: 1st Movement
Works: Sextet: 2nd Movement
Works: Sextet: 3rd Movement
Works: Sextet: 4th Movement
Works: Sextet: 5th Movement
Works: I. Strings
Works: II. Percussion
Works: III. Winds And Brass
Works: IV. Full Orchestra

Tracks:

Works: Different Trains - America - Before The War
Works: Different Trains - Europe - During The War
Works: Different Trains - After The War
Works: Electric Counterpoint - Fast
Works: Electric Counterpoint - Slow
Works: Electric Counterpoint - Fast
Works: Movement I
Works: Movement II
Works: Movement III

Tracks:

The Cave: Typing Music
The Cave: Who Is Abraham?
The Cave: Who Is Ishmael?
The Cave: Genesis XVIII
The Cave: Genesis XXI
The Cave: The Casting Out Of Ishmael And Hager
The Cave: Machpelah
The Cave: Genesis XXV
The Cave: Interior Of The Cave
The Cave: Surah 3
The Cave: El Khalil Commentary
The Cave: Who Is Abraham?W
The Cave: Who Is Sarah?
The Cave: Who Is Hagar?
The Cave: Who Is Ishmael?
The Cave: The Binding Of Isaac
The Cave: The Cave Of Machpelah

Tracks:

Proverb
Nagoya Marimbas
City Life: 'Check It Out'
City Life: Pile Driver - alarms
City Life: 'It's Been A Honeymoon - Can't Take No Mo'
City Life: Heartbeats - Boats & Buoys
City Life: 'Heavy Smoke'

Amazon.com essential recording

In the afterglow of his 60th birthday in 1997, Nonesuch Records delivered Steve Reich and his listeners an immense gift, this 10-CD retrospective of his work for the label, extending from his earliest tape-manipulation pieces to his most recent compositions utilizing samplers and the video artistry of Beryl Korot. Aside from the ear's liquid sense-making when it hears the dense and limber marimbas of Reich's Six Marimbas or his taut, dizzying Piano Phase, there is a physical response almost inevitable in Reich's music. It stuns and holds you. And he knows it. It's Gonna Rain struck an early chord of inventiveness, featuring an African American Pentecostal preacher's sermon and eventually spinning the title phrase into a jangling repetition of single words. Percussion works abound here: Clapping and Drumming stun with their deceptive similarity and warm clarity. Perennial favorite Piano Phase features pianists Nurit Tilles and Eduard Neumann synched up on two pianos and careening at full tilt in unison before their four hands fall out of time and phrase with each other, only to realign in a powerful swooping demonstration of energy and focus. The latter CDs hold abundant delights, many revealing Reich's late-discovered spiritualism and Judaica: Different Trains' examination of the Holocaust; Tehillim's shimmering Hebrew texts sung with fascinating choral power; Proverb's invocation of Perotin. Closing the set are recent pieces: Nagoya Marimbas, and the sampler-rich City Life and The Cave. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Classic, but not the definitive..........2004-05-20

While a multi CD collection spanning 30 years does sound very promsing, Nonesuch cannot offer all of the best recordings of some of Reich's masterpieces (Music for 18 Musicians or Drumming), and some have been missed out completely (Music for a Large Ensemble), presumably because the piece was not recorded under the Nonesuch label. While the collection is formidable, a listener wanting to hear the best recordings of all the pieces might do better seeking out the older (or longer!) recordings of the pieces.

Essential.......1999-02-24

The term "essential" gets thrown about too much. And heck, the claim that certain words get thrown about too much gets thrown about too much. But here is a collection that really *is* essential to understanding the nature of a whole shift not just in classical music, but in popular music and indeed in popular culture. So many of Reich's ideas and concepts have become so deeply embedded in current classical music, film scoring (any number of examples, but think about Tangerine Dream's score for "Risky Business" and Hans Zimmer's score for "Thin Red Line," for starters), electronic music and even the visual arts.

This box set gives the listener all of Reich's major works. I can't even attempt to describe them individually, but every one of these 10 CDs is compelling. For the totally uninitiated, take out "Music for 18 Musicians" (presented here in a crystalline new recording) to get an idea of what the core of this guy is all about. From there, you might want to listen to "Different Trains," "Electric Counterpoint" and "Six Marimbas" to get an idea of the pointillistic pulse minimalism that Reich contributed to the world. The earlier material is the more challenging, exploring the subtleties of rythym, phase relationships between sounds and shifting timings. Among these, the new recording of "Four Organs" is just outstanding.

Reich's works, along with the early works of Terry Riley and Philip Glass, form the foundation of an enormous edifice that has grown of music that attempts to return to its essential and hypnotic roots. With this box set, one of those pylons becomes clear.

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