Two Lines

Joseph Agnew, P Form
"The subtleties of the dialog, the musical "conversation" in all its phases from contemplative listening to fast-paced repartee offer much to discover for both the sophisticated ear and the ear less well tuned. Braxton and Rosenboom demonstrate that it is possible to make both serious experimental and immensely pleasurable music."

Product Description:
Two legendary composer/performers join forces on this recording to unite composition with improvisation, "new music" with "new jazz." Starting from Rosenboom's notated score for Two Lines and his musical computer program, these musicians have achieved, to paraphrase Rosenboom, a composition that is immediately heard. Duets with interactive HMSL software. Includes Rosenboom's Two Lines, plus compositions in collaboration with Braxton: Lineage, Enactment, Transfiguration and Transference.

Tracks:

Quotation Of Dream: Day Signal
Quotation Of Dream
Quotation Of Dream: How Slow The Wind
Quotation Of Dream: Twill By Twilight
Quotation Of Dream: Archipelago S.
Quotation Of Dream: Dream-Window
Quotation Of Dream: Night Signal

Amazon.com

Sometimes, even while you are listening, it can be very difficult to understand how Takemitsu created such exquisitely beautiful music using so much dissonance. As the brief Day Signal opens the disc, for example, you're more likely to think of the glory of sunrise than of the discords. And Quotation of Dream, which quotes freely from Debussy's La Mer, is nearly as beautiful as its source. Rather than waste time figuring out how Takemitsu's spacing of notes and imaginative scoring influences our perceptions, it's much more rewarding just to relax and let the music wash over you. Knussen, who leads amazing performances here, has programmed the disc for a continuous listening experience, although the novice should probably listen only to a couple of pieces at one sitting. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

More of the bland stagnance of Takemitsu's later symphonic work.......2007-06-03

It's inexplicable that so little of Takemitsu's extraordinary film music has been released in affordable editions outside Japan, while compilations of his boring, overtly derivative late orchestral output have enjoyed inclusion on releases by the likes of DG. Then again, DG hasn't had a good string of releases since the late '70s, so I don't expect too much from that fallen giant.

"Quotation of Dream" is easily one of Takemitsu's worst compositions and an absolute waste of time: a meandering exercise that tediously quotes Debussy's "La Mer" and recycles portions of Takemitsu's own "Dream/Window." Technically, this piece is as expertly constructed as all of Takemitsu's work, but that doesn't make it any less counterfeit of its' source material, or any less embarrassing for it. Why should I listen to this tiresome pablum when the compositions it borrows from are readily available?

"How Slow the Wind," "Twill by Twilight" and "Archipelago S." are typical examples of Takemitsu's late orchestral works: they assume a lovely sound and were composed with ingenious design, but that doesn't make them even remotely interesting or memorable.

There are a few works on this disc that are worth hearing. The aforementioned "Dream/Window" is a brilliant, beautiful twelve-tone composition that's infused with the drifting, dreamlike sonority common of his works - an aesthetic which is almost anathema to the rigorous character of most serialist compositions.
Also notable are "Day Signal" and "Night Signal," a pair of dissonant, evocative fanfares that bookend the album's content. These brass-voiced compositions seem almost facile to the ear at first listen, but repeated plays distinguish the cleverness of these little pieces as antiphonal movements.

None of the negative comments of this review should obscure the fact that Takemitsu was a truly gifted and intuitive composer. But it's inexplicable that so much of his best (and in many cases, most accessible) works of film, piano, chamber and electronic/tape music remain either out of print (often since being released on LP) or entirely unavailable for domestic consumption of his North American and European listeners when the least of his orchestral oeuvre is readily on hand.

There's nothing that I can say against these performances by Knussen conducting the LS. They're excellent, informed executions of mostly mediocre compositions. However, I'd much rather hear Knussen performing the best of his own small (but distinguished) oeuvre!

The production is decent: as transparent and pristine as most of the best digital recordings. These compositions don't demand any venture into extreme registers, but the soft passages are capably, audibly reproduced without any loss of their inherent subtlety.

Really enjoying this one.......2006-04-29

I have only recently begun listening to Takemitsu. Was introduced at a guitar recital. I have been slowly accumulating more of his compositions. For me, this is possibly the best.

Composition intrigues me perhaps more than any other aspect of music, and this fellow was clearly inspired. I would liken his music to that of Alan Hovhaness, but without some of the more brash moments of that composer. I can also hear the influence of Debussy, but Takemitsu takes the listener in many enjoyable directions throughout this CD.

The playing and recording are also top-notch.

A fine collection of late works and an ideal introduction.......2004-12-11

QUOTATION OF DREAM is the first of Deutsche Grammophon's several collections of pieces by late Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who thankfully has been getting ever-more attention since his untimely death in 1996. Takemitsu was a mainly self-taught composer, and because of this there seems to be little that connects him to his serialism- or minimalism-inspired colleagues. Nevertheless, Takemitsu's own path is fascinating, exploring Japanese and Western compositional principles in isolation and in combination and striving to transcend them both. These pieces, several of them related by shared thematic materials. are lovingly performed by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen, who was a friend and admirer of Takemitsu.

The disc is framed by two antiphonal fanfares written in 1987, "Day Signal" and "Night Signal", together called "Signals from Heaven". They are closely related, both using dissonance to suggest the changing of the skies, but with one inverted from the other to suggest an opposite tone.

A quip of Takemitsu was "I am self-taught, but I consider Debussy my teacher." The first major work here, "Quotation of Dream - Say sea, take me!" (1991), is a tribute to Debussy using quotations from his "La Mer" as if the composer was trying to recreate the piece he had just woken up from dreaming. The title also refers to its use of some material from "Dream/Window", an earlier composition present on this disc. "Quotation of Dream" is a lovely tribute to the composer's greatest inspiration, but the majority of the work comes only from Takemitsu. His use of a zig-zag of harmony, of orchestral colour that comes forth and recedes like waves is nothing you have ever heard before in orchestral music.

"How Slow the Wind" (1991), inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson, is rather more brooding. It's most interesting moments occur toward the end, when cascading woodwind sounds and the faintly mechanical notes of two Swiss cowbells transform the work into something different. This is one of Takemitsu's most impressive works,

"Twill by Twillight (in memory of Morton Feldman)" (1988) is an experiment with a musical "tapestry", where a theme "weaves" through the piece. The piece is pretty music, but does little to make itself memorable and for me remains the low point of this collection.

The title of "Archipelago S." for twenty-one players (1993) refers to the landscapes of Seattle, Stockholm, and the islands of the Sato Inland Sea . The piece has an innovative stage layout, with the players grouped into five "islands": a five-person brass group, two mixed seven-piece groups, a clarinet sitting to the right, and a clarinet sitting to the left. The effect is indeed somewhat nautical and this recording exploits the space well.

"Dream/Window" (1985) is probably the most important composition on this disc. Every note of this piece is of the greatest delicacy, and the work as a whole is so crystalline and fragile that one feels one will break it just by listening to it. Though Takemitsu's later works are impressive, they have never seemed to me to acheive the perfection of "Dream/Window". What is surprising is that this work is true twelve-tone music, yet with Takemitsu's skill it does not sound dull or scientific.

If you ever think that modern-classical music is written only by dispassionate ivory-tower robots like Pierre Boulez, the works of Takemitsu will show you that contemporary techniques can, under the right hands, touch the emotions as much as the intellect. While it takes some time to get used to (nearly six months for me), this is probably the single best introduction to the music of Toru Takemitsu. And one should certainly listen to this before getting the other DG "20/21" discs, which are rather more specialised (with, for example, one having traditional Japanese pieces and the other flute and guitar works).

Another world.......2003-10-18

Toru Takemitsu was one of the late 20th century's most individual composers whose scores use primarily the traditional instruments of western classical music. Perhaps in part because he wrote film scores in addition to concert pieces, his art is highly communicative and un-academic. It has the double merit of being about as far as you can get both from gnarly, dissonant modernism and from pretty-pretty New Age ear candy.

Quotation of Dream includes seven pieces from the last decade of Takemitsu's life (he died in 1996), including the premiere recording of the title piece. The disc begins and ends with fanfares that, while perhaps effective as aural bookends, are to my ears undistinguished. The music that lies in between, however, is extraordinarily compelling.

Takemitsu's style in these works is generally meditative, with frequent slow, quiet passages, strings predominating. But there are dramatic incidents and color as well: flaring brass, rising like a mountainous island from a tropical sea; raindrops of chimes; drawn-out woodwind lines weaving sinuously through swirls of massed violins. The music sometimes pivots around silent pauses, like the empty spaces in Zen painting. In Quotation of Dream, twin pianos (played by Paul Crossley and Peter Serkin, respectively) dominate the foreground with gentle cascades of notes while orchestral clouds form in the background.

The musical language is often reminiscent of Debussy and Ravel; in mood (though not in technique) it can resemble the slowest and most mysterious moments in music of the second Viennese school (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern et al.). The subtlety and elusiveness probably owe something to the composer's Japanese heritage. But this is no cut-and-paste job; the overall impression is startlingly original.

I have not read the liner notes, and have no idea of what Takemitsu is trying to "say," or what these scores "mean." I would also suggest that those considerations are pretty irrelevant: the important thing is the sound world that he has created, which is both other-worldly and bracing.

Oliver Knussen, a contemporary British composer and a friend of Takemitsu, conducted the London Sinfonietta in these recordings. It is apparent that that he helped the players, who sound expert, get "inside" the music.

Anyone who already knows and appreciates Takemitsu's sensibility need not hesitate to acquire this disc. It can also be recommended for all but the most determinedly "mostly Mozart" classical devotees.

The presentation is not ideal. Deutsche Grammophon has never excelled at digital recordings, and the sound of this disc, while detailed and transparent, is a bit bright and clinical. The disc is contained in one of those cardboard containers that some labels are now trying to get you to accept in lieu of the standard jewel case because it's cheaper to produce (but not cheaper for you to buy). The atmospheric sepia-toned photo on the cover has a fat round sticker on it that shouts "World Premiere Recording"; if you try to peel off the sticker, it leaves ineradicable shreds. The plastic tray with the central claw ring is glued to the cardboard. Take care not to break the plastic, because there is no way you can replace it.

Takemitsu draws you into his dream world.......2002-04-07

These pieces from Takemitsu's maturity represent the pinnacle of achievement for this gifted composer. Without regard to trends and fashion in contemporary music has has created his own sound universe. A peaceful, yet oddly non-somnolent, serenity informs virtually every bar of these wonderful pieces. The music is beautiful, lush and imaginative at every turn and despite strong ties to the French impressionists it is creative and unique and infused with Takemitsu's personal stamp and his nature-mystical aesthetic. The sound and the performances are first rate and Oliver Knussen must be congratulated on doing such a fine job in bringing these excellent pieces to life. If you love Takemitsu, you will love this CD. If you are new to Takemitsu, this is a wonderful introduction to one of the 20th century's finest composers.
Recommended without reservation.

Steve Reich: Octet; Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase

Average customer rating:

Some of Reich's best works
Classic Reich...
...and they told Mozart he used too many notes!
Reich's Peak Period
Minimilism at its best

Steve Reich: Octet; Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
Drumming
Reich: Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint / Kronos Quartet, Pat Metheny
Sextet/Six Marimbas
Terry Riley: In C

ASIN: B0000261I7
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Tracks:

Music for a Large Ensemble
Violin Phase
Octet

Customer Reviews:

Some of Reich's best works.......2005-07-30

Octet and Music for a Large Ensemble are two of my favorite Steve reich works. Octet has lots of low winds and piano, giving it a lot of charm and textural warmth. Music for a Large Ensemble has more of an urgent feel, more of a piercing texture at times, and is also a beautiful piece (one of his best, I think). If you like Reich's earlier style, along the lines of Music for Eighteen Musicians, you will probably like these - Violin Phase is more of a novelty to me, as I am more drawn to Steve's pieces that have more harmonic motion (like the other two I just mentioned). If you've never heard Steve Reich, this disk would be a fine start, offering great recordings of two complex, somewhat epic pieces, and a sample of his earliest style (phasing by manipulating tape speeds)

Classic Reich..........2004-05-20

Different Trains? Nah, this is the groundbreaking work that has given Reich such a cutting edge in the world of 20th century music. The pure tonal palette that he achieves with the 30 plus ensemble in the self titled is incredible, and the complexity and busyness of the 4 part phase shifting of Violin Phase is not to be missed. Octet was a step forward showing his growing interest in complex melodies, and was certainly another evolution in his writing style. If you ever want to collect some beautiful music, this would be a good starting point.

...and they told Mozart he used too many notes!.......2002-03-26

Upon starting the journey into this volume of work, keep in mind that there is a lot to listen for and all of it is soothing yet extremely busy. "Music For A Lage Ensemble" is in four sections, each of which is marked by a key change. The interwoven contrapuntal lines never cease until the music suddenly stops. "Violin Phase" is a great multi-faceted phase piece, unlike his 2-part phases of the previous years, and exploits the remarkable talents of Shem Guibbory. However, it is the "Octet" that takes the prize on this collection, or any other for that matter. You are immediately immersed in a cascading waterfall of pianos over a still stream of sustained strings. The virtuosity needed for the pianists to perform this work is astounding. You only need to look at the cover to see that. The cover of this album is the final ten bars of "Octet." The tempo is MM=204. Then try to play it that speed. The pianists Edmund Niemann and Nurit Tilles endure similar patterns continuously for the entire 17:30 of the piece. The piece ends with a web of pianos, flute and piccolo lines over still sustained strings that leaves the listener very satisfied. All of the music on this record makes you feel happy with your life for the time being. Listen and you will know for yourself.

Reich's Peak Period.......2002-01-18

There are 3 tracks on this CD. Forget "Violin Phase" which really is just filler, and from an earlier era in Reich's development. The other two tracks are what you want to hear. "Octet" and "Music for a Large Ensemble" are Steve Reich at his very finest. He had developed his sound, but was still relatively young and hungry for success. You will listen to this music in complete amazement that these are classic acoustic instruments. The trick in making them sound so unique is in brilliant compositions heard here.

Minimilism at its best.......2000-06-14

This cd was the first cd to introduce me to Reich's compositional style. Little did I know how minimalism could be so exciting. The Music for a Large Ensemble uses a great pallete of tone color to pull the listener in. The Violin Phase is one of my favorites. The different harmonic and melodic patterns that are created through the phasing of the instruments is amazing. The only reason I give it four starts is because the versions of the recordings are somewhat short. To really get a feel for the music and to better experience what Reich is trying to do, I would suggest listening to longer recordings. Music for a Large Ensemble is available in much longer versions. Octet and Violin Phase are much harder to find, so I would definitely recommend this cd for those works.

Average customer rating:

Classic, but not the definitive...
Essential

Steve Reich 1965-1995

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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The John Adams Earbox: A 10-CD Retrospective
Two Pages: Contrary Motion - Music in Fifths
Iannis Xenakis: Percussion Works
Music with Changing Parts
Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano

ASIN: B000005J4P
Release Date: 1997-06-03

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.

John Adams: Grand Pianola; Steve Reich: Eight Lines; Vermont Counterpoint
Average customer rating:

Sensational!

John Adams: Grand Pianola; Steve Reich: Eight Lines; Vermont Counterpoint

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Adams | Adams, John | ( A ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Reich, Steve | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Sextet/Six Marimbas

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Drumming

ASIN: B000A9QLC2
Release Date: 2005-08-16

Tracks:

First & Second Movements - Ursula Oppens
Third Movement: On The Dominant Divide
Vermont Counterpoint
Eight Lines

Customer Reviews:

Sensational!.......2007-03-21

More than 20 years ago I was examining this CD at a store in Oxford, England. The owner looked over, his eyes lit up, and he said "Sensational!" with unexpected British passion.

But he was right. It is. Anyone not suffering from severe anal repression will take huge joy in it.

Average customer rating:

Brilliant!
Make him stop!
Busted is a bust

Busted

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Ecossaises | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Minuets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Musettes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Inventions | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Beethoven or Bust
Bachbusters
Time Warp
Switched-On Boxed Set

ASIN: B000003D2U
Release Date: 1997-08-26

Tracks:

Allegro
Eine Kleine Gigue
Allegretto - Trio
Musette
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Menuet
2-Part Invention
2-Part Invention
2-Part Invention
2-Part Invention
3-Part Invention
Fugue
Scherzo: Allegretto Vivace
Fur Elise
Six Ecossaises
Ode To Joy
Ode To Joy
Ode To Ludwig
Dimensions
Birthday Dimensions
Ascent
Don Dorsey
The Festival Of Festivals
The Festival Of Festivals
The Festival Of Festivals
The Festival Of Festivals

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant!.......2003-11-24

I found this CD more satisfying than the previous two. I play it constantly while driving. I have no idea how I came to this CD. Maybe one of my daughters bought it for me. I prefer the renditions of Mozart, Beethoven and Dorsey himself to those of Bach (personal taste, I guess). By the way, I found tracks 20 and 21 on this CD, "Dimensions" and "Birthday Dimensions," the best of the lot. Both were composed by Dorsey. He should do more. I am waiting for his next CD. Dorsey is a gift to our generation, as much as Beethoven was a gift to people of another time.

Make him stop!.......2002-01-09

I can't believe this guy even has a recording contract. He is completely without talent and just plays a bunch of machines that any 15 year old with an IQ of 80 can operate. This music is some kind of bad joke.

Busted is a bust.......2001-01-06

This CD is a big disappointment after hearing BACHBUSTERS and BEETHOVEN OR BUST. It contains duplicates from these previous albums and a lot of other music that isn't especially pleasant to listen to and has no central theme. The Mozart additions are not very exciting and sound a lot like cuts from the previous albums. I had hoped to hear some great Mozart stuff on this disc, but it isn't there.

Average customer rating:

Distance Between Two Lines
Vinny Valentino & Here No Evil
Manufacturer: Par
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop & Post-Bop | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000006LZZ
Release Date: 1992-09-14

Tracks:

Distance Between Two Line
Venice
Don't Blame Me
Blues for a While
Secret Hiding Place
Full Moon over the Mediterranean
Veins
Song Is You
As You Said
When the Feeling Moves You
Lu
Old Folks

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Two Lines
David Rosenboom , and Anthony Braxton
Manufacturer: Lovely Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

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Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000003Y90
Release Date: 1995-12-12

Tracks:

Lineage
Enactment
Two Lines
Transfiguration
Transference

Album Description

Two legendary composer/performers join forces on this recording to unite composition with improvisation, "new music" with "new jazz." Starting from Rosenboom's notated score for Two Lines and his musical computer program, these musicians have achieved, to paraphrase Rosenboom, a composition that is immediately heard. Duets with interactive HMSL software. Includes Rosenboom's Two Lines, plus compositions in collaboration with Braxton: Lineage, Enactment, Transfiguration and Transference.

Average customer rating:

Highly recommended

Music for a Large Ensemble

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

ECM Classical | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

ECM Jazz & World | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000031R0
Release Date: 1994-04-12

Tracks:

Music for a Large Ensemble
Violin Phase
Octet

Amazon.com essential recording

Reich's music is often lumped together in the "minimalist" arena with that of Philip Glass, but the two are really poles apart. Reich's music has always been more heterogeneous than Glass's: more colorful, more obviously structured, and generally far more rapid of movement. This means that Reich's musical forms complete themselves rather quickly, on a more normal time scale. The three works on this disc all represent Reich's unique style at its best, and one of them--the Octet--is surely the most important work for eight instruments since Stravinsky's Octet dating from the first decades of the 20th century. The performances could hardly be bettered, and as an introduction to Reich's earlier music, this disc is clearly essential. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommended.......1999-11-17

This disc contains three near-perfect works of Steve Reich. "Octet" is a particularly beautiful piece.