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Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians

As Steve Reich turns 90, Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores his groundbreaking minimalist work Music for 18 Musicians, with pieces by Bach, Debussy and Pauline Oliveros along the way.

As Steve Reich celebrates his 90th birthday, Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores his groundbreaking minimalist work Music for 18 Musicians. It was his first for a larger ensemble, and it embodies many of his influences at that time. There's the concept of the organum, which we'll hear in the medieval chant of Pérotin and JS Bach's famous cantata, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. Then there's the long reach of the Indonesian gamelan, with the evocative chimes of Debussy's Pagodes and Ravel's String Quartet. And Sara considers the power of repetition with Henryk Gorecki, Pauline Oliveros, and that most insistent of piano notes - Chopin's Raindrop.

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28 days left to listen

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Sunday 13:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Prelude Op.28 No.15 in D flat

    Performer: Ingrid Fliter.
    • Chopin: Preludes.
    • Linn.
    • 1.

  • Pérotin

    Beata viscera (arr. woodwind ensemble)

    Ensemble: Reversio.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata BWV 140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (I. Chorus)

    Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan. Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki.
    • BIS.

  • Steve Reich

    Music for 18 Musicians: I. Pulses

    Ensemble: Steve Reich and Musicians.
    • Steve Reich - The ECM Recordings.
    • ECM New Series.
    • 1.

  • François Couperin

    Les Baricades mistérieuses

    Music Arranger: Thomas Adès. Orchestra: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.
    • Insomnia: Aurora Orchestra.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 2.

  • Guillaume de Machaut

    Hoquetus David

    Ensemble: Early Music Consort of London. Director: David Munrow.
    • Instruments Of The Middle Ages And Renaissance.
    • DG ARCHIV.
    • 2.

  • Pauline Oliveros

    Deep Hockets

    Composer: David Gamper. Ensemble: Deep Listening Band.
    • Deep Hockets.
    • Music & Arts.
    • 6.

  • Maurice Ravel

    String Quartet: II. Assez vif - Très rythmé

    Ensemble: Quatuor Ébène.
    • String Quartets.
    • ERATO.
    • 9.

  • Wayan Lotring

    Gambang

    Ensemble: Gong Semar Pegulingan De Teges.
    • Indonesia - Bali - Gamelan Semar Pegulingan: Gamelan Of The Love God.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 2.

  • Claude Debussy

    Estampes: I. Pagodes

    Performer: Alain Planès.
    • L'oeuvre Pour Piano, Complete Works For Solo Piano.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 5.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    A Fifth of Beethoven

    Performer: Walter Murphy. Music Arranger: Walter Murphy.
    • The Best Of Walter Murphy.
    • Hot Classics.
    • 1.

  • Philip Glass

    Einstein on the Beach: Knee Play 5

    Ensemble: Philip Glass Ensemble. Conductor: Michael Riesman.
    • Einstein on the Beach.
    • Sony.
    • 14.

  • Henryk Górecki

    Symphony No.3 "Sorrowful Songs": 2nd mvt

    Singer: Dawn Upshaw. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: David Zinman.
    • Gorecki: Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs'.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 2.

  • Steve Reich

    Music for 18 Musicians

    Ensemble: Steve Reich and Musicians.
    • Reich: Music for 18 Musicians.
    • ECM NEW SERIES.
    • 11.

Broadcast

  • Sunday 13:30
    BBC Radio 3