Everything about Music For A Large Ensemble totally explained
Music for a Large Ensemble is a piece of
music written by
Steve Reich in
1978. It is scored for
string instruments,
flutes,
clarinets,
saxophones,
trumpets,
pianos,
marimbas,
vibraphones,
xylophones and two female voices.
It had its first performance in
Utrecht on
June 14,
1979. It was a commissioned work by the Holland Festival and it was first performed by Reich's musicians as well as members of the
Netherlands Wind Ensemble. Reich noted that this piece was developed out of two pieces he'd previously written,
Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ and
Music for 18 Musicians. The piece was written for more musicians than Reich had previously worked with, and included instruments from all sections of the orchestra, including
strings,
woodwinds,
brass and
percussion, and women's voices. The piece is divided into five sections, each marked by a key change initiated by the
metallophone.
As in some of his other works from the same time, Reich uses the technique of
augmentation in this work, whereby short, rapid phrases are stretched out to become longer lines, which combine
contrapuntally with other
melodies, then using
diminution they're returned to their shorter length. It is in an "arch" structure, ABCBA, characteristic of Reich's work at this time.
Reich explained that this piece was part of his experiment with using "the human breath as the measure of musical duration... the chords played by the trumpets are written to take one comfortable breath to perform" (liner notes for Music for a Large Ensemble). Human voices are part of the musical palette in Music for a Large Ensemble but the voices carry no meaning.
Although the piece isn't one of Reich's most popular, it has been recorded several times, most recently in a performance
conducted by
Alan Pierson. The first recording was a release by
ECM Records in
1980 along with
Octet and a much older piece:
Violin Phase.
Joan LaBarbara (2005, p.17) describes the work as "a very colorful work, bright in its opening, a little dark in the second section, brighter again as it moves into the third. The first section's timbral blending of women's voices with cellos and basses is very effective within the texture. The mallet instruments, clear and solid at the beginning, gradually blend into the background as trumpets and soprano saxophones surge forward. One could watch and feel the rhythmic patterns lock into place as the players relaxed into the performance. It is a bright, joyous, and exciting work".
Source
- LaBarbara, Joan (June 1980). "Three by Reich", High Fidelity/Musical America 29, no.6: MA 12 quoted in Fink, Robert (2005). Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice. ISBN 0-520-24550-4.
Further Information
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