Steve Reich

Steve Reich (born 1936 in New York) is one of the most influential composers of our time: a founding father of musical minimalism whose work has reshaped not only concert music but also rock and electronic music. In the 1960s he pioneered the technique of ‘phasing’, in which identical repeating patterns gradually slip out of sync to generate shimmering, evolving textures (heard first in tape pieces like It’s Gonna Rain and then in live works like Piano Phase and Drumming). From these austere process pieces he developed an ever-richer language, culminating in landmark scores such as Music for 18 Musicians, Different Trains (for string quartet and tape) and the Pulitzer-winning Double Sextet. His music is built on steady pulse, repeating cells, interlocking rhythms and the slow, hypnotic transformation of material: joyous, propulsive and instantly recognisable. This concert marks his 90th birthday with five works spanning more than four decades.