Reich, Steve (1936-…), is an American composer who was a leader of the Minimalist style in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Minimalist compositions are noted for repetitions of sound patterns that achieve an almost hypnotic quality.
Reich is a major composer of experimental electronic music. Many of his works explore subtle changes in rhythm. A number of his compositions reflect the influence of Southeast Asian and African music. Reich won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in music for his Double Sextet (2008). The 22-minute work can be performed as a live sextet of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone, and piano playing against a prerecorded sextet on tape or as a live ensemble of 12 instrumentalists.
Reich’s compositions from the 1960’s and early 1970’s are primarily rhythmic. He sometimes used two tape recorders, playing both at slightly different speeds to create a small time lag. Typical works included It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966). His first popular composition was Drumming (1971), which combined women’s voices with marimbas, and also featured a piccolo, glockenspiel, tuned bongo drums, and whistling.
After about 1972, Reich’s compositions became more complex. In particular, he added harmonic and melodic sophistication to the repetitive phrases of his earlier works. He increasingly incorporated a wide range of instruments and the human voice into compositions, such as Music for 18 Musicians (1976), Tehillim (1981), and The Desert Music (1983). Reich’s composition Cello Counterpoint (2003), performed by solo cello and prerecorded tape or by a live cello octet, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.
Reich also has written works for the theater. Both The Cave (1993) and Three Tales (1998) combine music, live action, and videotape.
Stephen Michael Reich was born on Oct. 3, 1936, in New York City. He began studying drumming at the age of 14. He graduated from Cornell University in 1957 with a degree in philosophy. Reich studied music with private teachers, including two at the Juilliard School, from 1957 to 1963. He established his own electronic music studio in 1966. Reich’s essays were published as Writings About Music (1974).
