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Reich: New York Counterpoint, Eight Lines, Four Organs / Bang on a Can


Release Date: 04/25/2000 
Label:  Nonesuch   Catalog #: 79481   Spars Code: n/a 
Composer:  Steve Reich
Performer:  Evan Ziporyn,  Edmund Niemann,  Patti Monson,  David Fedele,   ... 
Conductor:  Bradley Lubman
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bang on a Can
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 0 Hours 45 Mins. 

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This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.

Notes and Editorial Reviews

For the composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe, who began the Bang on a Can Festival in New York and the performing group that grew out of it, Steve Reich has become a patron saint. All three would acknowledge that their own distinct musical styles owe something to his example, while Reich himself has publicly declared his approval of what they are attempting to do in fusing the techniques of minimalism with the hard edges and rhythmic drive of American rock music. So this collection is a kind of homage by Bang on a Can to their guru, and by concentrating on three of the ‘purest’ of his instrumental works, they show how it is possible to see in fine detail the musical processes that underpin all of his music. Four Organs, the Read more earliest work here, strips the repetitive principles of minimalism down to the bone, and 30 years after it was written it still seems a savage, uncompromising piece. By the time of the octet Eight Lines, nine years later, the edges of its tightly interlocking canons are much softer and Reich felt able to delight in beauty of sound for its own sake, while the tapestry created by the pulsing harmonies and surging riffs of the multi-tracked clarinets in New York Counterpoint (12 instruments altogether), is so sumptuous that it hardly seems to be generated by a single instrumental colour at all.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 4 (out of 5)

-- Andrew Clements, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording

1. New York Counterpoint by Steve Reich
Performer:  Evan Ziporyn (Bass Clarinet), Evan Ziporyn (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1985; USA 
 Date of Recording: 01/1996 
Venue:  Hit Factory, New York City 
Length: 11 Minutes 9 Secs. 
Notes: This work is scored for nine B-flat clarinets and three bass clarinets pre-recorded separately by one performer then sampled onto a tape. 
2. Eight Lines by Steve Reich
Performer:  Edmund Niemann (Piano), Patti Monson (Flute), Patti Monson (Piccolo),
David Fedele (Flute), Michael Lowenstern (Clarinet), Michael Lowenstern (Bass Clarinet),
Evan Ziporyn (Bass Clarinet), Evan Ziporyn (Clarinet), David Fedele (Piccolo),
Nurit Tilles (Piano), Greg Passelink (Cello), Jacqueline Carrasco (Violin),
Martha Mooke (Viola), Liz Knowles (Violin), Gregor Kitzis (Violin),
Mark Stewart (Cello), Todd Reynolds (Violin), Ron Lawrence (Viola)
Conductor:  Bradley Lubman
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bang on a Can
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1979/1983; USA 
 Date of Recording: 06/1996 
Venue:  Hit Factory, New York City 
Length: 17 Minutes 39 Secs. 
3. Four Organs by Steve Reich
Performer:  James Preiss (Maracas), Michael Gordon (Keyboard), Evan Ziporyn (Keyboard),
Mark Stewart (Keyboard), Lisa Moore (Keyboard)
Conductor:  Bradley Lubman
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bang on a Can
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1970; USA 
 Date of Recording: 06/1996 
Venue:  Edison Studio, New York City 
Length: 15 Minutes 53 Secs. 

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