Steve Reich

Biography

Steve Reich was born on October 3, 1936 in New York City, New York, USA as Stephen Michael Reich. Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer who, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's style of composition influenced many composers and groups. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns (for example, his early compositions It's Gonna Rain and Come Out), and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts (for instance, Pendulum Music and Four Organs). These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced contemporary music, especially in the US. Reich's work took on a darker character in the 1980s with the introduction of historical themes as well as themes from his Jewish heritage, notably Different Trains. Writing in The Guardian, music critic Andrew Clements suggested that Reich is one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history".[6] The American composer and critic Kyle Gann has said that Reich "may ... be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Known For

Steve Reich - City Life

Michael Nyman in Progress

as Self

Plastic Haircut

New Music: Sounds and Voices from the Avant-Garde New York 1971

as Self

Steve Reich: A New Musical Language

Thirty Second Spots: TV Commercials for Artists (1982-83)

as Steve Reich

BAM150

as Self

In the Ocean

Steve Reich: Phase to Face

as Self

Reich at the Roxy

as Himself