Steve Reich at 80 Music for 18 Musicians
Music for 18 musicians is a long piece of classical music by Steve Reich. Its composition tends to create a statement or atmosphere that is unique in some way. Due to its unique nature, most fans find it wonderfully joyous and exciting been on simple memory devices and sensors. Steve Reich’s seems to avoid unwanted repetition since it makes the music less interesting.
The music built on a constant hypnotic pulse or the measured rhythmic pulse. It may include sound, vocal mechanism, electronic flash for cameras or the use of an object that glitters in the vision of the targeted audience and viewers. It is from the conclusion of the violin which has a consistent pulse with the starting marimbas. The different types of resonators and three levels of keyboard voicing apply in the beginning to the last piece.
Human breath pulses and wind instruments are the second rhythmical pulse into which the 18 musicians developed. Periodically, the airflow necessary for the instruments sound is generated either by a player’s breath as long as they can hold it in a high quality and great pitching sound. They produce quite a warm chilling tone but very authoritarian waves guiding the piece of rhythm along the sound waves. They are two different types of devices. It applies to all stringed instruments including the piano and violin.
The music for 18, expertly composed with the 11 chord with 11 parts. These chords mentioned at the chapeau and the end of the sections or the pulses. The resulting sectors use the opening 11 music as their base from which the segments originate from and each the chords are played on two pianos and two marimbas to produce a relatively joyous pulse.
Steve Reich preferred the use of audible and visual prompt from the vibraphones to traditional conductors. The use of these wires does aid not only the musicians but also play a crucial role in creating the listeners awareness of the next music to play. The vibraphones or the metallophone were indicators of movement to the next bar.
ABCDCBA structure for the sections was also another rhythm used in the music for 18 where each chapter has a modified recurrent rhythm, the original rhythmic flow converts and expands to its maximum length and the getting back to its regular length; this process is repetitive throughout the process. Even though the same pattern repeats, it produces different sound because of the emphasis put on the words are not of the same nature.
After all the rhythms apply, a phrase will start building up with a short couple of notes which will slowly develop to a more complex rhythmic and melodic expression. You need to understand and know the next phrase you tend to anticipate before it happens, which adds to the fun as the term is indeed in the mix of other instruments somewhere. It is not an obligation that many lines of music played by the same instrumentalists all the time.
In conclusion, the music for 18 is composed in such a unique style. Starting from the rhythm used to such time when the phrase created. Steve Reich in the music for 18 applied quite some methods that make the music long and classical. When it fills the air, it fills our emotions and makes us feel as we own the space.