Some of Steve Reich's orchestral works are among his most impressive achievements, but they are rarely performed or recorded because of their difficulty, so it's good to have distinguished ensembles like Tonkünstler-Orchester and Chorus sine nomine, led by Kristjan Järvi, offer new interpretations of The Desert Music and Three Movements for orchestra. The producers wisely put Three Movements first on the disc, even though it was written later. It's a wonderfully attractive composition that demonstrates how well Reich's ...
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Some of Steve Reich's orchestral works are among his most impressive achievements, but they are rarely performed or recorded because of their difficulty, so it's good to have distinguished ensembles like Tonkünstler-Orchester and Chorus sine nomine, led by Kristjan Järvi, offer new interpretations of The Desert Music and Three Movements for orchestra. The producers wisely put Three Movements first on the disc, even though it was written later. It's a wonderfully attractive composition that demonstrates how well Reich's distinctive sound and compositional devices can be adapted for a traditional orchestra. The large-scale antiphonal effects he can achieve with an ensemble of this size when its players are spatially separated reach a level of drama not possible with groups the size of his own ensemble. The grandeur of the massive slabs of sound rapidly ricocheting back and forth in space can be thrilling. It's in The Desert Music (1984), though, a five-movement setting of texts by William Carlos...
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