Born in New York, Steve Reich is recognized as one of the pioneers of minimal music in the 1960s. Answering one of Carl Stone’s question on the changes of his relation with technology across his career, Reich confesses that his interest in electronic generated sounds has remained very limited over the years and that his use of synthesizers has often been a matter of convenience. It is really in the mid 1980s through his son’s computer that Reich began using music programs in his work. The pair discusses the importance of recorded speech in the composer’s work and more particularly as a source for instrumental melodies in his pieces Different Trains (1988) and The Cave (1993). Further discussing those two pieces in detail, we learn about the creative processes behind each of them and how they relate in their own ways to Reich’s Jewish cultural background.

PIECES AND RECORDINGS FROM:

Steve Reich, Daniel Variations/Variations for Vibes, Pianos, & Strings (2008), Nonesuch Records [Opening and closing credits]

Steve Reich, Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint (1989), Elektra Nonesuch

Steve Reich, The Cave (1995), Nonesuch Records