The Return of Steve Reich

ON Tuesday I saw a fascinating concert by Steve Reich and Bang on a Can at Disney Hall. Once considered a minimalist with few ties to the mainstream, Mark Swed wrote in his review, Reich is now one of the most important and influential composers alive.

I sat down with Reich a few years ago and found him very accessible and easy going. My article starts by referring to the landmark "Music for 18 Musicians," which he led on Tuesday night. I've heard this piece perhaps more than any other piece of music not by the Beatles, and it was a thrill to see it and get a sense of exactly where all those shifting sounds emerged from.

The concert led off with the classic early Reich piece, "Clapping Music." Here is Swed's full review.

Philip Glass Vs. Film Music

GLASS, who makes his Hollywood Bowl debut this week, discussed his film work with me recently.

“Here’s an interesting experiment,” he said. “Play a film, any film, and then change the music. The film looks different. Then take the music, and change the film – the music doesn’t change. It’s astonishing. What does it tell us? When you put the two together, the core may be the music. Bernard Herrmann is going to sound like Bernard Herrmann no matter what you do."

HERE is my recent LATimes interview with the man who has taken film scoring -- for better or worse -- beyond the classic style of emotional underlining represented by korngold, herrmann, and others into a tonally neutral minimalism.

(at this point i've interviewed a number of the key figures in musical minimalism -- steve reich, terry riley, john adams -- so was nice to close the circle here. interesting to see how musical history treats this chapter of american music.)

Photo credit: philipglass.com