Life of Steve Reich: The Village Voice

743 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Classical music influence on pop music

My composer, Steve Reich, has written and continues to write contemporary, minimalist, vocal, and tape pieces. His pieces these pieces have been influenced not only by what he has encountered, but the music he had composed has influenced many others composer similar to him (Service). In this paper I will give a short biography of Reich that includes the many different places that he studied, what influenced his not so ordinary music styles, and what made him who he is today. I will also talk about his composition styles, which are different from many others, what influenced them, and what types of music her produced. Lastly, I will give my evaluation of one of his several world-renowned compositions.
Steve Reich was recently called “America’s greatest composer” (The Village Voice). That is exactly what he is. He was born on October 3, 1936 in New York City, NY. Reich had his first big music debut at the young age of 14 when he was introduced to Stravinsky and Bach (Morrison). He went to Cornell University at the age of 16 and received a degree in philosophy (Morrison). After that, Reich entered The Julliard School in 1957. While he was there he studied with a tonal composer, William Bergsma, and pianist, Vincent Perschetti (Morrison). In 1970, Reich went to Africa and studied at the University of Ghana. After spending a few weeks there and listening to the Ghanaian style of music he was inspired to write his musical composition, “Drumming” (Morrison). This happening, and many others helped to develop Reich’s musical style. Reich also wrote his most famous compositions, Music for 18 Musicians, during this time.
Because of Reich’s extraordinary musical compositions, he has won multiple awards and prizes. Reich won the Pulitzer...

... middle of paper ...

...ed, including the Pulitzer Prize. Next, I talked about his composition styles and some other composers that he has been compared to and finally, I talked one of his many famous compositions, “Music for 18 Musicians” and how it greatly reflected his style of writing. After reading countless journals and articles about Steve Reich, it is easy to see that he is greatly admired by many. A large majority of the articles had only positive comments about his and this is well reflected in a quote by him: “Steve Reich has been creating music for almost five decades. How would he like to be remembered by future generations? 'I hope that, number one, my music is played by musicians because they love to play it,' he says. 'And, number two, that it's loved by audiences who love to hear it. If those two things happen, then I'll feel like my life has been worthwhile” (Weiss).

Show More
Related

  • Robert Reich's Vicious Cycle Case Study

    245 Words  | 1 Pages

    Robert Reich's Vicious Cycle is a cycle that the American economy is currently stuck in. It refers to a series of variables that all feed into each other to increase economic inequality. It is possible to start anywhere in the cycle, but here wages stagnating will be first. When wages stagnant, workers can't buy as much. When workers can't buy as much, companies have to downsize because less people are buying their products. When companies downsize, their tax revenues decrease because the payroll amounts go down. The payroll tax is important in terms of generating revenue for the government. Because the government has less revenue, they have to cut programs. Cutting programs leads to rising costs in education, because education is less subsidized.

    Read More

  • Leroy Anderson

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anderson had a very strong musical education. At age eleven he began piano lessons and music studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Cambridge. At his high school graduation from the Cambridge High and Latin School, Anderson composed, orchestrated, and conducted his class song. In 1925 he entered Harvard College. While at Harvard he studied musical harmony with Walter Spalding, counterpoint with Edward Ballantine, canon and fugue with William C. Heilman, and orchestration with Edward B. Hill and Walter Piston. Between 1926 and 1929 he played trombone for the Harvard University Band. He eventually became the director of the Harvard University Band for four years. In 1929 Anderson received a B.A. magna cum laude in Music from Harvard. The magna cum laude is the next-to-highest of three special honors for grades above the average. He was also elected into Phi Beta Kappa. Anderson continued into graduate school at Harvard. In 1930, he earned an M.A. with a major in music. He began studying composition with Walter Piston and Georges Enesco; organ with Henry Gideon and double bass with Gaston Dufresne of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As well as his studies in music, he continued for his PhD in German and Scandinavian languages. He ultimately mastered Danish, Norwegian, Icel...

    Read More

  • John Towner Williams: One Of A Symphonies And Film Music

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    He is a very happy man that has a true love for music. He has left us music to some of our all time favorite movies, and has inspired us to continue on making great film music. I chose to write about John Williams because the Star Wars sequel is one of my most favored sequels; and it is mainly because of it’s music. I have learned most about his achievements, and what movies that I did not know he had produced music for. John Williams is a very happy person, he is also very wise. But, he does like to keep to himself, whereas he is more of an introvert person. Also, most of the music he writes is inspired by classical music from the 1940s. For example, the Star Wars theme song, is almost identical to the 1942 theme song of the movie King’s Row. People have also compared some music of other movies such as: Superman, Home Alone, and Jaw’s to some classics. I have been deeply impressed by this composer, and I plan to listen to any music that he will come out with again; and if not I will enjoy the musical legacy that he has left behind in his

    Read More

  • I Was Only 19 Poetic Devices

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Schumann is one of the very few songwriters who has changed the way a nation thinks. John first

    Read More

  • John Williams: An Inspiration

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...lassical composers, I applaud this man for his creativity, style, but most of all for the great contribution he has made to the music and film world.

    Read More

  • Deadmau5: The Music Game, By Joel Zimmerman

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Later, he was to use it to begin the practise which he has now perfected as an art, and would create music through his mothers computer. He started working on a radio show which showcased mostly dance music, called “The Party Revolution” (The DJ List, 2014). Using the latest technology available to him, and not just a turntable and microphone, he dappled with sampling and continued along the track leading him to become a successful artist. He worked a little while in web development and animation (Biography.com, 2014). Later, he was to work for an software company in Belgium, a software program designed to aid music production and brags to be “the fastest way from your brain to your speakers”- (Image-Line, 2014), something which Zimmerman believed was the way of the future for music. Through this time, he was always writing his own music. Before the electronic music evolution, he made efforts to try to convince recording s...

    Read More

  • Johann Stamitz: A Classical Era Composer

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    In terms on contributions to Classical-Era music, Stamitz is credited with many innovations. As the concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra, he lead it to a standard unparalleled in it's day. Another extremely influential contribution...

    Read More

  • Leonard Bernstein Essay

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    When one considers the history of classical music, often images of Vienna, Prague, and other European cities come to mind. Centuries of European musical achievement and development have implanted in society the idea that classical music is an inherently European creation. Considering the accomplishments of countless composers such as J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Antonin Dvorak, this preconception is certainly not unfounded. However, Leonard Bernstein's rise to international fame proved that one cannot neglect American composers in a discussion of the development of Western music. Combining elements of a vast array of musical styles, Bernstein's unique compositions reached a wide variety of audiences and often bridged gaps between distinct musical genres. Through his long conducting career, profoundly influential compositional output, and televised music lectures, Leonard Bernstein left a lasting legacy which came to define American music in the 20th century.

    Read More

  • Biography of Franz Schubert

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schubert's instrumental works show development over a long period of time, but some of his greatest songs were composed before he was 20 years old. In Schubert's songs the literary and musical elements are perfectly balanced, composed on the same intellectual and emotional level. Although Schubert composed strophic songs throughout his career, he did not follow set patterns but exploited bold and free forms when the text demanded it. Except for his early training as a child, Schubert the composer, was largely untrained and self-taught. His gift of being able to create melodies that contained both easy naturalness and sophisticated twists at the same time was unprecedented for his time. On this quality rests the reputation that music history finally gave Schubert.

    Read More

  • Mus 119 Report For The Stony Brook

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    This concert is held by the Stony Brook University music department and is to perform seven pieces of music written by seven student composers. The concert is performed in Recital Hall of Staller Center in Stony Brook University. Since it is a small hall, audiences are very close to the performers. In fact, it is the first time I am this close to the performers and the sound for me is so clear and powerful that seems like floating in front of my eyes. Among the seven pieces, “Ephemeral Reveries” and “Gekko no mori” are piano solo, “Two Songs for Joey” is in piano and marimba, “Suite” and “Fold Duet No. 1” are in woodwinds, “Elsewhere” is played by string groups, and “e, ee, ree, and I was free” is in vocal. Personally, I like the sound of piano and guitar the best. Therefore, in the latter part I will analysis two pieces in piano, “Gekko no mori” and “Two Songs for Joey”.

    Read More

  • George Antheil's Accomplishments

    2255 Words  | 5 Pages

    After touring the country looking for inspiration for a grand American symphony, Antheil settled in Hollywood and started composing scores for movies as well as television; this was not an artistic decision, but purely a financial one. Antheil found film composing to be painful and stunted his career with Hollywood’s hate for modern sounding music. He was so bitter that at one point he wrote a caustic article for The American Mercury entitled simply “Don’t be a composer.” The big success of his late life is his Fourth Symphony that was heralded as major success by almost every music critic. Their biggest draw to the piece was Antheil’s use of infectious and memorable melodies, a far cry from his days in Paris.

    Read More

  • Influential Composers Of Early 20th Century

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zoltan Kodaly, Edgar Varese, Igor Stravinsky.Three foreign-born composers whose output ranges from unobtrusively important to riot inducing works.They encompass music’s three principles: education, exploration, experimentation.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg in 1809. His father Abraham Mendelssohn was a banker, while his mum Lea Mendelssohn was a highly educated artist and musician. Mendelssohn first had his piano lesson from his mum, but soon he was sent to study with the best teachers at that time such as Marie Bigot and Ludwig Burger. He also took composition lessons with Karl Zelter, who was the professor of the University of Berlin. Under their proper guidance, he completely showed his music talent- he first appeared as pianist at nine and as a composer at ten. At his age of twelve, he already composed nine fugues, five symphonies for strings, two operas and a huge number of smaller pieces. When he was sixteen, the publication of his Octet in E-flat Major for strings and Overture to A Mid Summer Night’s Dream marked his full maturity.

    Read More

  • Copland: 1900 through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943

    2137 Words  | 5 Pages

    In their books: Copland: 1900 through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943, Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis give a detailed account of the life of one of America’s most influential composers. The books are arranged similarly to the Shostakovich biography that our class reviewed earlier this semester. That is, through personal accounts by Copland himself along with accounts of Copland’s friends and acquaintances, the authors manage to paint an accurate and interesting picture detailing the life of the great composer. When combined, the two books recount Copland’s entire life, dividing it into two periods for the purpose of easier organization and reading.

    Read More

  • Steve Reich's Musical Journey

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steve Reich was born in New York to two musically talented parents. At the ripe, young age of one, his parents divorced and his mother moved across the country from New York to Las Angeles, California. Not wanting to lose contact with either parent, Reich spent his childhood traveling the distance across the country via train to spend adequate time with both his mother and father. These frequent trips and the repetitive clacking of the train tracks got Reich's imagination rolling and ultimately began his musical journey and

    Read More

More about Life of Steve Reich: The Village Voice

Open Document