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Music : Steve Reich: Daniel Variations
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Steve Reich: Daniel Variations from: Nonesuch List Price: $16.98 CD-Charts Price: $13.97 You Save: $3.01 (18%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0075597994940 Label: Nonesuch Manufacturer: Nonesuch Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Nonesuch Release Date: April 08, 2008 Studio: Nonesuch Sales Rank: 72376 MPN: 406780 Disc 1:
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Customer Reviews
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 Rating: - Steve Reich's Late StyleSince his Triple Quartet of 1999, Steve Reich has been engaged in a project of loosening up the compositional processes and contrapuntal grids that framed his earlier work. As early as Octet (1979) and Sextet (1984), Reich was situating structural and harmonic changes within unbroken melodic and rhythmic material. The Counterpoint pieces (1982, 1985, 1987) make this concern with continuously resounding texture and dense harmonic space more explicit. Daniel Variations (2006) delivers probably the most searing melodic material of Reich's career. While the strings are given the task of doubling the voices in the first and third movements of the piece, Reich makes them the dynamic--sometimes mournful sometimes nostalgic--emotive center ... Read More: Rating:  - Words Are Very Important in Reich's MusicAs in all of Reich's later music, the words he has chosen to set are of the greatest importance to him, and add a profound depth to the message of his music. In "Daniel" (as well as his other late works) Reich is writing as a religious Jew, with all that that implies (and in Judaism, as also in Christianity, the spoken Word is of great theological significance - as is also the significance of a person's name. Names, in the Old Testament, have both power and meaning). In the Daniel Variations, a work commissioned by Daniel Pearl's parents, all this comes very much into play. The four short texts all empower the music with tremendous meaning, and the the text of the concluding one - "I sure hope that Gabriel [the archangel - Amazon is ... Read More: Rating: - More from Steve ReichTo say that a "Minimalist" composer repeats himself is a bit of a tautology. Of the three composers most often associated with Minimalism (Riley, Reich, and Glass), each has had a unique compositional arch in their work. Riley, invigorated by his relationship with the Kronos Quartet and his own continued work as a performer, has poured his creativity into a wide-range of projects and pieces, flexing his stylistic muscles with each new project. Glass (in my opinion) has been stuck in a rut for two decades now, and I keep waiting for that brilliant, unexpected flash of genius to happen. (Hey, it happened to Matisse, why not Philip Glass?) Reich's process has been - like his music - more measured. The early loop-based works evolved gradually into ... Read More: Rating: - A great workI completely disagree with the other review in terms of Reich has not developed over the last - what - 30 years. I particularly am fond of "You Are (Variations", "Three Tales", and now the "Daniel Variations". Generally speaking I _especially_ like the choir parts in all three works. The music has achieved a great deal thru the use of the sound that's close to the edge. It's not the straight forward attitude of "Music for 18 Musicans" or of "Desert Music". Instead there are pretty rough edges which are charmingly covered by the great voices of these works. Reich continues to explore the deeper sense of the minimal music by adding more color to it. This way the works remain in the context of minimal music, but there are enough elements that ... Read More: Rating:  - A Pale Imitation of the Great Composer We Once KnewI've said it before in other reviews of his recent work that I don't think Reich has written anything of high quality in recent years and I'm afraid it continues with this release. I was at the premiere of Daniel Variations in London 2007 and despite some interesting moments I felt overall the work lacked something, this recording hasn't changed that opinion. I think the vocal writing really is the main problem here. It goes from the tuneless opening to the mundane and frankly cheesy 'My Name is Daniel' section. It is all just unmemorable and clumsy, the counter tenor sound is one I find particularly grating, then again vocal writing has never been one of Reich's strengths. 'The Cave' and 'Three Tales' are ample evidence of this. Read More: |
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