| Steve Reich: Triple Quartet | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 October 2001 | |||
| Genre | Contemporary classical | |||
| Label | Nonesuch (#79546) | |||
| Producer | Robert Hurwitz | |||
| Kronos Quartet chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Steve Reich: Triple Quartet is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet and other artists. The music was composed by Steve Reich and was commissioned by the quartet; Reich and the quartet have worked together since 1989.
Triple Quartet was composed in 1999 and since then has been in the quartet's live repertoire. It is a three-movement work for three string quartets; on the album, quartets two and three are pre-recorded and the players play the first quartet along with the tape, as they do live.
Besides the Kronos Quartet's version of Triple Quartet, the album contains three other Reich pieces. Electric Guitar Phase, one of Reich's "phase pieces," is played by New York guitar player Dominic Frasca. The composition is an updated version of the 1967 Violin Phase arranged for guitar and tape (or four guitars). Alan Pierson conducts Alarm Will Sound and the Ossia Ensemble from the Eastman School of Music, which perform Reich's 1978 Music for a Large Ensemble . The final track is Mika Yoshida's rendition of Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, performed on MIDI marimba.
All music is composed by Steve Reich.
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Triple Quartet: First Movement" | Kronos Quartet | 7:10 |
| 2. | "Triple Quartet: Second Movement" | Kronos Quartet | 4:05 |
| 3. | "Triple Quartet: Third Movement" | Kronos Quartet | 3:28 |
| 4. | "Electric Guitar Phase" | Dominic Frasca, solo guitar | 15:11 |
| 5. | "Music for a Large Ensemble" | Alarm Will Sound and Ossia Ensemble | 15:41 |
| 6. | "Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint" | Mika Yoshida, solo on MIDI marimba | 9:05 |
Stephen Michael Reich is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich describes this concept in his essay, "Music as a Gradual Process", by stating, "I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear the process happening throughout the sounding music." To do so, his music employs the technique of phase shifting, in which a phrase is slightly altered over time, in a flow that is clearly perceptible to the listener.
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records. In 1991, Monk composed Atlas, an opera, commissioned and produced by the Houston Opera and the American Music Theater Festival. Her music has been used in films by the Coen Brothers and Jean-Luc Godard. Trip hop musician DJ Shadow sampled Monk's "Dolmen Music" on the song "Midnight in a Perfect World". In 2015, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama.
Violin Phase is a musical work written by minimalist composer Steve Reich in October 1967.
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Steve Reich and Musicians, sometimes credited as the Steve Reich Ensemble, is a musical ensemble founded and led by the American composer Steve Reich. The group has premiered and performed many of Reich's works both nationally and internationally. In 1999, Reich received a Grammy Award for "Best Small Ensemble Performance " for the ensemble's performance of Music for 18 Musicians.
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Electric Counterpoint is a minimalist composition by the American composer Steve Reich. The piece consists of three movements, "Fast," "Slow", and "Fast". Reich has offered two versions of the piece: one for electric guitar and tape, the other for an ensemble of guitars. The work shares similarities with Reich's New York Counterpoint.
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Caleb Burhans is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist in the contemporary/modern music scene. He has been commissioned by Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, and the Kronos Quartet. His works have been performed by ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and eighth blackbird. He is a founding member of Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Signal and the Wordless Music Orchestra. He has worked with a diverse array of artists from Arcade Fire, The National, and Paul McCartney to Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, George Crumb and Steve Reich.