The Desert Music is a work of music for voices and orchestra composed by the minimalist composer Steve Reich. It is based on texts by William Carlos Williams and takes its title from the poetry anthology The Desert Music and Other Poems. The composition consists of five movements, with a duration of about 46 minutes. In both its arrangement of thematic material and use of tempi, the piece is in a characteristic arch form (ABCBA). The piece was composed in 1983 and had its world premiere on 17 March 1984 in Cologne, Germany.[1]
The strings (12-12-9-9-6) are broken into three sections of (4-4-3-3-2) seated by their section with the first set of 16 players stage right, the next 16 center stage, and the last 16 stage left
There is also a reduced orchestration, prepared by Reich himself, for a chorus of 10 voices (3 sopranos, 3 altos, 2 tenors, 2 basses), accompanied by:
The Desert Music's text is taken from passages from poems in William Carlos Williams's anthology of the same name.[2] The work is in five movements and lasts around 50 minutes.[2] Percussion is heard throughout the work playing in complex and changing metres such as 5/8 and 6/3.[2]
I
fast tempo (quarter = 192 in 4/4 time)
II
moderate tempo
IIIA
slow tempo
IIIB
moderate tempo
IIIC
slow tempo
IV
moderate tempo
V
fast tempo
The tempi between two sections are related by a ratio of 3:2, introduced at the end of each section by either tuplet or dotted rhythms, respectively. So, I and V have 192 bpm; II, IIIB, and IV have 128 bpm; IIIA and C have 85 bpm.
Sections I and V have the same harmonic structure. Sections II and IV have both the same harmonic structure and the same words, and likewise Sections IIIA and IIIC.[1]
The piece opens similarly to many of Reich's other works: a piano or mallet instrument pulsing on the beat, with another piano or marimba soon fading in on the offbeats (Music for 18 Musicians, Sextet, Three Movements for Orchestra). Also characteristic of several of Reich's pieces, such as New York Counterpoint, Electric Counterpoint, Sextet, Music for 18 Musicians, Three Movements for Orchestra, the exposition of the pulse is followed by pulsed notes in the choir and orchestra fading in and out over the course of a chord progression. Also, the first movement prominently features a repeated rhythm found in several of the aforementioned works (in The Desert Music, however, the fourth and fifth note are tied together):
Twice in Section IIIC, the strings begin playing a slightly modified section from Reich's New York Counterpoint.
Recordings
The Desert Music has been recorded several times, including the in following media:
Reich, Steve (2002). "The Desert Music–Steve Reich in Conversation with Jonathan Cott (1984)". In Reich, Steve; Hillier, Paul (eds.). Writings on Music, 1965-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp.127–131. ISBN978-0-19-515115-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
