Concert Report #3. Music For 18 Musicians.

     In what turned out to be one of the most inspiring and eventful hours of the academic year, I'm glad I turned out for an interpretation of composer Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. In Ford Hall at 9 p.m, November 11th, eighteen musicians from Ithaca College put on one of the best shows I've seen all year. It exemplified what music is meant for, it moved me, it left me speechless afterwards, and it gave me something in return for my time, something I can hold onto forever. During the concert  texture, rhythm, melody, and minimalism set the stage for what would become more than musical values, but raw and pure emotion.
     Music for 18 Musicians was written by legendary composer Steve Reich in 1974 (completed in 76'), and is one of his most prominent pieces. Before I knew of this concert I had just started getting into Steve Reich earlier the week before and had listened to this piece in its one hour non-stop entirety. Literally there are no movements or breaks to rest. The ensemble of eighteen musicians comprised of a violin, a cello, two clarinets (who also played bass clarinets), four voices (all female), four pianos, three marimbas, two xylophones, and a metallophone. Notice how these are all acoustic instruments. The piece revolves around pulses, in kind of a way they were ideas that layered and weaved within one another. According to the program there were thirteen of these ideas, the fourteenth piece going back to the first pulse. The rhythm throughout this piece is basically split in a battle between two voices. The mallets and piano providing one study rhythm and the voices and strings providing a counter rhythm over that. The voices were awesome, they used the microphone to fade in and out in volume, creating a push and pull effect, like the tides coming in. The greatest part of this concert is the effect the music had on me.
     The piece's texture was vast and each had a unique sound. Sometimes it was monophonic, with just the marimbas or piano hammering down on a steady pulse, driving it forward. Other times it turned polyphonic, a battle of xylophone and strings under the steady foundation of the pulse. Each piece weaving in and out, louder, softer, push and pull. To me it was if the earth itself was breathing, as if the tide was coming in and out, the steady pulse and light "melodies" echoing life itself. I sounds like a bunch of mumbo crap but really it was quite enlightening and refreshing. The texture and instrumentation were are a perfect match for the tune and it helped get its message across. It was minimal in complexity, simple in structure and form; yet it proved that complexity is not needed to create music, meaningful music. This piece really gets in your head, it provides imagery and lets our imaginations expand, it creates emotions of passion and contemplation. For me a least, for me. I definitely enjoyed this piece and it reminded me why I play music and incorporate it so heavily into my life.