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Music for 18 Musicians
 
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Music for 18 Musicians [Original recording reissued]

~ Steve Reich
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Price: £10.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Music for 18 Musicians + Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time + Britten: Peter Grimes
Price For All Three: £37.15

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  • This item: Music for 18 Musicians ~ Steve Reich

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  • Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time ~ Fred Sherry

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  • Britten: Peter Grimes ~ Benjamin Britten

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Product details

  • Composer: Steve Reich
  • Audio CD (1 Jul 1988)
  • SPARS Code: AAD
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording reissued
  • Label: Ecm
  • ASIN: B000026258
  • Other Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 13,663 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in this category:

    #54 in  Music > Jazz > Labels > ECM

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1. Pulse
2. Sections I X
3. Pulse
On this CD:
  1. Music for 18 Musicians
    Composed by Steve Reich
    Performed by Ensemble
    with Steve Reich

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The 1978 recording of Reich's seminal Music for 18 Musicians still astounds. Listeners aware of the talents of such bands as Tortoise or Gas or of DJs such as Vladislav Delay or Aphex Twin and fans of Warp records or the click, cut and glitch of recent post-techno could all do with checking out what continues to be vital source material. Lovers of Bach, Satie, Stravinsky, Nancarrow, Cage, Stockhausen, Budd, Eno or Phillip Glass will all find this a very special and rewarding listening experience.

Reich's 1970's Pulse work is often recalled as repetitive, which it unarguably is, but the artfulness, intricacy and the seamless layering of this beautiful piece is less often noted. Reich builds and deconstructs, endlessly moving what turns out to be not merely a work of huge intellect and technical skill but an emotional and complex and hugely satisfying piece of music. This is no post-Gamelan pose but a highly accomplished and stirring piece of music that deserves a lot more than cult status. --Mark Thwaite

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Recording of a Masterpiece, 9 Nov 2002
By Jonathan Parsons (Surrey, England) - See all my reviews
The early Pulse music of Steve Reich is a wonder for those who have not yet encountered it. Music for 18 Musicians is a seminal piece. It is ambitious, monumental in scale and perfectly realised. If you are new to the 'minimalist' music of the 70s, this work will astound you with its originality. It is not easy music, but its rewards are limitless. This kind of work, sometimes called repetitive or trance music, tends to provoke the extremes of appreciation - you either love it or you hate it - and it is not the kind of music you can just allow to wash over you. However, if you allow yourself to enter fully into the aesthetic, the experience it offers can approach the sublime. It develops a meditative quality, as your engagement with the flow of sound becomes total. This music can be as moving and profound as Beethoven, as long as you're in the right mood! This recording is by the original Steve Reich and Musicians ensemble and was recorded soon after the work's composition. As usual, the performance by the ensemble is flawless. The concentration and stamina required for such a piece is enormous, but on this recording Steve Reich and Musicians present a tempo and note perfect delivery. Since this recording of Music for 18 Musicians has been available on CD, it has been possible for the listener to enjoy the piece in its continuous entirety without the fading in and out of the vinyl original. Here it is played as the composer fully intended it to be, and it strongly evokes the spirit of the time in which it was composed. Steve Reich is a giant of modern composition and performance and this is a disc that cannot be absent from any decent collection of progressive music. It is also very entertaining to have a disc with only one track of nearly an hour's duration!
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A composition that quietly refuses to be 'background music', 27 Aug 2001
Although 'Music for Eighteen Musicians' is a work divided into an opening 'Pulse', ten middle 'Sections' and a closing 'Pulse', it is read by my CD player as one continuous track of about 1 hour in length. Which, indeed, it is.

The 'Pulse' contains the essence of the whole work, which is then elaborated on in the 'Sections' and the piece ends in much the same way as it began.

To label the work 'repetitive' would be an understatement, but also an unfair one. It is in it's repetition of themes and original musical ideas that this admittedly minimal work finds it's strengths.

The fact that the very modern sounding piece is played entirely acoustically, along with the almost unrecognisable (yet sublime) presence of four female voices both contribute greatly to a piece of music which should not be ignored.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of its time., 22 Dec 2001
I have only recently discovered the work of Steve Reich and his importance in modern music cannot be underestimated.
This is one of the most accessible of his works and is hauntingly repetitive and very beautiful. Reich has preempted techno and ambient music and his influence on modern electronic music cannot be underestimated.
Buy this CD and allow its magic to overwhelm you.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my favorite modern classical albums
This is not only my favorite music by Steve Reich but one of my favorite modern classical albums. Next to Songs From The Trilogy by Philip Glass, Farewell To Philosophy by Gavin... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Deven Gadula

5.0 out of 5 stars 20th century classic.
Hypnotic ! One of my favorite Reich works, a must have of modern orchestral music. This is the ECM version and possibly the best.
Published 3 months ago by Billy The Mountain

3.0 out of 5 stars flawed delivery
I love this piece of music- indeed, I've been searching for it since watching it performed on the TV as a young child and remembering a few brief snatches of the melody. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Paul B. Dale

5.0 out of 5 stars The door to the last 30 years
When you hear this album, you cannot help but be taken in by its hypnotic building and sequencing of sounds upon and around one another. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ian Shine

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern masterpiece
This was played to our class by our enlightened music master when I was a 14 year old schoolboy. I did not rediscover the work until I was in my 30s. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Jules

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting!!
A truly seminal piece of work. While listening to this you will understand where modern artists like Chicane and Tangerine Dream obtained their inspiration from. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2004 by Dr Duncan A Emerton

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