Steve Reich - The Desert Music - II. Moderate

SEE LYRICS BELOW

I will remove this video immediately upon contact from interested parties. This track appears here to encourage purchase of the complete recording.

Steve Reich: Tehillim / The Desert Music, performed by Alarm Will Sound with Ossia and conducted by Alan Pierson is ©2002 Cantaloupe Music, LLC CA21009 and available at www.CantaloupeMusic.com and other retailers.

II. Well, shall we
think or listen? Is there a sound addressed not wholly to the ear? We half close
our eyes. We do not hear it through our eyes. It is not
a flute note either, it is the relation of a flute note to a drum. I am wide
awake. The mind is listening. --William Carlos Williams from 'The Orchestra'

These two astounding recordings of works by Steve Reich (that's "Rye-sch", for you newbies) were made in 1999 and 2001 by students of the Eastman School of Music; their status as students most likely provided them with the study and rehearsal time required by the score and too rarely available to professional musicians. The result is breathtaking: near-perfect recordings of two of the most difficult works ever written for vocal and instrumental ensemble. The women's voices are notably pure and match perfectly when required to do so, and the occasional "scoop" into a high note by the highest soprano adds ecstatic humanity to an otherwise clinical vocal performance. The male voices, though used accurately, are unfortunately and completely lacking in richness or maturity - not surprising, given the ages of the performers. The tempos throughout are appropriate to the smaller scoring - they only seem daring in comparison to other performances. The formerly authoritative recording of 'Desert' by Tilson Thomas and Brooklyn, recorded with a much larger ensemble in a warmer acoustic, is left in the dust by this tight, lithe studio recording. This disc has my highest recommendation!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Steve
• Reich
• William
• Carlos
• Williams
• Desert
• Music
• Tehillim
• Alarm
• Sound
• Ossia
• Pierson
• Cantaloupe
• Modern
• Minimalism
• Minimalist
• Percussion

[amistrymister]

@Dengatube no it's not. they're only playing it 6bpm faster than written. the brooklyn phil recording is amazingly slow.

[emmapduk]

hmmm... it's very fast. I like the pulse rhythm is the voice parts, but they lack discipline sometimes, with pitching, particularly the high soprano line which is a shame and detracts from the overall feel. I like it performed with reduced vocal forces like this, though. It's also overproduced. The reverb is very distracting.

[noisyflowers]

Kicks ass.

[Dengatube]

Woooow thats way to fast.

[newdrinks]

Many years ago I saw The Desert Music live at the Carre theater Amsterdam

The Netherlands all the way up in the top of the theater in a cheapo chair as usual

because I'm always short on money ; I was and still am precarious. I could see that event because it was subsidised out of tax money. There is a new right wing government in The Netherlands which sees art as they put it as a " LEFTIST HOBBY ". Away with subsidising art will be organized as it is in the USA.

Tickets only for the rich...

[SalingerX87]

Thank you for upploading... Steve Reich is a genius in the music of XXth century...