MUSIC HISTORY 204 – PREPARATION 9

(F-11)

Due Tues, Nov 15

Read the attached essay by Steve Reich called "Music as a Gradual Process." Listen to the two pieces in the syllabus by Reich: Piano Phase (1966) and Tehillim, Part IV (1981). Tehillim is NAWM 197. Piano Phase is in the Supplementary listening (score posted). I've put a CD on reserve, and you can also find it on Naxos.

Please answer the following questions:

1) Is Piano Phase "music as a gradual process"? Briefly explain how this process works and what is gradual about it.

2) Does Piano Phase "run itself . . . once the process is set up and loaded"? Or does Reich exert "compositional control" on a more detailed level? Discuss with reference to the score.

3) Is Tehillim "music as a gradual process"? Compared to Piano Phase is it more or less process-oriented?

4) Think about Reich's goal of "a compositional process and a sounding music that are one and the same thing."

a) Is this the case in Piano Phase? Explain.

b) Is this the case in Tehillim? Explain.

5) Discuss one other piece you know in which the compositional process and the sounding music are one and the same. It can be a piece we've studied this semester or it could be a piece you know from somewhere else.