Writings on Music, 1965-2000

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
• Published by: Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition October 28, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0195151151
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0195151152
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 15.2 ounces

From Library Journal
Like many acclaimed artists, composer Reich is a virtual unknown outside of devotees of avant-garde or experimental music (… la John Cage minimalism). This book is a collection of his writings about this specialized area of music, made by and for music academics and "serious" artists. Reading about sounds is always a dry experience, but these 64 short pieces (some only a paragraph) may be essentially indecipherable for those without an academic musical background, owing to the heavy use of music terminology despite Reich's generally conversational tone. The pieces, including Reich's best-known "Music as a Gradual Process," are primarily concerned with Reich's own compositions and reflect his changing preoccupations through time: tape loops and phasing in the Sixties, African drumming in the early Seventies, and so on. In fact, this book might have been better titled Thoughts on Music, as most of the writing comes across as extemporaneous rather than studied and includes a number of interviews, which one is hardpressed to describe as "writings." Recommended for academic libraries or specialized collections only. David Valencia, King Cty. Lib. Syst., Seattle
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Review
"Writings on Music 1965-2000, a new collection of Reich's writingssubstantially enlarges upon, and in most senses supersedes, its slim predecessor. These works are, at one and the same time, radical and sensible, revolutionary and respectful of tradition, and offer extensions of techniques found in diverse forms of music-making around the worldThis book seems to me not an ending but a beginning: it marks a point where new work, both creative and scholarly, can startSteve Reich has consolidated his reputation as an internationally renowned artist of enormous distinction: this new book is a testament to his integrity and staying power, charting as it does a musical evolution, still in progress, that has permanently altered the course of new music in the West in the last third of the twentieth century."--Music and Letters

Reader Reviews
This is a must have for Reich enthusiast and student. It chronicles his works and talks about his compositional style. Very interesting. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)