KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Speaking of Music: An Evening With Steve Reich, 2 of 2

Analog Audio


Event Type
Interview and Music
Origin
KPFA
Identifier
SOM.1985.10.03.B
Program Series
Speaking of Music
Program Length
136 min
Part
2 of 2
Dates
1986-10-08 | broadcast
| 1985-10-03 | created
Description
On October 3, 1985, composer Steve Reich celebrated his 49th birthday by appearing at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, as the featured guest on the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Speaking of Music series. He discussed his career and compositional style with host Charles Amirkhanian and presented excerpts from his “Music for 18 Musicians”, and “Tehillim”. However most of the program was devoted to his then recently completed orchestral piece, “Desert Music”, which is a setting of the poetry of William Carlos Williams. Reich goes into great detail about the structure of the piece and how it was recorded, as well as answering questions from the audience.
Genres
New music
Minimalism
Musical Selections
Desert Music: Third Movement, Part Three (5:55) ; Fourth Movement (3:35) ; Fifth Movement (10:46), for chorus and orchestra [text by William Carlos Williams] (1982-84)
Performers
Steve Reich and Musicians
Members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Subjects
New music
Minimal music
Composition (Music)
Choruses, Secular (Mixed voices) with orchestra
Acknowledgment
Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by Save America’s Treasures, a program of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.