Steve Reich

𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙑𝙞𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙣𝙤𝙬.

'Four Organs' / 'Phase Patterns' are two of Steve Reich's earliest recordings and were originally released in 1970 on the French label Shandar. They still sound magnificent, futuristic and elemental today, some 40 years since they were first realised.

With 'Four Organs' Reich applies the idea of slowing down a piece of sound until many times its original length without changing pitch or timbre. In it, Jon Gibson's maracas play a fast eighth note pulse while the four organs - played by Steve Chambers, Philip Glass, Art Murphy and Reich - stress certain notes using an 11th chord, creating a hypnotic cycle with trance-inducing rhythmic subtlety. 'Phase Patterns' follows a similar schematic, sans maracas and was Reich's first piece to be performed in a large traditional setting.