Exceeded Harmony Mix #1

Good friend and blogger-extraordinaire Allie has been posting amazing mixes of her favorite music, which everyone should check out, she has impeccable taste. She has put the idea into my mind of a classical themed mix, which I thought was a great idea. We'll see what happens in the future, it might evolve into a mix of any music I'm loving at the moment, not just classical.

So without further ado, the first Exceeded Harmony mix. I toyed with the idea of including whole works, instead of just movements I liked, but this is more personal. Shows you better what it is I love of certain works..

Tracklist:

1. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) - Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra: II. Valse

2. Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) - Cantique de Jean Racine, op. 11

3. Steve Reich (b. 1936) - Duet

4. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) - Piano Quintet in A, op. 5: I. Allegro ma non troppo

5. Charles Ives (1874-1954) - Symphony No. 1: II. Adagio molto (sostenuto)

6. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Sonata No. 2 in A, op. 100 for violin and piano: II. Andante tranquilo

7. Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) - Clarinet Concerto in C minor, op. 31: II. Adagio, ma senza rigore

8. Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) - Six Pièces for solo harp: II. Scherzetto

9. John Adams (b. 1947) - Century Rolls, for piano and orchestra: II. Manny's Gym

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Steve Reich - Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint/Three Movements

Steve Reich (b. 1936)

Different Trains / Electric Counterpoint / Three Movements

Kronos Quartet

Pat Metheny, electric guitar

London Symphony Orchestra

Michael Tilson Thomas

Different Trains was composed by Reich for the Kronos Quartet, and it is a reflection on how different his life could've turned out if he had only been born in Europe. Being Jewish, he sees now that instead of traveling from SF to NY as a child, he would've been in a very different train had he been born in Europe. The work makes use of a technique that has come to be a trademark of Reich, which is to notate musically pre-recorded spoken excerpts. The excerpts come from interviews with Jewish people and with people Reich knew, who talk about subjects from the trains themselves, to Europe and American before and after WWII. A thoroughly gripping work, and its intense rhythmic drive is pure Reich, especially foretelling the rhythmic intensity of later works like Double Sextet and 2x5.

Electric Counterpoint is a work for electric guitar and tape that Reich wrote for jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Building dense layers of polyphonic textures in the tape, the live guitarist and the listener becomes enveloped in an amazing soundscape, which goes from pulsating harmonies, very much a la Music for 18 Musicians, in the first movement, to a funky, bass-driven counterpoint texture in the third movement.

The disc doesn't originally include the Three Movements for Orchestra, but I've included them, as the corresponding disc on the Steve Reich 1965-1995 box set does, in a great interpretation by the LSO with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting.

Enjoy

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Steve Reich (b. 1936)

Music for 18 Musicians

Steve Reich and Musicians

14 tracks; 67 minutes

If you're in any way interested in new music, either as a composer, performer or listener, this is an absolute MUST. It's basically essential listening. Reich's style is the most influential of any of the post-war era. I love this piece very dearly and it has had a tremendous effect on the way I look at music, as it has on countless other composers of today.

(One of my most prized possesions. Nothing derives more pleasure for me than burying my face in this score and immersing myself in the shimmering nuances of this work. It plugs me out of everything around me like little else does.)

Do yourself a favor and download this like now.

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