Steve Reich

:This article is about the American composer. For information on the U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan, see Steve Reich (Army).

Quotes

"(...) I drove a cab in San Francisco, and in New York I worked as a part-time social worker. Phil Glass and I had a moving company for a short period of time. I did all kinds of odd jobs (...) I started making a living as a performer in my own ensemble. I would never have thought that it was how I was going to survive financially. It was a complete wonder."

Related Topics:
San Francisco - Phil Glass

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"I had grown up with what I often refer to as the ?middle class favorites?: Beethoven?s Fifth , Schubert?s Unfinished , ? Broadway shows. I?d never heard any music composed before 1750 and I?d never heard any music composed after 1900. I?d never heard any jazz. (...) (then) I heard recordings of the ?Rite of Spring?, the Fifth Brandenburg , Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and the drummer Kenny Clarke. And it was very much as if you?d lived in a house and someone said, ?Well, you?re 14 now and there?s a room in the house you haven?t seen.? They opened the door, I walked in the room, and I never really left."

Related Topics:
Fifth [Symphony - Schubert - Jazz - Rite of Spring - Fifth Brandenburg [Concerto] - Charlie Parker - Miles Davis - Kenny Clarke

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From an interview with Gabrielle Zuckerman, 2002 (see Links)

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"The point is, if you went to Paris and dug up Debussy and said, ?Excusez-moi Monsieur?are you an impressionist? ?, he?d probably say ?Merde!? and go back to sleep. That is a legitimate concern of musicologists, music historians, and journalists, and it?s a convenient way of referring to me, Riley, Glass, La Monte Young (...) it?s become the dominant style. But, anybody who?s interested in French Impressionism is interested in how different Debussy and Ravel and Satie are - and ditto for what?s called minimalism. (...) Basically, those kind of words are taken from painting and sculpture, and applied to musicians who composed at the same period as that painting and sculpture was made(...)."

Related Topics:
Debussy - La Monte Young - Impressionism - Ravel - Satie - Minimalism

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From an Interview with Rebecca Y. Kim, 2000, www.stevereich.com

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