Colin Currie Group / Bryce Dessner

Pulse is Reich’s hallmark: sounds in constant motion, much like the city where he was born: New York. It was rhythm, too, that first sparked his love of music as a teenager. From Igor Stravinsky and Charlie Parker to Johann Sebastian Bach and Miles Davis, these influences inspired him to become a percussionist and ultimately to compose his own works.

Many listeners have understood Reich’s hypnotic soundscapes as an invitation to meditation. Yet Reich never intended his music as a backdrop for drifting away, but rather as a call to listen closely to the intricate canonic techniques that continue to underpin his work. In »All Your Ways«, for example, short repeating motifs unfold into shifting and overlapping rhythmic layers. And in »Electric Counterpoint«, a captivating interplay of pulse and melody, the guitar engages in dialogue with precisely programmed electronic lines.