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San Francisco Symphony CD Review'Variations and Shaker Loops' compositions by Adams and ReichThe works of Steve Reich and John Adams come together in this brilliantly performed album, the perfect introduction to minimalism.
The works of two important composers in minimalism come together to form an excellent introductory album to the style. The orchestral ensemble performing the pieces (the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Edo de Waart) is the same group for whom Steve Reich originally composed "Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards." Reich's love of 12th-century music (notably the work of French composer Perotin) is apparent in the piece's expansive bass notes, which form an unstable foundation similar to the medieval cantus firmus, rumbling in and out underneath the relentless repeating motivic fragments in the upper registers. Unlike most pieces that follow the theme and variations form (in which the composer takes a recognizable tune or harmonic pattern and repeats it, each time in a different guise), each version of the theme lasts several minutes; in fact the theme is only presented three times even though the piece lasts 20 minutes. This length fits the minimalist aesthetic of slow and imperceptible change, as the fluttering motivic fragments (not hummable enough to count as a melody) morph note-by-note into new patterns. The other composer featured on this album, John Adams, also had connections with the San Francisco Symphony, having served as the composer-in-residence for the group at the same time he was adapting "Shaker Loops" from its former setting as a string septet to a full orchestral ensemble. "Shaker Loops" references a New England religious group whose worship involved "shaking and trembling," and the movement titles correlate the worship music of the Shakers with electronic music techniques. Looping, for instance, refers to the practice of splicing a recording together so that the same sound repeats over and over. John Adams, using a string orchestra rather than a tape recorder, imitates that cyclical repetiveness in "Shaker Loops." The string tremolos and trills of the first movement imitate the religious fervor of the Shakers. The slower second movement is hauntingly ethereal, with shimmering sustained notes in the middle registers, punctuated by higher and lower fragments fading in and out. The third movement is more lyrical (with a melody), but still characterized by relentless motivic patterns underneath the melody that gradually build in intensity. The final movement returns to more "shaking and trembling" in trills and tremolos, building and then fading to conclusion. Overall, I highly recommend this album, both for the beauty of the pieces themselves and for the introduction they provide to the technique of two great composers. Track listing: Steve Reich 1. "Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards" John Adams "Shaker Loops" 2. "Shaking and trembling" 3. "Hymning slews" 4. "Loops and verses" 5. "A final shaking"
The copyright of the article San Francisco Symphony CD Review in Classical Music is owned by Sarah Canice Funke. Permission to republish San Francisco Symphony CD Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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