Music / kammermusik vokal

Music for 18 musicians


Reviews (11)


Record collector

462 (2017 January)

By

By

Spencer Grady

462 (2017 January)

"When ECM originally released these three albums between 1978-82, it was after a succession of prestigious labels had juggled unsuccessfully with Reich's career, impotent marketing departments struggling to get to grips with his repetitive, overlapping phases of percussive notes influenced by Balinese gamelan and Ghanain drumming. Only with the stewardship of ECM's head honcho Manfred Eicher (...) was Reich able to establish a firm base from which to flourish. His shimmering, oscillating clusters chimed with the optimism of a post-Vietnam age and his impact on pop, jazz, classical, electronica, techno and rock would subsequently grow to a point where his indelible influence can now almost be taken for granted by those accustomed to the continual refinement of his core ideas. This valuable collection, like a historical kick in the pants, warns us against such complacency".


MusicWeb international

2023 June

By

By

Stephen Barber (musikanmelder)

2023 June

"Recommended: By common consent, Music for 18, as it's now generally known, is Reich's finest work and a showpiece for minimalism, as Berg's Violin Concerto is for serialism. It is one of a group of works which Reich wrote after his early experiments in phase shifting and the like, and which for me have a glow and radiance which I do not find so much in his later works ... The virtuoso percussionist Colin Currie formed his ensemble in 2006 specifically to play the works of Reich, and they have been playing Music for 18 for years ... I found the playing quite fabulous ... The result is radiant and joyous. The work holds the attention and is never boring ... This is a superb disc".


Information

d. 23. Oct. 2015

By

By

Per Rask Madsen

d. 23. Oct. 2015

" Ensemble Signals to klarinetter, fire pianister, seks slagtøjsspillere, to strygere og fire kvindestemmer leverer en imponerende sømløs, tight, præcis og gennemmusikalsk fortolkning. Man bliver overvældet af den virtuose kontrol over dynamisering af strukturernes lag, der blotlægger et smukt dybdeperspektiv".


BBC music magazine

2015 September

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By

Helen Wallace (musikanmelder)

2015 September

"This is a Reich for the 21st century".


BBC music magazine

2023 July

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By

Anne Templer

2023 July

"The collaboration of virtuoso percussionist Colin Currie, a group of his favourite musicians and the vocal group Synergy Vocals has resulted in this album of Steve Reich's piece 'Music for 18 Musicians' ... Currie's connection with this music is unashamedly deep, bordering on the spiritual ... Likewise, the listener 's relationship with this recording is dependent on the ability to enter a place of stillness and meditation ... This is music of contemplation and placidity".


Politiken

d. 8. June 1999

By

d. 8. June 1999


Diapason

2015 juin

By

By

Pierre Rigaudière

2015 juin

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or".


The gramophone

2015 July

By

By

Pwyll ap Siôn

2015 July

"Reich has described this recording as 'extraordinary' and he's usually right about performances of his music. Signal's technical control and precision, combined with Lubman's ability to project the broad sweep of the work's internal dimensions, is sustained throughout the recording ... Ensemble Signal's new recording proves that there are still plenty of secrets to be revealed in this music".


The gramophone

2023 August

By

By

Pwyll ap Siôn

2023 August

"Editor's choice: This latest recording by the Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals is likely to raise a few eyebrows but the Scottish percussionist has never been afraid to stamp his own mark on things ... The character and timbral quality of each individual group is ... introduced from the beginning - a quite radical departure from previous recordings, which have tended to emphasise a homogeneous sound quality ... Synergy Vocals' contribution under singer and director Micaela Haslam is a crucial element in the recording's success ... 'Music for 18 Musicians' sounds as wonderfully fresh and innovative as it did almost 50 years ago".


Q

1998 august

By

1998 august


Jazz special

Nr. 154 (2017)

By

By

René Larsen

Nr. 154 (2017)

"Et limiteret bokssæt med komponistens tre essentielle udgivelser ... På "Music for 18 musicians" viser Reich sin mageløse sans for repetitionens saliggørende potentiale. Midt i de evigt changerende strukturer finder man en liflig lethed, der gør værket betagende og berusende. Den stramme æstetik, der går igen i alle bokssættets tre værker, føles frisættende i de lange, hypnotiske passager. Her dyrkes forskydningens svimlende poesi, og det er i sandhed en musik, man kan forsvinde ind i. For alle tre værker gælder det, at disse indspilninger er ultimative udgaver af kompositionerne. Har du endnu ikke oplevet denne bjergtagende musik, har du nu muligheden".