Reich: Eight Lines

“These performances have the composer's approval (he says they 'pulse with life' and praises the LSRE's 'superb feel').” BBC Music Magazine, April 2008 ****

“Time was when Steve Reich's music was the exclusive domain of his own ensemble: then he was signed to Boosey & Hawkes and his scores were eagerly picked up by a second generation of interpreters. The result has done nothing but good for Reich's music as 'outsider' groups inevitably bring fresh nuance to works designed for a specific pool of musicians. The London Steve Reich Ensemble – who trade under the great man's name with his blessing – was formed by students from the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 and they quickly demonstrate that Reich's sleeve-note claim that 'these performances pulse with life' is more than puffery. Eight Lines – a 1983 rewrite of the Octet – is less sour than the Reich Ensemble's own recording, and sits comfortably in a conversational slipstream that is highly rewarding. Piano Phase is monumental and steely, again a point of departure from the original.
But most intriguing is the Sextet from 1984, a work that has been unfairly neglected on disc since Reich's recording. Scored for a trademark ensemble of keyboards and mallet percussion, Reich focuses on how he might make the ensemble sound more instrument-heavy than it actually is. Curvaceous bowed vibraphone strokes are a beautiful counterpoint to the inherently brittle ensemble attack and are judiciously highlighted.
The cleanness of the recording certainly helps: low-register piano figurations have a throbbing clarity that creates telling perspective against the rest of the ensemble.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010