Reich: The Desert Music; Three Movements - review

Chorus Sine Nomine/Tonkünstler O Niederösterreich/Järvi (Chandos)Works for full orchestra are rare from Steve Reich. Apart from the two works here, only the psalm setting Tehillim and the rather unsatisfactory Variations from 1979 demand a full complement of woodwind, strings and brass. The 45-minute arch-like span of The Desert Music embeds choral settings of William Carlos Williams in textures that, for all their orchestral richness and multi-voiced complexity, still retain the hard-edged ...

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