Dancing about Architecture

Part IV: Fast

Tehillim ends much as it begins with the ensemble taking a backseat to the contrapuntal voices. However, in Part IV, in contrast to Part I, the counterpoint is much more dense and intricate.

Overall, Tehillim is a great work; I love counterpoint and melodies and this is as good as almost any. It also has that lovely medieval cathedral-like sound. But, I think Early Works is probably more important and even better. Early Works (“It’s Gonna Rain” and “Come Out”, especially) had (and have) things that I haven’t heard anywhere else. And there is music in “It’s Gonna Rain” and “Come Out”. Both have intricacies and subtleties that make for interesting repeated listening. They’re not just concept pieces in which, once you’ve heard the concept, you say, “that’s nice”, and move on.

I recorded this using a Speak & Spell I bent:

“Kirk O’Bain”

I think it might be the first (and maybe the last, also) bent Speak & Spell duet that mentions (or spells out, I mean) both Kurt Cobain and Kurt Gödel ever written (for what it’s worth). It’s almost a throwaway (or maybe it should be a throwaway), but it’s kind of funny and interesting (for a finite number of listens, anyway).

(If you’re interested in learning more about circuit-bending and bent instruments, there’s a recent Wired magazine article on bent-circuit instruments that you can find easily enough with a Google search.)

Did I say that “Jokerman” was the greatest music video of all time? Well, maybe it is. But other times I think “Bastards of Young”, by the Replacements, is:

Part III: Slow

In Part III, the melody in the voices becomes darker. There are two alternating groups of voices: the second of which sing in response to the first. The ensemble in this section has a more traditional classical sound than that in the earlier parts. In Parts I and II, the ensemble outlines the harmonic changes, almost like a jazz pianist or guitarist comping. In this part, the arranging for the ensemble (except for maybe the percussion) sounds like that of a traditional orchestral work.

Part II: Fast

In Part II, the voices sing in unison, rather than in counterpoint. The voices continue to develop long flowing melodies without much repetition. Also, there is a brief section in which the ensemble plays a melody rather than just its usual accompanying harmonic emphases. The syncopated rhythms of the percussion sound a lot like those in “Clapping Music”.

The melodies in this part don’t have so much of the church sound that is present in Part I. From listening to Early Works, there was no reason to think that Reich might have a gift for melody, but this part shows that he indeed does.

Tehillim is a work for voices and ensemble.

Part I: Fast

Part I is nice contrapuntal music for mainly female voices. The backing ensemble is sparse; there are percussion parts played throughout much of it and other very brief sections where instruments emphasize the chord changes. While the vocal parts are reminiscent of medieval church music or maybe Bach, the instrumental ensemble’s backing is much more like that of popular music than it is of classical music. It starts and ends with a single female voice singing a nice extended melody. In the middle, many parts sing contrapuntally with the repetition characteristic of Reich’s earlier work.