Record of the Day: Steve Reich, “Tehillim”

Steve Reich
“Tehillim” (Cd Nonesuch 79295)

Steve Reich is one of the greatest living composers, “Tehillim” is one of his most important scores, so the main thing to do is to immediately recommend listening to this masterpiece, written in 1981 for an ensemble of voices, electric organs, winds , strings and percussion.

The contagious energy that is released from this work is such that it involves and interests even those who have always had a wary attitude towards American minimalism, perhaps because “Tehillim” has absolutely nothing to do with minimal music in the strict sense. Reich’s stylistic characteristics continue to consistently present recurring elements in other works, but the ways in which Reich mixes these ingredients are completely different.

There are no repetitions of interlocking patterns, the influences of African music are reduced to a minimum, rather one senses that Reich studied Jewish cantillation in depth (the piece was composed after the musician reconnected with his religion), rediscovering the taste for wide-ranging melodic phrases (articulated along vast polyrhythmic structures) in which the love that Reich has always had for the canon technique is revealed, derived from the study of ancient musicians such as Josquin, Ockeghem and Machaut.

In any case, the result bears the mark of Reich’s personality (one of the few authors who manages to combine innovation and immediate accessibility) printed clearly in every line; the character of jubilation that the musician has poured into this sound transposition of some Psalms pushes him to accentuate the propulsion of the rhythm even more, often using instruments that have a bearing on Jewish religious ceremonies (tambourines, clapping of hands) but without referring directly to no popular tradition, rather “reinventing” his own folklore (in this, as in various timbral solutions, the lesson of his teacher Luciano Berio is clearly present).

“Tehillim” can be analyzed in detail to discover its writing refinements, or you can enjoy it simply by letting yourself be carried away by the irresistible wave that develops within it, in a crescendo that progressively reaches the final hallelujah explosions, which project the voices towards the sky through a shimmer of metallic percussion.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.