Steve Reich, Ensemble Avantgarde – Four Organs • Phase Patterns • Pendulum Music

This collection gathers together several of Steve Reich's compositions from 1967-1970, including three pieces for keyboards and three brief performances of an unusual work for freely swinging microphones. 'Phase Patterns' and 'Four Organs' here are given vibrant new readings by members of the German new music group, Ensemble Avant Garde. The electric organs play short, repeated patterns that gradually go in and out of phase with each other, creating a shimmering matrix of sound that is both hypnotic and fascinating. 'Piano Phase', for two pianos, uses a similar methodology but comes to quite different ends due to the acoustic nature of the instrument. Once again, brief sequences are played, first in unison then gradually sliding out of phase. Instead of the overlapping sonic aura produced by the organs, however, the unsustained piano notes generate an amazingly complex fabric of flickering patterns.

One can clearly hear the seeds being sewn for Reich's later masterworks herein. The three versions of 'Pendulum Music' are intriguing curiosities in which the music is produced by swinging microphones suspended from long chords past loudspeakers, the interference and feedback briefly generated becoming the substance of the piece. This is a vital document of Steve Reich's earlier work and should be heard by any fan of Reich or minimalism in general.

This is the 2022 limited edition repress of 500 items on 180gm vinyl housed in a gatefold cover.

Tracklist:
A1 Four Organs
A2 Pendulum Music 1
B1 Phase Patterns
B2 Pendulum Music 2