Six Pianos (1973). Steve Reich

Originating as an experiment at a New York music store, Six Pianos is in fact scored for six simultaneous pianos (and has also been adapted for six marimbas).  It's an exercise in "drumming on the keyboard" as well as Steve Reich's experiments in phase shifting.

I'm listening to the Piano Circus performance on Argo (currently out of print), which while monochromatic to say the least, is also fast-paced, accented and sometimes exciting. Its companion piece on the CD, Terry Riley's In C also in an all piano version, in contrast sounds mechanical and rigid.

Comments

[James Thomson]

I'm listening to Six Marimabas right now. It has been almost 20 years since I have heard Six Pianos on Deutche Gram. recording. The effect is so different, that when I got this recording of Six Marimbas in the 10 CD Reich collection, I thought that this was a different composition. Now -oh well I'm slow- I'm realizing through WEB search that these two pieces are the same composition...right? I see also that Deutche Gram has re-released the Six Pianos with "Variations" (I wish Mr. Reich would leave his titles alone - I assume this is his "Variations for Orchestra" recorded by Edo/San Francisco also quite a few years ago). Anyway, I need to buy and revisit the Six Piano on Deutche Gram., I remember it as faster and harder to listen to but in the end more intriguing and satisfying than the smooth Marimbas version I have. I first turned on to Reich by knowing that I had to buy him unknown on the spot when I saw the score across the cover on the Octet vinyl in the late 70's. After that and the also love affair with Music for 18 Musicians, every thing I bought I said - Steve, you are not going to fool me this time, it's the same old same old, but the infection began and I've been a enjoyer of his music all these years. I once told myself at tender age of early 20's that Music for 18 Musicians was as emotionally dynamic as a Mahler Symphony and damned if I didn't read the same comparison by a critic in a newspaper article a year or two later. Anyway, that's my Reich babble at the moment.