The Cave (1994). Steve Reich /reich or glass?/

Devin Hurd points out the Paul Bailey Ensemble describing themselves in various ways, including answering the age-old "this or that" questions: "Reich or Glass?" and "Schoenberg or Stravinsky?" Devin himself chooses a third alternative that "addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the original pair," with Terry Riley and Bela Bartok.

I'll do the latter one first. I just don't care about Schoenberg or Stravinsky. I've heard more of the music of the latter but to little effect. I also know they both migrated to the US later in life so I could conceivably include them in my themed blog. But so far, I have not been tempted. I would like to blog about another, earlier, European, Busoni, who captivates me, even if his music is probably flawed. (Alex Ross article including Busoni here).

On the Reich/Glass question, I have to go back fifteen years when I was immersed in contemporary music and listening to everything I could find by John Adams, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Part, and Gyorgy Ligeti (though for some reason, not so much Terry Riley). At the time, I would have said Steve Reich was the most notable.  Today, to my surprise, I am going to say Philip Glass. Glass being so prolific may work in his favor, in that I am nowhere close to hearing everything he is done, while I've pretty much worked my way through the catalog of everyone else. I am on a self-imposed sabbatical from the music of John Adams; I haven't even heard Transmigration yet, nor the Marin Alsop Shaker Loops on Naxos. My interest in Part has also diminished, for no apparent reason.

I used to consider Reich the most innovative composer of the five, but with the exception of City Life and Nagoya Marimbas, his new compositions do not interest me much, specifically The Cave and Three Tales. Those are large works and I never liked Drumming for that matter, either. And in hindsight, maybe Ligeti was the most original of these composers. As a final Reich-ian barometer, I have had phases where Reich's Four Organs was genius, then torture, but having listened to the Bang on a Can recording recently, I like it again. Ask me again in 2020...