Electric Counterpoint - Steve Reich

Minimalism
1. Features:
  1. Repetition of simple ideas
    1. Small changes introduced gradually
  2. Melodies built up with note addition
  3. Layered textures
  4. Diatonic harmony
  5. Slow harmonic rhythm
  6. Little variety in instrumentation
2. Other composers: Phillip Glass and John Adams
Third Movement
1. Written for jazz guitarist Pat Metheny
2. First performed in 1987
3. In 3 movements
Instrumentation
1. For live guitar accompanied by parts for seven guitars and two bass guitars that have been pre-recorded
2. Live guitar amplified
Structure
1. Built up in three layers:
  1. 1) Syncopated quaver motif introduced by the live guitar and top four parts, one at a time
  2. 2) A new syncopated motif introduced by bass guitars
  3. 3) Sustained motif, built around three chords
    1. Begins with live guitar then transferred to other parts
  4. After layers have been built up, 2 and 3 fade out, leaving 1 to continue and end
Melody and Texture
1. One-bar motif repeated to form an ostinato
  1. Introduced at different times by different parts, creating a canon
2. Melodies built up through gradual note addition
3. Resultant melodies used
4. Polyphonic
Rhythm, Metre and Tempo
1. Main metre is 3/2 (12 quavers in a bar)
2. 192 crochets per minute - very fast
3. Little rhythmic variety - mostly repeating patterns
4. Syncopation
5. Metric displacement: guitars play the same motif but start in different parts of the bar
6. Polymetre
  1. Towards the end, some parts go into 12/8 while others stay in 3/2
Harmony and Tonality
1. G major, with some shorter sections in E flat major
  1. Diatonic
2. Hexatonic scales
3. No cadences. Last chord made up of the notes B and E
Dynamics
1. Fairly constant
2. Some parts gradually fade out

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Electric Counterpoint - Steve Reich

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