Sextet, by Steve Reich (FULL PERFORMANCE)

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Sextet, by Steve Reich

Performed by Yale Percussion Group
Jonny Allen | Garrett Arney | Doug Perry | Terry Sweeney | Georgi Videnov | Mari Yoshinaga

I. [Fast] - 0:16
II. [Moderate] - 10:13
III. [Slow] - 14:20
IV. [Moderate] - 16:50
V. [Fast] - 20:12

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ABOUT THE PIECE:
Sextet was commissioned by Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians and by the French Government for the Nexus Percussion Ensemble. The first performance under the title Music for percussion and Keyboards was given at the Centre Pompidou in Paris on 19 December 1984 by Nexus with guest artists playing keyboards. The last movement was then revised in January 1985 and the title shortened to Sextet. The American premiere was presented by Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s New Wave Festival on 31 October 1985 as the music for Ms. Dean’s Impact. The American concert premiere by Steve Reich and Musicians was performed on the Great performers Series at Avery Fisher Hall on 20 January 1986. Sextet (1985) for 4 percussionists and 2 keyboard players is score for 3 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, 2 bass drums, crotales, sticks, tam-tam, 2 pianos and 2 synthesizers. The duration is about 28 minutes.

The work is in five movements played without pause. The relationship of the five movements is that of an arch form A-B-C-B-A. The first and last movements are fast, the second and fourth moderate and the third, slow. Changes of tempo are made abruptly at the beginning of new movements by metric modulation to either get slower or faster. Movements are also organized harmonically wit the chord cycle for the first and fifth, another for the second and fourth, and yet another for the third. The harmonies used are largely dominant chords with added tones creating a somewhat darker, chromatic and more varied harmonic language were suggested by The Desert Music (1984).

Percussion instruments mostly produce sounds of relatively short duration. In this piece I was interested in overcoming that limitation. The use of the bowed vibraphone, not merely as a passing effect, but as a basic instrumental voice in the second movement, was one means of getting long continuous sounds not possible with piano. The mallet instruments (marimba, vibraphone etc) are basically instruments of high and middle register without a low range. To overcome this limit the bass drum was used doubling the piano or synthesizer played in their lower register, particularly in the second, third and fourth movements.

Compositional techniques used include some introduced in my music as early as Drumming in 1971. In particular the substitution of beats for rests to "build-up" a canon between two or more identical instruments playing the same repeating pattern is used extensively in the first and last movements. Sudden change of rhythmic position (or phase) of one voice in an overall repeating contrapuntal web first occurs in my Six Pianos of 1973 and occurs throughout this work. Double canons, where one canon moves slowly (the bowed vibraphones) and the second moves quickly (the pianos), first appear in my music in Octet of 1979. Techniques influenced by African music, where the basic ambiguity in meters of 12 beats is between 3 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 3, appear in the third and fifth movements. A rhythmically ambiguous pattern is played by vibraphones in the third movement, but at a much faster tempo. The result is to change the perception of what is in fact not changing. Another related, more recent techniques appearing near the end of the fourth movement is to gradually remove the melodic material in the synthesizers leaving the accompaniment of the 2 vibraphones to become the new melodic focus. Similarly the accompaniment in the piano in the second movement becomes the melody for the synthesizer in the fourth movement. The ambiguity here is between which is melody and which is accompaniment. In music which uses a great deal of repetition I believe it is precisely these kinds of ambiguities that give vitality and life

— Steve Reich
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what I so much like in Reich's music is the interplay between people - there 's no stars - they make music - together

skolamaria
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This remains one of the most impressive performances of any piece of music I have seen.

jamessymington
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Actually, this is the best performance of Reich's Sextet! So precise, and yet so flexible, swing like, with notes and melodic fragments which bounce and resonate, and not at all square, rigid, or dry as in many other performances. The pacing is wonderful. Also, pulling the bows up works so much better than pushing them down, and makes so much more sense in order to get a natural fading away of sound, and diminuendo for each note and chord. And to top of it all, memorized?! Chapeau!! Magical piece, and performance!

ondinehd
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Completely hypnotizing music and still cristal clear. This Yale Pecussion Group deserves all the superlatives they can get. This music has knocked me out many times and still does!

staffanolofsson
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Je croyais connaître le sextet, mais interprété de cette manière, c'est sublime, complètement envoûtant, avec une qualité de premier ordre. Merci à Steve Reich et aux musiciens de nous donner un tel moment de bonheur.

bernardpieton
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I have yet to hear anything composed by Steve Reich that isn't compelling, provocative or sublime. This is a superb performance. Thank you for the hard work and months of preparation that went into it.

TheJimNicholson
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To the folk at Vic Firth who saw fit to record and post this but mostly to these performers, thank you. What an absolutely sublime and exceptional composition and performance. Over the months I've played this over and over and it never fails to move me.

aguynamedshelly
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Not only a brilliant performance, but the recording is fantastic, the blend between electronic and acoustics sounds is perfect!

bloodstock
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This is one of my favorite videos to watch while I'm flying across the country. It perfectly mirrors the experience: Hurtling through space at the same time that it seems nothing is changing, or only imperceptibly so...

PeteBeat
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1:54 - 10:13 that keyboardist was bringing the heat

kylereasterson
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Mari has such a flow when performing this piece. Very hypnotising 🙌🏻

SantiagoKodela
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Not only is this one of the best performances of this piece I have heard, but HOW. ON. EARTH. did you all memorize it?? I have played this piece, so I am aware it has patterns that repeat for 4x, 7x, 13x, 43x, etc. Playing the piece is difficult enough (which you all make look so easy!), but playing it from memory should qualify as an Olympian feat. Absolutely breathtaking. Congrats for all your hard work!

twosticks
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This piece kept me captivated for 25 minutes...wow! What a great performance.

daviddenton
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Mari Yoshinaga moves so nice. Love her movements in rytm with the music.

staffanolofsson
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I think I would describe this as "ambeint music on speed". I find it very relaxaing, but at the same time stimulating, which is a nice state to be in.

tomrobingray
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Stunning performance - I did not intend to watch it all the way through, but I could not stop. I love this piece now more than ever having seen you perform it.

jonathandegann
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Absolument magique ! Musique incroyable, performance parfaite. J'en suis sans voix !

ald
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I so love this performance. I listen to it regularly as it brings me great joy AND helps me concentrate and get into a zone of optimal work performance.

pinkobreftempsla
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I clicked on this just on a whim. Now I can't pull myself away from it. Very exciting music, repetitions and all. Also, I had no idea you could play and marimba or a xylophone with a bow. Nice swinging jazz groove in the final section.

MrRezillo
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Listened to this many scores of times, but never actually watched a performance. What a treat! The Music of the Spheres leading to almost a state of absolute bliss! Transcendent.

MrCjsb