RONEN GIVONY Double Sextet and 2x5were commissioned by groups thatseem like rather different ensembles.What was the process in working witheach?

STEVE REICH Double Sextet began witha phone call in 2006 from my friendJenny Bilfield, who was then presidentof Boosey & Hawkes, and who is nowthe head of Lively Arts at Stanford. Shesaid, “You’ve got to write a piece foreighth blackbird.” And I said, “I’veheard they’re really great players.

What’s their instrumentation?” Jenny said, “One flute, one clarinet,piano, one percussion, one violin, one cello.” And I said, “Jenny, there’s noway I can write for that!” She just said, “It’s a great group – why don’t yousleep on it?” Well, I don’t work with one-of-a-kind instruments, I workwith pairs and multiples of identical instruments, so I can have the uni-son canons that have been the backbone of my music since It’s GonnaRain in 1965. I began scratching my head and thinking, well, DifferentTrains is really three, sometimes four string quartets, and the counter-point pieces have musicians playing against multiple recordings of them-selves. What if eighth blackbird were to record themselves? I called Jennyback the next day and said, “If they’re willing to record one sextet andthen play against a tape of themselves in performance...why don’t you askthem?” She asked them, they said great, and we were on. This recordingis of them playing against a tape of themselves, and I think it’s a sensa-tional recording. But they and I both agree that the piece is best in liveperformance when you have twelve players, and I think that is how mostof its life will turn out to be in the long run.

RG And the Bang on a Can All-Stars, with 2x5?

SR Bang on a Can is a group that I have known and loved for – it must bepushing twenty years now. And my own ensemble frequently borrowedfrom the All-Stars – Mark Stewart played Electric Counterpoint manytimes. Evan Ziporyn played and recorded New York Counterpoint andMusic for 18 Musicians. Their original cellist, Maya Beiser, commissionedand recorded Cello Counterpoint, and so on. What happened with 2x5was, I wanted to write for rock instruments, and particularly for the elec-tric bass, believe it or not. Why? Because you can have interlocking basslines, which on an acoustic bass, played pizzicato, would be mud. Playthose same lines on electric bass, and they snap. You can hear every note.When you hear 2x5, the rhythm section, curiously, is the electric bass,

Robert Black, and the piano, played by Evan Ziporyn. The drummer,David Cossin, who has done some amazing things on his own with mymusic, comes in from time to time as extra energy and a new color. It’s adifferent role for the drummer. Whenever I tell people I wrote 2x5 for rockinstruments, they say, “Does the drummer have a click track?” and I say,no, no, you don’t understand [laughs].... In any event 2x5 also uses fivelive players playing against a recording of themselves and it can also beplayed live with ten musicians.

RG Percussion is obviously so front and center in your music, and yet, in2x5, with that incredible, swinging groove, the drummer does seem toplay a different kind of part than he would in your other works.

SR Well, as I said, I really wanted to have the piano and bass be the ongo-ing rhythm section. I’ve used pianos to be the rhythm section before, inEight Lines. As for drum kit I’ve only written for it once before, in ThreeTales. My usual percussion is vibes and/or marimbas, usually with piano,which is, after all, a percussion instrument itself. When the guitars comein...this is one of those accidents that turned out to be a blessing in dis-guise. Through the interaction of my music notation program and mysoftware sampler the guitars mistakenly came out an octave higher. Ibegan to think, “Wait a minute, this is sounding an octave higher than itshould.” I checked with Mark Stewart, and we both agreed that thesechords, which were ringing out bell-like sounds, sounded great. He said,“Keep it that way!” and I said, “Fine, Mark, but it’s not going to be possi-ble to play,” and he said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to use an octave trans-poser!” [laughs] And they did. Clearly 2x5 is not rock and roll, but usesthe same instruments. It’s an example of the essential difference between“classical music” and “popular music.” And that essential difference is:one is notated, and the other is not notated. I had to find musicians who(A), could read, and (B), had a genuine rock feeling, and there Bang on aCan excels. Mark Stewart is not only a classical musician – Eastman-trained as a cellist, actually – but he’s the music director for Paul Simon.So he is a rock musician, and he is a classical musician, it depends on theday of the week. Bryce Dessner went to Yale School of Music, can readanything you put in front of him, and he and his brother, as you know, arethe core of The National, a very up-and-coming young rock band. So he isa rock musician, he is a classical musician, it depends which day of theweek. And similarly with the other musicians in the group – David Cossinplays a lot with Glenn Kotche, the drummer for Wilco. Evan Ziporyn wasdying to play piano, as a gamelan player. Robert Black loves classicalbass but bought a new and beautiful electric and really delivered.

RG In 1994, you wrote, “composers have historically had an ear out forthe folk and popular music of their day and in our time that means rock

and roll. Elements of that music have already found their way into theconcert hall (amplification, synthesizers, electric guitars, etc.) and thiswill undoubtedly continue.” You also wrote, “We are living at a time nowwhen the worlds of concert music and popular music have resumed theirdialogue. Perhaps I have had a hand in this restoration myself, but cer-tainly Kurt Weill began it long before I was born.… From Weill I received,first, confirmation that popular sources are to be taken seriously and, sec-ond, that one must create one’s own instrumental ensemble and vocalstyle.… This dialogue is, of course, the normal way of the musicalworld…. It seems that the wall between serious and popular music waserected primarily by Schoenberg and his followers. Since the late 1960s,this wall has gradually crumbled and we are more or less back to the nor-mal situation where concert musicians and popular musicians take ahealthy interest in what their counterparts have done and are doing.Kurt Weill pointed the way back in the 1920s.” What would Kurt Weillhave made of 2x5?

SR Well, we’ll never know. But, my guess is he would have loved it. Ormaybe I can’t separate my guess from my hope [laughs].... I mean, if hewere around to soak up the musical culture we’re living in, as he soakedup the musical culture he was living in, he would certainly have been in-terested in this direction. Weill was a student of Busoni and obviouslyknew the cabaret scene as well. He had the whole picture. He was thefirst “serious” musician to really understand that deeply – and thenGeorge Gershwin was a close contemporary. In a sense, both these piecescontinue in that tradition. Another thing Weill confirmed for me, as youjust quoted, was the necessity of creating your own instrumental groupsrather than ill-fitting pre-established ones. The Threepenny Opera is amasterpiece partly because Weill wisely avoided the orchestra and substi-tuted his brand of cabaret band. Likewise with vocal style: no operaticvoices but cabaret style singing as well. I discovered back in the 1980sthat I really don’t need to write for the orchestra, because it’s not good or-chestration for me, to have eighteen firsts and sixteen seconds, and so on.I really need one solo amplified violin, or perhaps three, but no more thanthat. And that’s because my music is basically contrapuntal, it’s basicallymore Baroque than Romantic. Having that large instrumental apparatusis just bad acoustical procedure and doesn’t produce the right results. So Iwent back to what I had been doing, which was creating different cham-ber ensembles with each piece. My inspiration is my instrumentation.Double Sextet has strings, winds, percussion and piano, a kind of mini-or-chestra, which I think really works. 2x5 takes a rock group, doubles it,and then has them play something very rhythmic they clearly can play,but haven’t ever played before.

RG Your music has been performed in almost every conceivable kind of

space over the last forty years – art galleries, museums, lofts, concerthalls, and nightclubs – and yet, 2x5 seems to have had a premiere historyunlike any other of your works.

SR When it was played at the premiere in Manchester, it was played in-side of the Velodrome, which is a bicycle racing rink – the fastest in Eu-rope, I understand. And of course we were opening for Kraftwerk, whichis not my usual gig [laughs].

RG Three people you named as never having received the Pulitzer wereDuke Ellington, Morton Feldman, and Conlon Nancarrow. I’m especiallyintrigued by your mention of Nancarrow – on the surface, your musiccould not seem to have less in common with his, and yet you both have es-sentially built your work around unison canons and counterpoint.

SR Well, you know…Duke Ellington said there are two kinds of music:good music and the other music. Conlon Nancarrow did something verywell. It’s not something that I would choose to do, but I think it’s impor-tant for musicians to distinguish between what they like and what theyknow is really well made, innovative music. And if they can’t make thatdistinction then they’re not reliable witnesses. Everybody’s entitled totheir opinion, but that’s not the end of the matter. There’s Nancarrowdoing something that I would not choose to do, that I don’t choose to lis-ten to a great deal, but when I have listened to it, and understood whathe was doing, I thought it was incredibly original and very provocative.György Ligeti clearly understood that as well. Nancarrow was a composerof quality and therefore he should have been recognized.

RG The Pulitzer committee said of Double Sextet, “a major work that dis-plays an ability to channel an initial burst of energy into a large-scalemusical event, built with masterful control and consistently intriguing tothe ear,” which seems like it could have been said about any of yourpieces.

SR Well, it might have been nice to have received the Pulitzer earlier forDrumming or Music for 18 Musicians or Tehillim or Different Trains, butDouble Sextet is one of my best pieces – so it all worked out. And, a fewyears earlier I was awarded the Premium Imperiale in Tokyo and thePolar Prize in Stockholm, so I’ve been very fortunate.

The Pulitzer is an American prize, and I’m an American. Everyonewants to be recognized in their own country. It’s gone to Charles Ives,Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, John Adams, and David Lang amongothers, and I’m very happy to join them.

April, 2010

and roll. Elements of that music have already found their way into theconcert hall (amplification, synthesizers, electric guitars, etc.) and thiswill undoubtedly continue.” You also wrote, “We are living at a time nowwhen the worlds of concert music and popular music have resumed theirdialogue. Perhaps I have had a hand in this restoration myself, but cer-tainly Kurt Weill began it long before I was born.… From Weill I received,first, confirmation that popular sources are to be taken seriously and, sec-ond, that one must create one’s own instrumental ensemble and vocalstyle.… This dialogue is, of course, the normal way of the musicalworld…. It seems that the wall between serious and popular music waserected primarily by Schoenberg and his followers. Since the late 1960s,this wall has gradually crumbled and we are more or less back to the nor-mal situation where concert musicians and popular musicians take ahealthy interest in what their counterparts have done and are doing.Kurt Weill pointed the way back in the 1920s.” What would Kurt Weillhave made of 2x5?

SR Well, we’ll never know. But, my guess is he would have loved it. Ormaybe I can’t separate my guess from my hope [laughs].... I mean, if hewere around to soak up the musical culture we’re living in, as he soakedup the musical culture he was living in, he would certainly have been in-terested in this direction. Weill was a student of Busoni and obviouslyknew the cabaret scene as well. He had the whole picture. He was thefirst “serious” musician to really understand that deeply – and thenGeorge Gershwin was a close contemporary. In a sense, both these piecescontinue in that tradition. Another thing Weill confirmed for me, as youjust quoted, was the necessity of creating your own instrumental groupsrather than ill-fitting pre-established ones. The Threepenny Opera is amasterpiece partly because Weill wisely avoided the orchestra and substi-tuted his brand of cabaret band. Likewise with vocal style: no operaticvoices but cabaret style singing as well. I discovered back in the 1980sthat I really don’t need to write for the orchestra, because it’s not good or-chestration for me, to have eighteen firsts and sixteen seconds, and so on.I really need one solo amplified violin, or perhaps three, but no more thanthat. And that’s because my music is basically contrapuntal, it’s basicallymore Baroque than Romantic. Having that large instrumental apparatusis just bad acoustical procedure and doesn’t produce the right results. So Iwent back to what I had been doing, which was creating different cham-ber ensembles with each piece. My inspiration is my instrumentation.Double Sextet has strings, winds, percussion and piano, a kind of mini-or-chestra, which I think really works. 2x5 takes a rock group, doubles it,and then has them play something very rhythmic they clearly can play,but haven’t ever played before.

RG Your music has been performed in almost every conceivable kind of

space over the last forty years – art galleries, museums, lofts, concerthalls, and nightclubs – and yet, 2x5 seems to have had a premiere historyunlike any other of your works.

SR When it was played at the premiere in Manchester, it was played in-side of the Velodrome, which is a bicycle racing rink – the fastest in Eu-rope, I understand. And of course we were opening for Kraftwerk, whichis not my usual gig [laughs].

RG Three people you named as never having received the Pulitzer wereDuke Ellington, Morton Feldman, and Conlon Nancarrow. I’m especiallyintrigued by your mention of Nancarrow – on the surface, your musiccould not seem to have less in common with his, and yet you both have es-sentially built your work around unison canons and counterpoint.

SR Well, you know…Duke Ellington said there are two kinds of music:good music and the other music. Conlon Nancarrow did something verywell. It’s not something that I would choose to do, but I think it’s impor-tant for musicians to distinguish between what they like and what theyknow is really well made, innovative music. And if they can’t make thatdistinction then they’re not reliable witnesses. Everybody’s entitled totheir opinion, but that’s not the end of the matter. There’s Nancarrowdoing something that I would not choose to do, that I don’t choose to lis-ten to a great deal, but when I have listened to it, and understood whathe was doing, I thought it was incredibly original and very provocative.György Ligeti clearly understood that as well. Nancarrow was a composerof quality and therefore he should have been recognized.

RG The Pulitzer committee said of Double Sextet, “a major work that dis-plays an ability to channel an initial burst of energy into a large-scalemusical event, built with masterful control and consistently intriguing tothe ear,” which seems like it could have been said about any of yourpieces.

SR Well, it might have been nice to have received the Pulitzer earlier forDrumming or Music for 18 Musicians or Tehillim or Different Trains, butDouble Sextet is one of my best pieces – so it all worked out. And, a fewyears earlier I was awarded the Premium Imperiale in Tokyo and thePolar Prize in Stockholm, so I’ve been very fortunate.

The Pulitzer is an American prize, and I’m an American. Everyonewants to be recognized in their own country. It’s gone to Charles Ives,Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, John Adams, and David Lang amongothers, and I’m very happy to join them.

April, 2010

Double Sexteteighth blackbird

Tim Munro, fluteMichael J. Maccaferri, clarinetMatt Albert, violinNicholas Photinos, celloMatthew Duvall, vibraphoneLisa Kaplan, piano

Grammy-winning eighth blackbird delivers provocative, inspiring per-formances to audiences of all ages and persuasions. Combining bracingvirtuosity with an alluring sense of irreverence and style, the sextet de-bunks the myth that contemporary music is only for a cerebral few, in-habiting the sound-world of new music with comfort, conviction, andinfectious enthusiasm.

Often playing from memory with its uniquely theatrical performance aes-thetic, eighth blackbird has commissioned and played works by notablecomposers from George Perle to Steve Reich; it has performed at impor-tant venues and festivals around the country, from Carnegie Hall to LA’sDisney Hall, and collaborated with top musicians from Dawn Upshaw toWilco’s Glenn Kotche. Leading, collaborating with and mentoring a newgeneration of musicians are crucial to the group's mission and reflected inits many residencies, awards, media recognition, and curatorial roles.

eighth blackbird was founded in 1996 at the Oberlin Conservatory ofMusic.

www.eighthblackbird.com

Matthew Duvall endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, and Vic Firth sticks and mallets

2x5Bang on a Can

Bryce Dessner, Mark Stewart, electric guitarsRobert Black, electric bassEvan Ziporyn, pianoDavid Cossin, drums

Founded in 1992 by Bang on a Can co-founders Michael Gordon, DavidLang, and Julia Wolfe, the Bang on a Can All-Stars have become knownworldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings oftoday’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries betweenclassical, jazz, rock, world, and experimental music, this six-member am-plified ensemble from New York plays music from uncharted territories,defying categories, and has shattered the definition of what concert musicis today. The group’s celebrated projects and collaborations include theirlandmark recordings of Brian Eno’s ambient classic Music for Airportsand Terry Riley’s In C, as well as live performances with Philip Glass,Meredith Monk, Don Byron, Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore, and others.The All-Stars were awarded Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year in2005 and have been heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle forcontemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Recent highlightsinclude the world premiere of Steve Reich’s 2x5 at the 2009 ManchesterFestival; the group’s China debut at the Beijing Music Festival; the U.S.tour and Carnegie Hall performance of Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, anevening-length staged concert with Trio Mediaeval. With recordings onCantaloupe, Sony, Universal, and Nonesuch, they can also be heard onthe Nonesuch recording of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint / EightLines / Four Organs.

For up-to-date information regarding Bang on a Can programs, events,and CD releases, please visit www.bangonacan.org.

Double Sexteteighth blackbird

Tim Munro, fluteMichael J. Maccaferri, clarinetMatt Albert, violinNicholas Photinos, celloMatthew Duvall, vibraphoneLisa Kaplan, piano

Grammy-winning eighth blackbird delivers provocative, inspiring per-formances to audiences of all ages and persuasions. Combining bracingvirtuosity with an alluring sense of irreverence and style, the sextet de-bunks the myth that contemporary music is only for a cerebral few, in-habiting the sound-world of new music with comfort, conviction, andinfectious enthusiasm.

Often playing from memory with its uniquely theatrical performance aes-thetic, eighth blackbird has commissioned and played works by notablecomposers from George Perle to Steve Reich; it has performed at impor-tant venues and festivals around the country, from Carnegie Hall to LA’sDisney Hall, and collaborated with top musicians from Dawn Upshaw toWilco’s Glenn Kotche. Leading, collaborating with and mentoring a newgeneration of musicians are crucial to the group's mission and reflected inits many residencies, awards, media recognition, and curatorial roles.

eighth blackbird was founded in 1996 at the Oberlin Conservatory ofMusic.

www.eighthblackbird.com

Matthew Duvall endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, and Vic Firth sticks and mallets

2x5Bang on a Can

Bryce Dessner, Mark Stewart, electric guitarsRobert Black, electric bassEvan Ziporyn, pianoDavid Cossin, drums

Founded in 1992 by Bang on a Can co-founders Michael Gordon, DavidLang, and Julia Wolfe, the Bang on a Can All-Stars have become knownworldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings oftoday’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries betweenclassical, jazz, rock, world, and experimental music, this six-member am-plified ensemble from New York plays music from uncharted territories,defying categories, and has shattered the definition of what concert musicis today. The group’s celebrated projects and collaborations include theirlandmark recordings of Brian Eno’s ambient classic Music for Airportsand Terry Riley’s In C, as well as live performances with Philip Glass,Meredith Monk, Don Byron, Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore, and others.The All-Stars were awarded Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year in2005 and have been heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle forcontemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Recent highlightsinclude the world premiere of Steve Reich’s 2x5 at the 2009 ManchesterFestival; the group’s China debut at the Beijing Music Festival; the U.S.tour and Carnegie Hall performance of Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, anevening-length staged concert with Trio Mediaeval. With recordings onCantaloupe, Sony, Universal, and Nonesuch, they can also be heard onthe Nonesuch recording of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint / EightLines / Four Organs.

For up-to-date information regarding Bang on a Can programs, events,and CD releases, please visit www.bangonacan.org.

Produced by Judith Sherman

Double SextetRecorded August 27–28, 2009, at WFMT Studio, Chicago, IL Engineered by Bill MayloneEditing Assistant: Jeanne VelonisMixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John KilgoreSound & Recording, New York, NY

2x5Recorded April 13 & 26, 2009, and February 4 & 26, 2010, at John KilgoreSound & RecordingEngineered by John Kilgore Assistant Engineers: Brien Brannigan, Eric MarkertMixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John KilgoreSound & Recording

Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland,ME

Design by John Gall

Cover Art © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. 0 – 9, 1959,encaustic and collage on canvas, 20 1/8” x 35”, from the collection of thePeter and Irene Ludwig Foundation.

Photograph of Steve Reich by Jeffrey Herman

For Nonesuch Records:Production Coordinator: Arthur MoorheadEditorial Coordinator: Robert Edridge-WaksProduction Supervisor: Karina Beznicki

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Double Sextet was commissioned by eighth blackbird through the supportof the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund of theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Liverpool Culture Com-pany – European Capital of Culture 2008, the Modlin Center for the Artsat the University of Richmond, Orange County Performing Arts Center,and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music – Music08 Festival.

2x5 was commissioned by the Manchester International Festival in asso-ciation with Casa da Música (Porto).

This recording was made possible, in part, by support from TheAaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program.

Special Thanks to:All the musicians in eighth blackbird and Bang on a Can, Judith Sher-man, John Kilgore and Bob Ludwig, Bob Hurwitz, Peter Clancy, DavidBither, Karina Beznicki, Robert Edridge-Waks, Ronen Givony, ArthurMoorhead, Gregg Schaufeld, Melissa Cusick and everyone at Nonesuch,Zizi Mueller, Maggie Heskin, Sarah Baird, Janis Susskind, Emma Kerrand everyone at Boosey & Hawkes in New York and London, Jenny Bil-field, Jasper Johns, Susan Sollins, Jim Kendrick, The Aaron CoplandFund for Music, Andrew Rosner, Ralph Blackbourn, Howard Stokar,Kenny Savelson, Christopher Richardson, Alex Poots, Peter Hylenski

Music published by Hendon Music Inc./Boosey & Hawkes (BMI)

www.stevereich.comwww.nonesuch.com

Nonesuch Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.π & © 2010 Nonesuch Records Inc. for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside ofthe United States. Warning: unauthorized reproduction of this recording is prohibited by federal law andsubject to criminal prosecution.

Produced by Judith Sherman

Double SextetRecorded August 27–28, 2009, at WFMT Studio, Chicago, IL Engineered by Bill MayloneEditing Assistant: Jeanne VelonisMixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John KilgoreSound & Recording, New York, NY

2x5Recorded April 13 & 26, 2009, and February 4 & 26, 2010, at John KilgoreSound & RecordingEngineered by John Kilgore Assistant Engineers: Brien Brannigan, Eric MarkertMixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John KilgoreSound & Recording

Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland,ME

Design by John Gall

Cover Art © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. 0 – 9, 1959,encaustic and collage on canvas, 20 1/8” x 35”, from the collection of thePeter and Irene Ludwig Foundation.

Photograph of Steve Reich by Jeffrey Herman

For Nonesuch Records:Production Coordinator: Arthur MoorheadEditorial Coordinator: Robert Edridge-WaksProduction Supervisor: Karina Beznicki

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Double Sextet was commissioned by eighth blackbird through the supportof the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund of theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Liverpool Culture Com-pany – European Capital of Culture 2008, the Modlin Center for the Artsat the University of Richmond, Orange County Performing Arts Center,and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music – Music08 Festival.

2x5 was commissioned by the Manchester International Festival in asso-ciation with Casa da Música (Porto).

This recording was made possible, in part, by support from TheAaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program.

Special Thanks to:All the musicians in eighth blackbird and Bang on a Can, Judith Sher-man, John Kilgore and Bob Ludwig, Bob Hurwitz, Peter Clancy, DavidBither, Karina Beznicki, Robert Edridge-Waks, Ronen Givony, ArthurMoorhead, Gregg Schaufeld, Melissa Cusick and everyone at Nonesuch,Zizi Mueller, Maggie Heskin, Sarah Baird, Janis Susskind, Emma Kerrand everyone at Boosey & Hawkes in New York and London, Jenny Bil-field, Jasper Johns, Susan Sollins, Jim Kendrick, The Aaron CoplandFund for Music, Andrew Rosner, Ralph Blackbourn, Howard Stokar,Kenny Savelson, Christopher Richardson, Alex Poots, Peter Hylenski

Music published by Hendon Music Inc./Boosey & Hawkes (BMI)

www.stevereich.comwww.nonesuch.com

Nonesuch Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.π & © 2010 Nonesuch Records Inc. for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside ofthe United States. Warning: unauthorized reproduction of this recording is prohibited by federal law andsubject to criminal prosecution.

RONEN GIVONY Double Sextet and 2x5were commissioned by groups thatseem like rather different ensembles.What was the process in working witheach?

STEVE REICH Double Sextet began witha phone call in 2006 from my friendJenny Bilfield, who was then presidentof Boosey & Hawkes, and who is nowthe head of Lively Arts at Stanford. Shesaid, “You’ve got to write a piece foreighth blackbird.” And I said, “I’veheard they’re really great players.

What’s their instrumentation?” Jenny said, “One flute, one clarinet,piano, one percussion, one violin, one cello.” And I said, “Jenny, there’s noway I can write for that!” She just said, “It’s a great group – why don’t yousleep on it?” Well, I don’t work with one-of-a-kind instruments, I workwith pairs and multiples of identical instruments, so I can have the uni-son canons that have been the backbone of my music since It’s GonnaRain in 1965. I began scratching my head and thinking, well, DifferentTrains is really three, sometimes four string quartets, and the counter-point pieces have musicians playing against multiple recordings of them-selves. What if eighth blackbird were to record themselves? I called Jennyback the next day and said, “If they’re willing to record one sextet andthen play against a tape of themselves in performance...why don’t you askthem?” She asked them, they said great, and we were on. This recordingis of them playing against a tape of themselves, and I think it’s a sensa-tional recording. But they and I both agree that the piece is best in liveperformance when you have twelve players, and I think that is how mostof its life will turn out to be in the long run.

RG And the Bang on a Can All-Stars, with 2x5?

SR Bang on a Can is a group that I have known and loved for – it must bepushing twenty years now. And my own ensemble frequently borrowedfrom the All-Stars – Mark Stewart played Electric Counterpoint manytimes. Evan Ziporyn played and recorded New York Counterpoint andMusic for 18 Musicians. Their original cellist, Maya Beiser, commissionedand recorded Cello Counterpoint, and so on. What happened with 2x5was, I wanted to write for rock instruments, and particularly for the elec-tric bass, believe it or not. Why? Because you can have interlocking basslines, which on an acoustic bass, played pizzicato, would be mud. Playthose same lines on electric bass, and they snap. You can hear every note.When you hear 2x5, the rhythm section, curiously, is the electric bass,

Robert Black, and the piano, played by Evan Ziporyn. The drummer,David Cossin, who has done some amazing things on his own with mymusic, comes in from time to time as extra energy and a new color. It’s adifferent role for the drummer. Whenever I tell people I wrote 2x5 for rockinstruments, they say, “Does the drummer have a click track?” and I say,no, no, you don’t understand [laughs].... In any event 2x5 also uses fivelive players playing against a recording of themselves and it can also beplayed live with ten musicians.

RG Percussion is obviously so front and center in your music, and yet, in2x5, with that incredible, swinging groove, the drummer does seem toplay a different kind of part than he would in your other works.

SR Well, as I said, I really wanted to have the piano and bass be the ongo-ing rhythm section. I’ve used pianos to be the rhythm section before, inEight Lines. As for drum kit I’ve only written for it once before, in ThreeTales. My usual percussion is vibes and/or marimbas, usually with piano,which is, after all, a percussion instrument itself. When the guitars comein...this is one of those accidents that turned out to be a blessing in dis-guise. Through the interaction of my music notation program and mysoftware sampler the guitars mistakenly came out an octave higher. Ibegan to think, “Wait a minute, this is sounding an octave higher than itshould.” I checked with Mark Stewart, and we both agreed that thesechords, which were ringing out bell-like sounds, sounded great. He said,“Keep it that way!” and I said, “Fine, Mark, but it’s not going to be possi-ble to play,” and he said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to use an octave trans-poser!” [laughs] And they did. Clearly 2x5 is not rock and roll, but usesthe same instruments. It’s an example of the essential difference between“classical music” and “popular music.” And that essential difference is:one is notated, and the other is not notated. I had to find musicians who(A), could read, and (B), had a genuine rock feeling, and there Bang on aCan excels. Mark Stewart is not only a classical musician – Eastman-trained as a cellist, actually – but he’s the music director for Paul Simon.So he is a rock musician, and he is a classical musician, it depends on theday of the week. Bryce Dessner went to Yale School of Music, can readanything you put in front of him, and he and his brother, as you know, arethe core of The National, a very up-and-coming young rock band. So he isa rock musician, he is a classical musician, it depends which day of theweek. And similarly with the other musicians in the group – David Cossinplays a lot with Glenn Kotche, the drummer for Wilco. Evan Ziporyn wasdying to play piano, as a gamelan player. Robert Black loves classicalbass but bought a new and beautiful electric and really delivered.

RG In 1994, you wrote, “composers have historically had an ear out forthe folk and popular music of their day and in our time that means rock