Steve Reich: WORKS 1965 - 1995, Part III of V

The fourth and fifth discs of the Reich set contain Music for Eighteen Musicians, Eight Lines, and Tehillim. These works didn't really inspire positive or negative reactions in me. There was nothing innovative or wowing, but at the same time, I didn't dislike them at all. The only minor note I made was that the ensemble's makeup on Music for Eighteen Musicians grew wearisome towards the last quarter of the work (which is seventy minutes long).

Disc six was The Desert Music (1984) for amplified chorus and orchestra. The work is a text setting of poetry by William Carlos Williams, and it's definitely not vanilla Minimalist music. I found it to be a very attractive piece -- the harmonies are a little more unsettling than in earlier works, and the forces are mixed and contrasted well. I especially like the interplay between the voice as an instrument and the voice as an English line throughout. Of all the works on the first six discs, I think this would be my favourite, and I've listened to it in its entirety (fifty minutes) several times since.

To be continued...

I finished off the five-movie "Jersey trilogy" this past weekend by watching Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It has some great moments, but falters a bit because of its constant self-referential humour. It was definitely more rewarding to watch after having seen the first four movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma).

Yesterday afternoon, I saw a sorority girl raking leaves by the shrubbery in front of her House. She was using the rake like a shovel, and pushing it rather than pulling it across the ground.

I don't think that anecdote needs a punchline.