Today I stumbled into something new. On NPR (via Dave Winer), I found a wonderful recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians by the Grand Valley State New Music Ensemble.
GVSU is on west side of Michigan and not that well known for their music program, but this recording and the amount of time they put into perfecting it is rather astounding. It’s a bit like listening to live ambient, but amazingly rich and textured. I’m not usually into this kind of thing, but this particular composition is just wonderful. There’s also a much higher quality Quicktime of the trailer available if you’re interested.
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3 replies on “Grand Valley State’s New Music Ensemble”
What the…reading up on the Dojo aggregator to find that you not only know who Steve Reich is but really enjoy Music for 18 Musicians was kind of a shock to the system…I didn’t think anyone from the Dojo committer group was even aware of 20th C Contemporary Music, let alone a fan :)
I wouldn’t say I’m normally a huge fan, I just really enjoyed this recording and the orchestra is from Michigan so I can’t help but root for ’em. Anything else in this vein you’d suggest listening to?
In general, anything from Steve Reich if this is your cup of tea. Some prefer the older material (Different Trains, Come Out) and some prefer the newer (Deserts) but it really depends on what your own personal tastes are. I think that the younger Reich was a bit more rebellious and political, whereas the more mature Reich goes a bit more for the abstract and lets you draw your own conclusions, so…