Steve Reich - The Desert Music (1985)

Steve Reich kicked off his relationship with Nonesuch, which continues to this day, in grand style.  The Desert Music, composed 1982-84, augmented his usual ensemble with the chorus and members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic.  The sung text is extracted from William Carlos Williams' poems Theocritus: Idyl I, The Orchestra and Asphodel, That Greeny Flower.  It was Reich's most ambitious work so far, and remains one of his most impressive and thrilling to listen to.  Set in an arch structure, bookended by that trademark Reichian pulse, The Desert Music takes everything Reich had been experimenting with up until the early 80s and creates a true epic journey.

link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Drumming, Six Pianos etc
Octet etc
Tehilim
Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards
Vermont Counterpoint / Eight Lines
Sextet / Six Marimbas + bonus concert feat. Music For 18 Musicians
Nagoya Marimbas