That is a great review by Christine.
Steve Reich is my favorite composer and musician of all time, I love him very much and practically deify his music. This piece is my favorte piece of all time, and THIS recording, wow! Musically, it is on par with the nonesuch 1998, and sonically - WOW! It is such a well-recorded and mastered disc that I did not know it wasn't pure DSD until discovering that detail here.
Anyway, after Christine's great review there's not much needed to be said about this disc - her bottom line at the end is exactly what I would say. And on top of her recommendation, I say that every person on this planet simply must give their ears a chance of hearing this piece...
I feel it is one of those classical pieces of music which anyone of almost any genre preference can likely appreciate. Of all the classical movements and "sub-genres", minimalism is one of the most "non-classical, and of Reich's music, Music for 18 Musicians is his most loved and most accessible work. The result, is something that can speak to anybody and when I recommend this piece to my rock-loving friends, I don't say it is classical music but I compare it more to ambience, electronic and really, it is closer to Balanese gamelan and African music than it is to Mozart.
This SACD is my new holy grail recording for Music for 18 Musicians. It is in such wonderful quality, and in surround to boot. What better a piece to immerse myself in than this piece! And musically, it satisfies me as much as the Nonesuch. However I still like to get out the nonesuch from time to time. It does have some things about it that the GVSU one does lack. But GVSU has some things I like about it than Nonesuch also lacks.....such as better timing between the musicians. They spent a year rehearsing the piece and it shows. Not that that's a hugely important point.....
BTW....while this piece may have been used for advertisements for headache pills, I once saw it used for an official youtube advertisement promoting some youtube world peace day about a year ago! Such is the duality, or polarity, of Reich's aesthetic. Another "dual" aspect of his music which I find remarkable, is that it is both exciting and relaxing for me. It's like this ecstatic trance which can be both hypnotic, AND/OR euphoric.
Ok I'll stop now...I could go on forever about this man and his music!
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