- Audio CD (Sep 24 2002)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Nonesuch
- ASIN: B000005J1Q
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #198,361 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. Tehillim For Voices And Ensemble: Part I: Fast |
| 2. Tehillim For Voices And Ensemble: Part II: Fast |
| 3. Tehillim For Voices And Ensemble: Part III: Slow |
| 4. Tehillim For Voices And Ensemble: Part IV: Fast |
| 5. Three Movements For Orchestra: Movement I: =176 |
| 6. Three Movements For Orchestra: Movement II: =88 |
| 7. Three Movements For Orchestra: Movement III: =176 |
Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
Steve Reich is the self-renewer of his one-time minimalist peers, able to revitalise his output just at the point when accusations of resting on laurels start to surface. By 1980, he had seemingly exhausted the possibilities of eight years of harmony-based writing, and aural wallpaper felt worryingly close. Tehilim changed all that: with its grounding in Hebrew cantilation and complex though always dancing rhythmic surround, this was Reich at his absolute best. The four Psalm texts--never so literal as to be settings--form a half-hour vocal "symphony", in impact though emphatically not in conception. The first and longest demonstrates to perfection Reich's method of deriving more from less; textures are spare and streamlined, but capable of great intricacy--the passage from roughly 4'30'' is a wonder of metrical freefall. The closing minutes have a sense of release rare in music of any period. De Leeuw's performance is a marvel of accuracy and energy. Don't worry that the accompanying Three Movements is Reich at his dreariest: Tehilim is one of the most joyous half-hours you'll ever spend. --Richard Whitehouse
Product Description
It was with this critical work, Tehillim (the Hebrew word for psalms), that Steve Reich demonstrated that minimalism had the power to break out of its groupie ghetto and appeal to a broad audience of music lovers. In creating a masterpiece both expressive and approachable, Reich used the oldest trick in the book: he turned to a biblical source--exactly the sort of thing that composers have been doing since the dawn of recorded music. The result is remarkable in every way, and the music's popularity in performance speaks for itself. This recording, effectively with the work's "original cast," is unlikely to be bettered. It belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about the most important music of our time. --David Hurwitz
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent composition, but lackluster recording,
By
This review is from: Tehillim-Three Movements (Audio CD)
Unlike some of the other reviewers, although I acquired this album several years ago, I am not familiar with any of Reich's other works, or other releases of Tehillim, which may or may not be better than the one at hand. What I can say, however, is that over the several years since acquiring this album, I have come to enjoy the latter half, consisting of "Three Movements", to a greater extent, and during a wider variety of moods, than "Tehillim", although I was originally interested in this album for the first half due to the ancient Hebrew for Psalms 18, 19, 34, and 150. "Tehillim" is still the reason I hold on to this album, but in my opinion one has to be in the right mood to listen to it. For example, this is not the type of work to listen to when needing mental concentration. A more cheerful, uplifting recording of the Psalms, although in Latin rather than Hebrew, is "Utopia Triumphans" (Huelgas Ensemble, Paul Van Nevel). Refer to my review for that work.
5.0 out of 5 stars
transcendent minimalism,
By
This review is from: Tehillim (Audio CD)
If you are going to buy Tehillim, which I highly recommend, get this recording, not the one with the red cover, which, while I probably would have been delighted by it if I had heard it first, after hearing this recording seems fatuous, heavy-handed, and gurgling with sloppy emotion, the singers mooing away with their faces screwed up in the high-art version of teenager-guitar-hero-face.
4.0 out of 5 stars
the first recording of a great work,
By A Customer
This review is from: Tehillim (Audio CD)
I strongly disagree with the previous reviewer who rated this CD beneath the one with Reich on the cover. That Nonesuch recording is really a disaster -- the rhythm is mechanical, which makes the performance pretty flat and passionless; the intonation, particularly in the slow movement, is awful (far worse than anything on this disc); and the voices have none of the pop-music lightness that the composer asks for. This recording, in contrast, is pretty inarguable. It's the first recording and represents the composer's original intentions. In recent weeks, many reviewers have said they prefer the brand new version on Cantaloupe Music (with the red cover) to this old CD, which I can understand. I see both of these as terrific, extremely different interpretations of this Reich masterpiece: this original recording is cool and understated; the new recording more passionate and romantic. You can't go wrong with either one. If you've already heard this recording and feel -- like the previous reviewer -- that there isn't a good Tehillim CD out yet, check out the latest release. But I don't have many good words to say about the Nonesuch CD with Reich on the cover -- best, I think, to steer clear.
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