From Amazon.com
This has to be Steve Reich's most difficult work to perform; but he's done it. Several times.
Music for 18 Musicians is for violin, cello, 2 clarinets doubling bass clarinet, 4 women's voices, 4 pianos, 3 marimbas, 2 xylophones and a metallophone (vibraphone with no motor). It's a 1974 composition that focuses entirely on the rich staccato that gives Minimalism its unique sound. However, Reich turns all of this into actual music by adding the richness of the metallophone and the women's voices. Whatever else people may have said about minimalism, pro or con, a work such as
Music for 18 Musicians demonstrates its genuine legitimacy.
--Paul Cook
