thirteen ways

“Tim, it’s been nice working with you.”

“Um?”

“Well, since Reich has praised us today, I’ve reached all my career goals, so I’m ready to retire…”

This was the Mac’s only comment after we ran through Steve Reich’s new Double Sextet last Wednesday for the composer, in advance of the work’s world premiere that night.

I was desperate not to appear star-struck in front of this living legend, practicing over and over in front of the mirror: “Oh, hey Steve”; “Oh yeah, Steve, great to meet you, man”; “Hi, Steve, don’t mind my clammy hands, quivering lip, nervous tic motion of the head to the left and uncontrollable stutter, I’m really very relaxed to meet you.” My relationship with Reich’s music is as intense, complicated and ultimately satisfying as a long marriage: I fell passionately in love at 15, turned deeply resentful by 18, came gradually to an acceptance by 21, loved it despite its faults by 24, then loved it BECAUSE of its faults by 27.

To be honest we were all pretty giddy after the tech. We had been thoroughly prepared for the worst: Reich knows how his music should be played, he is known for being demanding, he could get frustrated if not satisfied. So imagine our relief when, at the conclusion of our first run for the composer, his only reaction was, “Wow, fantastic. I really have nothing to say.”

Reich was relaxed, amiable, charming; a joy to work and hang out with for his two days in Richmond.

Reich was in charge of knob-twiddling (that, of course, is the technical term) during rehearsal and performance on Wednesday, balancing our amplification to the CD playback. Ryan, our sound engineer, said he learned a lot and would be able to incorporate composer’s quite demanding intentions.

One example: “Often he would bring the levels of flute and clarinet up lots, much more than I would consider doing, but you know…it really WORKED.”

Another example: The original plan was to send both live (amplified) and pre-recorded (CD) signals through both speakers, so the audience would hear live sound out of both speakers and pre-recorded sound out of both as well. Reich vetoed that, and instead sent the pre-recorded signal through one speaker (stage right) and the live signal through the other (stage left). This mimicked the midi recording (that we were sent with the score), which had each part in a separate channel, clarifying the complex textures of the piece while also creating a dramatic hocketing effect across the stage.

Below, the gang sitting “cross-legged” at the feet of the master, listening to him muse on trends in new music, particularly the recent shift towards a very “natural” sort of crossover between indie rock and new music groups.

Working with Reich was great fun, but Wednesday was still very, very long. We began setting up at 9am, and didn’t rest until we struck percussion gear from the stage around 11pm. Our schedule included a long dress rehearsal for the Bang on a Can portion of the program, a tech rehearsal for the Reich, a comprehensive (and very helpful) “notes” session with Susan Marshall over lunch, much wailing and gnashing of teeth, several student coachings, a percussion ensemble class with Reich and then a lot of nervous giggling. Oh, and (as is usual at University of Richmond) an absolutely fantastic spread for dinner, including a french onion soup to start, pesto tortellini (”I’ve been saying ‘ravioli’ for the last 10 minutes. Why didn’t you correct me?”; “Because I didn’t want to be ‘that guy’”), crumbed chicken fillets, salads and a tasty assortment of desserts.

Below, how do we memorize this quite complicated music? A cheat sheet, stuck innocently to the back edge of the piano (hidden from the audience), gives one of our members a little helping hand during Michael Gordon’s piece. A plastic fork to anyone who can guess whose part it is….

Below, Reich is reunited with Bang on a Can husband-and-wife team, Michael Gordon and Julie Wolfe, in the Modlin Center’s spacious green room:

Below, I have bled on several pianos since joining 8bb (in David M Gordon’s savage, violent Friction Systems), but here Lisa proves that she too can suffer for her art:

Below, the 71-year-old composer (who wears his years incredibly lightly) talking at a post-concert talkback session, as the three Bang on a Can composers (who would mostly likely be writing very different music if it weren’t for Reich’s influence) attentively look on:

Below, most of the gang at the palatial Jefferson Hotel. L to R, the Alb, David Lang, Mary McNaughy, the Aussie, the Duv, the Phot, Susan Marshall, Michael Gordon, the Ing, Julie Wolfe, stage manager Barbara Whitney, the Mac, our fabulous New York manager Nicole Borrelli-Hearn (who jetted into Richmond, just for the show, along with our equally awesome 21C publicist, Louise Barder), the Kap:

Below, 8bb, shameless marketers that we are, gave Reich his very own 8bb-brand “American yarmulke”:

I conducted an interview with Reich about Double Sextet, and once I’ve transcribed it and gained the composer’s approval, it will appear on the blog. I was a little trigger-happy this week, so there are about a hundred photos in a set on our flickr.