3rd Movement - Fast
Before Minimalism
 During the 20thC, composers have tried to push music
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in new and exciting directions.
Schoenberg (Peripetie) abandoned tonality altogether,
developing expressionism.
Expressionism led to serialism, with the use of a prime
order, retrograde, inversion and retrograde inversion
This led to various composers, such as Stockhausen,
experimenting with timbre.
Some composers felt restricted by serialism, and came
up with other approached to composition, such as.....
Scores with little or no detail
Scores with staff notation replaced
by written directions
Scores with staff notation replaced
by pictures and symbols (Graphic
Scores)
Before Minimalism continued
 These composers liked the extremes of pitch/dynamics
etc that serialist composers used.
 They took it to the next step and used instruments in
unconventional ways
 La Monte Young on Minimalism -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoUoxy2FOdw
Performance note by Steve Reich
Performance note continued.
Parts and Layers
 Like most minimalist music, this piece is
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built up of layers.
In this movement there are 7 pre-recorded
guitar parts and 2 bass guitar parts.
The texture gradually builds up with the
parts entering in the following order:
Structure = A B Coda.
The main sections are then subdivided into
4 smaller sections, each defined by changes
in key and texture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJU9qE
AoPp0&feature=related
Guitar 1
Live Guitar
Guitar 2
Guitar 3
Guitar 4
Bass Guitars 1
and 2
Guitar 5
Guitar 6
Guitar 7
Section A – Part 1 (Bars 1-23)
 Begins with Guitar 1 riff
 The live guitar starts with
first 3 notes of ostinato 1,
building up to the full use by
bar 6, using note addition.
 Bar 7 = Guitar 2 enters, but
playing 1 crotchet later.
 Bar 10 = Guitar 3 enters,
building up to the full
ostinato using note addition,
but displaced by 5 ½ bars.
 Bar 16 = Guitar 4 enters,
playing ostinato 1 displaced
by 2 ½ crotchets.
Section A – Part 1 (Bars 1-23)
• Reich calls this a ‘Four-part guitar canon.
• Guitar 4 doubles the live guitar
• When all parts have entered, the live guitar plays the
resultant melody.
• In 3/2 triple time.
• Hinting at the key of E minor but not confirmed.
• This is called tonal ambiguity.
Section A – Part 2 (Bars 24-35)
 Bar 24 – Bass parts are introduced, reinforcing the triple time
feeling.
 A 2-bar bass ostinato is gradually introduced, only being played
in full in bar 33.
 At this point the key of E minor is definite (though actually Eaeolian mode, as no D# is heard at any point).
 Bar 33
 The bass guitars are panned to the left and right hand speakers.
This is usually bad practice but in this situation it balances the
sound.
 Live guitar continues the resultant melody.
Section A – Part 3 (Bars 36-66)
 Bar 26 – Live guitar plays new idea of strummed chords.
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Provides new texture, percussive effect.
Bar 40 – Guitar 5 = New sequence of C – Bm – E⁵.
Bar 52 – Guitar 6 = New sequence of C – D – Em.
Bar 64 – Guitar 7 = New sequence of C – D – Bm.
Guitars 5-7 play at the same time, producing a new.
Interesting rhythmic counterpoint. Chords can be
heard individually, even though the notes overlap to
produce more complex chords.
Live guitar chords interweave with those of guitars 5-7.
Strummed Chords
Section A – Part 4 (Bars 67-73)
 Now all the counterpoint between the strummed
guitars has been completed, the live guitar returns to
playing the resultant melody.
 This is not obvious – listen to where the melody gets
slightly louder.
Section B – Part 1 (Bars 74-81)
 Bar 74 - Key change to C
minor. Rather startling,
signifies the change to
section B.
 Texture is the same as
section 4.
A
B
Section B – Part 2 (Bars 82-89)
 Modulate back to E minor with no preparation
(Sounds sudden).
 Metre changes to 12/8 in all but guitars 1-4.
 As it does not change in all instruments, it is not
obvious by listening.
 Bass plays a new ostinato.
 Bar 86 – Metre shifts back to 3/2 and the bass ostinato
changes back to ostinato 1 – This time Bass 1 is
inverted and adds one additional note.
Section B – Part 3
(Bars 90-97)
 Modulates to C minor
(similar to section B part 1)
 Metre continues to
change ever 4 bars
(12/8 – 3/2)
Section B – Part 4 (Bars 98-113)
 Bar 98 - Modulate to E minor
 Changes in metre and key become more frequent,
building the tension.
 Bar 106 – Guitars 5-7 and the 2 bass parts begin to fade
out, gradually at first, then quickly at bar 113. Note the
long diminuendo marking in the score.
Coda (Bars 114-140)
 By Bar 114 , the texture has returned to the 4-part
canon of ostinato 1 in guitars 1-4, with the live guitar
playing the resultant melody.
 Changes in metre and key continue until bar 129. At
this point it is made clear that the piece will end in E
minor.
 Ends with a crescendo to a final E⁵ chord played
simultaneously in all remaining parts at the end of bar
139.
Section A Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Describe the texture of the first section (up to 0’42’’)
What is the term used to describe a repeated motif?
What instrument enters at the start of the second section?
What is the tonality of the piece at the start of the second
section?
There are 3 strummed guitar parts. What studio technique has
been used to help separate out the parts?
What other instruments have been separated out using the
same effect?
The live guitar part plays a melody derived from the notes
played by the recorded part. What is the term used to describe
this melody?
Why do you think this piece is called electric counterpoint?