Search - Steve Reich, Arthur Murphy, Jon Gibson :: Steve Reich's Four Organs

If the price wasn't so good, I'd give it 1 star.

Kevin Currie-Knight | Newark, Delaware | 10/13/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Let me tell you, was I excited when I found this. These are the premier recordings of both 'Four Organs' (which I love or hate depending on my mood) and 'Phase Patterns' (which is an obscure piece anyway.) Philip Glass even performs on this CD. It only took one listen, however, to tell me that I was overcharged. First, the good things. While there are quite a few recordings of 'Four Organs,' most are very dry and mechanical, coming off as unbearable towards the end. Here is a recording that actually DOES have a bit more life to it- likely because the older recordings reveal the piece's freshness. O.K. That's all for the good stuff. Here's the bad. 'Phase Patterns' is so sloppy that I'm suprised this recording was released at all for fear of embarassment. Really, I'm not kidding. The beauty of Reich's phase-work (and it is beautiful, when done right) is the forward-motion, due both to the pushing ahead of each phase and the steady drive of the insturments when they're locked in to a figure. Problem is, the musicians sounded like they were all on different tempos, fluctuating at will. There are many better recordings of both of these works- the best being the 'ensemble avantgarde's. It has both these two pieces, piano phase and pendulum music. Get that one instead."