Music for 18 Musicians (album)

The album was recorded shortly after the composition's world premiere at the Town Hall in New York City on April 24, 1976. == Reception ==

Reviewing the 1978 LP in ''Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote of Music for 18 Musicians'': "In which pulsing modules of high-register acoustic sound—the ensemble comprises violin, cello, clarinet, piano, marimbas, xylophone, metallophone, and women's voices—evolve harmonically toward themselves. Very mathematical, yet also very, well, organic—the duration of particular note-pulses is determined by the natural breath rhythms of the musicians—this sounds great in the evening near the sea." Critic Edward Strickland argues that Music for 18 Musicians is "the high point of ensemble music of the 1970s by composers identified as Minimalist". AllMusic wrote that "when this recording was released in 1978, the impact on the new music scene was immediate and overwhelming. Anyone who saw potential in minimalism and had hoped for a major breakthrough piece found it here. The beauty of its pulsing added-note harmonies and the sustained power and precision of the performance were the music's salient features; and instead of the sterile, electronic sound usually associated with minimalism, the music's warm resonance was a welcome change." Ottó Károlyi identifies diverse influences including jazz and Balinese musical forms and notes that the piece's vocals feature organum and conductus. In 2003, David Bowie included it in a list of 25 of his favorite albums, "Confessions of a Vinyl Junkie", calling it "Balinese gamelan music cross-dressing as minimalism". == Track listing ==

Steve Reich and Musicians • Shem Guibbory – violin • Ken Ishii – cello • Elizabeth Arnold, Pamela Fraley, Rebecca Armstrong – female voice • Nurit Tilles, Steve Chambers – piano • Larry Karush – piano, maracas • Gary Schall – marimba, maracas • Bob Becker, Glen Velez, Russ Hartenberger – marimba and xylophone • James Preiss – metallophone, piano • Steve Reich – piano and marimba • David Van Tieghem – marimba, xylophone, and piano • Richard Cohen, Virgil Blackwell – clarinet and bass clarinet • Jay Clayton – female voice and piano Production • Rudolph Werner – producer, recording supervision, mixing • Klaus Hiemann – recording engineer, mixing • Steve Reich – mixing, liner notes • Beryl Korot – cover drawing • Paula Bisacca – design • Bernard Perrine, Betty Freeman, Guido Harari, Mary Lucier, Patrick Bertrand, Roberto Masotti – backliner photos == References ==