If you’re not familiar with this piece, it’s time you got to know it. Composed in 1964 by Terry Riley, the piece is a set of 53 cells of music ranging from two sixteenth notes to a page wide melodic line. The instructions ask everyone to start on the first cell, and move on individually to the next cell when they feel like it. The group has to stay close together.
I’ve rehearsed this piece four-ish times now with my ensemble, and each time this piece is completely, amazingly, different. It’s set up to slowly evolve in many ways. Dissonance waxes and wanes. The key modulates. It changes from a 2 beat feel to a three beat feel. It’s amazing. I love the part in the middle where the dotted quarter notes build and build, climaxing on a B. And the cell after it just makes it even more intense, while giving it a way to slowly fizzle out. Everyone in the group is having a BLAST playing this piece. The performance is Tuesday 4/14/09 in Nordica at 7:30 along with a few other minimalist pieces.
