Undersong

One of the great minimalists alongside Philip Glass and Terry Riley, Steve Reich remains heroically unafraid of the blank page. The 81-year-old may no longer rewrite the rules of modern composition as he did with revolutionary works such as Piano Phase, Drumming and Music for 18 Musicians, but happily continues to be inspired by younger artists. His Radio Rewrite (2012) evolved from a meeting with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, while Pulse uses electric bass to nod to Giorgio Moroder via Daft Punk. The International Contemporary Ensemble make the wistful Pulse (premiered 2015) sing, with its spiralling, inquisitive strings, completely free of the tense nervousness of some of Reich’s more repetitive work. It’s a less complex listen than Quartet (2013), a lightly jazzy essay in key-confounding hypnosis on piano and vibraphone, written for and performed by Reich’s favourite percussionists, Colin Currie Group.