City Life (Steve Reich)
City Life is a composition by the American composer Steve Reich from 1995, which belongs to the genre of minimal music .
overview
The piece is divided into five movements and is 24 minutes long. The line-up consists of two flutes, two oboes , two clarinets , two vibraphones , percussion , two samplers, two pianos, a string quartet and a double bass . The central theme of the piece is the musical illustration of Reich's hometown New York City .
As in previous pieces (e.g. Different Trains), Reich refers to social issues in City Life. While Different Trains thematize “reflecting on the past while increasing realism in a musical and time-critical sense”, City Life focuses on creating a multi-layered sound portrait of New York City.
The decisive factor in the piece is the use of samplers, which is based on the idea of combining certain sounds from everyday life in the big city with music. In addition, Reich made recordings of various sounds that shape everyday life in New York City. Partly these consist of vocals (e.g. “Check it out” or “It's been a honeymoon”), partly from the noises of the big city (e.g. horns, slamming car doors, heartbeats, sirens etc.).
The intonation of the spoken sampler is also an important element in City Life . Reich changes this and adapts it to the respective atmosphere of the sections in the piece. He made use of this method before in his piece “Different Trains”.
1. Check it out
The movement begins with chords and a consistent rhythm in most of the non-percussive instruments. Despite slight dissonances, the harmony has a fairly open character - especially since most of it takes place in higher pitches. This leads to a sound pattern that is reminiscent of horns in its dissonance. The open sound radiates greatness. Then a rhythmic melody sets in in pianos, vibraphones and strings. This is repeated over and over, thrown in fragmented by individual instruments and shifted further and further against each other in phases in the individual voices. This results in a seemingly confused amount of tones, which sometimes condense and sometimes become clearer and from which one recognizes the familiar melody again and again. This is interrupted by recordings from the sampler. The exclamation “Check it out”, which also gives the movement its title, is conspicuous. Due to its constant repetition and conciseness, it has an almost thematic character. Flutes and strings begin to play dissonant chords in this bustle. They are reminiscent of sustained horns, which is supported by sampled horn sounds. The ever-increasing density of samples, chords, percussion and the ever-ongoing phases lead to a gradual increase in dynamics. Over the “restlessness” lies a recurring chord progression in the wind. They give a dreamy character and look almost longing. Soon the elements appear rather isolated one after the other. The existing mess, which has now developed into a kind of pattern, is varied as a result. The density of the sounds ebbs away, a fading is initiated. More and more voices are adopting the chordal structure that was already present in the wind instruments. Now these are again the harmonies that introduced the piece. A harmonic twist in this pattern then leads to the next movement.
2. Pile driver
The movement is introduced by dissonant structures in the strings. Together with the machine-like rhythm that sets in, these form a threatening character. The rhythm soon condenses, whereupon shrill siren samples are played. The melody played by the woodwinds is from now on repeatedly interrupted by the sirens. The rhythm becomes faster and faster and one can speak of a general condensation of the motifs played. This sentence is resolved by the exclamation "It's been a honeymoon".
3. It's been a honeymoon
The third movement is unexpectedly introduced by a sample that says “It's been a honeymoon”. The sample is then played repeatedly in a fast rhythm so that only one syllable can be heard over and over again. This is overlaid by the other samplers in the same way and in a different pitch. In addition, accented tones are used in the strings. Soon, complete “It's been a honeymoon” samples appear again, whereupon the rhythmic superimposition of the samples loosens up a bit in their initial high density. This frees up space for a new sonic development, which is introduced by the vibraphone and piano with rhythmic melodies. Due to their rhythm they come into direct contact with the samplers, but add a melodic or chordal character due to their significantly more pronounced tonality compared to the samples. Above this, a melody that is repeatedly out of phase with one another in several woodwind instruments sets in for a short time. At the end of the movement, all the noticeable components of the movement come together again, until the resulting sound structure is suddenly torn off and leads to the new movement with a dissonant chord of the strings.
In its idea and its character, the sentence is very similar to Reich's earlier work “It's gonna rain”, but it is implemented differently with samplers instead of tape recorders and adapted to more modern technology.
4. Heartbeats / Boats & Buoys
A pulse-like sample, a continuous heartbeat, is set over the string chord. In addition, the set of signal horns is shaped by boats. The harmony, which is also created by the samples, as well as the unyielding rhythm, generally create a threatening mood. The strings soon play simple “melodies” consisting of two tones, whose rhythm, which is also quite simple, reappears as a phase shift. A piano gives the whole thing a clearer harmony through chords that are in contrast to ship signals, which often enter into chordal relationships with the strings, but add a much darker timbre and are typically located in a very low pitch. Towards the end of the sentence, the backdrop condenses. Woodwinds with phase-like melodies set in for the first time in the movement, the heartbeat that has pervaded the whole movement is amplified by percussion.
5. Heavy smoke
In the 5th section the words “Heavy Smoke” are thrown in and supported by a siren-like scratching. There are also announcements from fire departments and fire brigade sirens. The strings play harmonious sounds, which end the piece with a decrescendo.
shape
Overall, according to Reich's own statement, the work can be divided into an ABCBA form based on the five movements. On the one hand, this can be found in a motivic guide. The first movement deals directly with the urban atmosphere and the tonally complex impression of the city. The fifth sentence behaves similarly, although it emphasizes the constant presence of the fire brigade and police in the city. In the second sentence the focus is shifted more to the busy dimension of the constantly expanding city, the busyness and constant development associated with it.