Steve Reich: A New Musical Language

New Yorker Steve Reich is one of a handful of modern composers who have helped to give serieus contemporary music a good name while appealing to a growing popular concert audience. His tonal, repetitive, insistently rhythmic 'phase music', using voices, clapping hands and tape recorders as well as more conventional instruments, is also now a central influence - a far cry from the days when his compositions provoked near-riots. As Reich himself says: « My work no longer sounds like something from another planet. A whole generation of players has grown up with it, and the fog has burned off.» This up beat film surveys the development of Reich 's work over the last 20 years, achieving a lively balance of musical extracts and interviews - not least with the man himself, who is humorous, articulate and frank. The result is that even these for whom the fog still lingers will find that modern music can be stimulating, accessible, and easy on the ear. And for lovers of Manhattan, there is the bonus of some stunning location shots. (Clyde Jeavons)