You can find references to the pre-eminent composer Steve Reich scattered throughout KLOF Mag. Most recently, Cormac MacDiarmada revealed how Reich’s influence extended to Poor Creature’s All Smiles Tonight and its “cyclical repeated riffs and/or moods.” We are so used to hearing references to Steve Reich that any offering from the composer himself is sure to be a rewarding one.
In a new video for the “Nonesuch Selects” series, Reich steps into the label’s famed vault, emerging with a curated selection of recordings that sit well as companion pieces to his celebrated career. In this roughly 20-minute episode, Reich explores the compositional DNA of his selections, a rewarding journey from one of the most vital voices in modern music.
Reich’s selections form a compelling narrative of his own artistic journey. He begins with the Kronos Quartet’s album Early Music, lauding the ensemble’s crystalline articulation and rhythmic vitality—qualities that resonate deeply with his own meticulously structured compositions. A logical and revealing successor is John Adams‘s Hallelujah Junction from ‘Road Movies’, a work whose exhilarating, interlocking piano figures and propulsive contrapuntal energy serve as a parallel exploration of the rhythmic dynamism central to Reich’s aesthetic.
Delving deeper into the foundational influences of his career, Reich selects two seminal recordings from the Nonesuch Explorer Series: The Balinese Gamelan: Music from the Morning of the World and Africa: Ancient Ceremonies, Dance Music & Songs of Ghana. These choices are not mere curiosities but cornerstones of his artistic development, reflecting his seminal studies of rhythmic structures outside the Western canon. To close, he bridges the historical with the contemporary, choosing Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion’s Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. The selection signifies a powerful endorsement of the next generation, acknowledging a work that ingeniously melds the tenets of classic minimalism with exploratory vocal and percussive palettes, extending the very legacy Reich helped to build.
This curated glimpse into Reich’s favourites arrives as part of a broader, career-spanning celebration. In March 2025, Nonesuch released the monumental 27-disc box set, Steve Reich Collected Works. This magisterial collection documents Reich’s entire forty-year tenure with the label, from his landmark early tape-loop works like It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) to the premiere recordings of his latest compositions, Traveler’s Prayer (2020) and Jacob’s Ladder (2023). The set is further enriched by insightful essays from luminaries such as Robert Hurwitz, Michael Tilson Thomas, Russell Hartenberger, and Nico Muhly, alongside a comprehensive listener’s guide by composer Timo Andres.
As an architect of minimalist and post-minimalist music, Reich’s own work—defined by its revolutionary use of phasing, repetition, and speech-melody in pieces like Different Trains and WTC 9/11—has always existed as part of a greater dialogue. His participation in this “Nonesuch Selects” series is an act of artistic generosity, a piece of aural cartography that maps the connections between his own innovations and the diverse traditions that share connections. Accompanying the video is a playlist, available on Apple Music and Spotify, that is also worth exploring.
Playlists
Order Steve Reich’s Collected Works: https://stevereich.lnk.to/collectedworks