2×5 is a composition by

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

written in 2008. It is scored for five musicians and pre-recorded tape, or two identical quintets on rock instruments, in total: 2 drum sets, 2 pianos, 4 electric guitars, 2 bass guitars. It is described as a "rock and roll piece".

Background

After writing the predominantly rhythmical

Double Sextet ''Double Sextet'' is a composition by Steve Reich scored for two sextets of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone and piano. It won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first for the composer. With funds from the Carnegie Hall Corporati ...

, Reich was interested in writing a similar composition in a similar style for rock instruments.

Structure

''2×5'' is in three movements and typically lasts around 20 minutes: #''Fast'' #''Slow'' #''Fast''

Recordings

A recording of 2×5 by

Bang on a Can Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Called "the cou ...

was released on September 14, 2010 along with Reich's

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning

on the album

Double Sextet/2×5 The album consists of two works composed by Steve Reich, ''Double Sextet'' and ''2×5''. ''Double Sextet'', which won the Pulitzer Prize, 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music, is written for two identical sextets of flute, clarinet, vibraphone, piano, vi ...

. Another recording of 2×5, performed by

Mats Bergström Mats Johan Bergström (7 March 1961) is a Swedish guitarist and composer principally focused in the genre of chamber music. Borne in Gävle, Sweden, he received his MFA from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm in 1982, and did post-graduate stu ...

, Magnus Persson, Jonas Ostholm, Johan Liljedahl, and Svante Henryson, was released in 2012 by Mats Bergström Musik. The disc also features new recordings of Reich's

Electric Counterpoint ''Electric Counterpoint'' is a minimalist composition by the American composer Steve Reich. The piece consists of three movements, "Fast," "Slow", and "Fast". Reich has offered two versions of the piece: one for electric guitar and tape (the ...

and Nagoya Guitars. A Russian recording by Anton Glushkin, Dmitry Abdurasulov,

Gleb Kolyadin Gleb Kolyadin (Gleb Alekseevich Kolyadin, russian: Глеб Алексеевич Колядин , born July 11, 1989, Leningrad, Russia) is a Russian pianist, composer, and arranger who mixes progressive rock and jazz fusion with neoclassical ...

, Max Roudenko, Grigory Osipov and Alexander Veselov was released in May 2020.

References

External links

Reich rehearses 2x5 with Bang on a CanReich explains 2x5, his latest project with Bang on a Can
Compositions by Steve Reich 2008 in music 2008 compositions {{Classical-composition-stub