''Violin Phase'' is a musical work written by

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

composer Steve Reich in October 1967.

Structure

''Violin Phase'' is an example of Reich's

phasing A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal, and it has a series of troughs in its frequency-attenutation graph. The position (in Hz) of the peaks and troughs are typically modulated by an internal low-frequency oscil ...

technique, previously used in ''

It's Gonna Rain ''It's Gonna Rain'' is a minimalist musical composition for magnetic tape written by Steve Reich in 1965. It lasts about 18 minutes. It was Reich's first major work and a landmark in minimalism and process music. Analysis The source materia ...

'', '' Come Out'', '' Reed Phase'', and ''

Piano Phase ''Piano Phase'' is a minimalist composition by American composer Steve Reich, written in 1967 for two pianos (or piano and tape). It is one of his first attempts at applying his "phasing" technique, which he had previously used in the tape pieces ...

'', in which the music itself is created not by the instruments but by interactions of temporal variations on an original melody. Music of this kind is generally referred to as

process music Process music is music that arises from a process. It may make that process audible to the listener, or the process may be concealed. Primarily begun in the 1960s, diverse composers have employed divergent methods and styles of process. "A 'musi ...

. It is the third in a series of instrumental compositions (together with ''Reed Phase'' and ''Piano Phase'') in which Reich explored the possibility of phasing in music for a live player with tape accompaniment or, in the case of ''Piano Phase'', for just two players . In ''Violin Phase'', two violins are recorded and played back, together at first. They are then made to go slowly out of sync by adding silence to one of the tapes. A new melody is formed by the interaction of the two out of sync instruments and is then accented by a third violin. This process is repeated with variations throughout the rest of the piece. The most conspicuous difference between a "live" process piece like ''Violin Phase'' and Reich's tape pieces is that the latter consist of "pure phasing", with a slow and regular rate of change, whereas the live pieces are "stepped", alternating sections of gradual dephasing with sections of temporary rhythmic stability . Reich also arranged the piece for electric guitar and tape (or four electric guitars). In this form the work was recorded as ''Electric Guitar Phase'' by

Dominic Frasca Dominic Frasca (born 5 April 1967) is a guitarist, originally from Akron, Ohio, USA, but living in New York City since the early 1990s. He began playing hard rock guitar at age 13, but gravitated into classical after finding an ad for classical g ...

Discography

* ''Steve Reich: Live/Electric Music''. ''Violin Phase'' (

Paul Zukofsky Paul Zukofsky (October 22, 1943 – June 6, 2017) was an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music. Career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Paul Zukofsky was the only child of the American objectiv ...

, violin), and ''It's Gonna Rain''. LP recording 1 sound disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, stereo; 12 in. Columbia MS 7265. New York: Columbia Records, 1969. * ''Steve Reich. Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase; Octet''. Steve Reich and Musicians. The 1st and 3rd works recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, New York, Feb. 1980; the 2nd at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Mar. 1980. Shem Guibbory, violin (in the 2nd work). ''Violin Phase'' recorded Mar. 1980 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg. ''Music for a Large Ensemble'' and Octet recorded February 1980 at Columbia Recording Studios, New York. LP recording 1 sound disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm ; 12 in. ECM-1-1168. Burbank, Calif: ECM Records, 1980. Reissued on CD 1987, ECM Records 827 287-2; ECM 1168. * Steve Reich and

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

. "Shift from the Music of Steve Reich". (Part III is a segment from "Violin Phase"). Chris Hughes, keyboards and drums; Stuart Gordon, violin; Paul Ridout, kalimba, bells; Maire Brennan, harp. Recorded at The Woolhall, Somerset, England. Compact disc 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Point Music 314 518 843-2. London: Point Music, 1994. Reissued, Helium Records HeCD002; Helium Records B001562402; Helium Records DCAB001562402. New York: Helium Records, 2006. * ''City Life''. (''New York Counterpoint''; ''Eight Lines''; ''Octet''; ''Violin Phase''.) Roland Diry, clarinet (2nd work); Jagdish Mistry, violin (4th work);

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

(1st and 3rd works);

Peter Rundel Peter Rundel (born 1958 in Friedrichshafen), is a German violinist and conductor. A recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque in 1998 for his recording of Jean Barraqué's complete works, he became conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Fl ...

(1st work), Bradley Lubman (3rd work), conductors. Recorded at the Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt, Germany, January 14–15, 1998 (1st work), April 2002 (2nd work), June 28–29, 1997 (3rd work), and May 2002 (4th work). Compact disc 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. RCA Red Seal 74321 66459 2. .p. BMG Classics, 2002. * ''Steve Reich and Musicians, Live 1977''. From the Kitchen Archives no. 2. (''Drumming'', part four; ''Six Pianos''; ''Violin Phase''; ''Music for Pieces of Wood''; ''Pendulum Music'') Steve Reich and Musicians, recorded live at the Kitchen, New York, May 16–19, 1977. Compact disc, 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Orange Mountain Music omm0018. New York: Orange Mountain Music, 2005. * Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters. (With works by Aphex Twin, John Cage,

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

Conlon Nancarrow Samuel Conlon Nancarrow (; October 27, 1912 – August 10, 1997) was an American- Mexican composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. Nancarrow is best remembered for his ''Studies for Player Piano'', being one of the firs ...

Squarepusher Tom Jenkinson (born 17 January 1975), known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, acid house, ac ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...

, Edgard Varèse.) Clio Gould, violin; other artists. Compact disc, 2 sound discs: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Warp WARPCD144. .p. Warp, 2006.

''Violin Phase'' in Arts

In dance, the piece has been used in 1982 by the Belgian choreographer

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Anne Teresa, Baroness De Keersmaeker (, born 1960 in Mechelen, Belgium, grew up in Wemmel) is a contemporary dance choreographer. The dance company constructed around her, , was in residence at La Monnaie in Brussels from 1992 to 2007. Biograph ...

as the central part of one of her seminal works, ''Fase'', which became a cornerstone of contemporary dance.

References

* * {{Authority control Compositions by Steve Reich 1967 compositions Process music pieces