Electric Counterpoint
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''Electric Counterpoint'' is a
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 Don ...
composition by the American composer
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 ...
. 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 tape part featuring two
electric bass guitars Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and up to ten electric guitars), the other for an ensemble of guitars. The work shares similarities with Reich's ''
New York Counterpoint ''New York Counterpoint'' for amplified clarinet and tape, or 9 clarinets and 3 bass clarinets (one part doubles B and bass), is a 1985 minimalist composition written by American composer Steve Reich. The piece, intended to capture the throbbing ...
''.


First recording

It was first recorded in 1987 by guitarist
Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
, who made extensive use of
overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
, and was released along with Reich's ''
Different Trains ''Different Trains'' is a three- movement piece for string quartet and tape written by Steve Reich in 1988. Background During World War II, Reich made train journeys between New York and Los Angeles to visit his parents, who had separated. Y ...
'', performed by the
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
, on
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...
(catalogue number 979 176-2). Guitarists wishing to perform the piece may use Metheny's pre-recorded ensemble part or opt to record their own, adding the 13th guitar part in live performance. In 2007, the guitar ensemble Forestare made the first recording of the lesser known second version, on
ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1994 by Johanne Goyette, the company has close to 600 titles in its catalogue and distributes in over 25 countries and on the internet. Several recordings released ...
. The original recording, as included in the '' Works 1965–1995'' box set, lasts slightly under fifteen minutes.


Influence

As with other pieces by Reich, ''Electric Counterpoint'' has influenced many modern artists, such as
the Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
, who sampled the third movement of the
Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
recording as one of the hooks of "
Little Fluffy Clouds "Little Fluffy Clouds" is a single released by the British ambient house group the Orb. It was originally released in November 1990 on the record label Big Life and peaked at number 87 on the UK Singles Chart. The Orb also included it on their ...
," and
RJD2 Ramble Jon Krohn (born May 27, 1976), better known by his stage name RJD2, is an American musician based in Columbus, Ohio. He is the owner of record label RJ's Electrical Connections. He has been a member of groups such as Soul Position, MHz Lega ...
, who sampled the piece's opening for his song "The Proxy" from his first release, ''Deadringer.'' In 2008 Joby Burgess' Powerplant arranged the work for
Xylosynth The xylosynth, also known as a "xylophonic synthesizer", is an instrument created by Will Wernick in 1986, originally specifically designed for the English pop band, the Drum Theatre. History In the early 1990s, there was a demand of artists wan ...
, taking influence from Metheny and the Orb.
Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoye ...
released two remixes of the third movement in 2010 for free, one which follows Reich's original closely and another reinterpretation titled "Milde Salve". Since 2012,
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
guitarist
Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores. Along with his elder brother, th ...
has performed the piece at several festivals and at concerts featuring the London Contemporary Orchestra; he recorded the piece for a Nonesuch album of Reich works titled ''
Radio Rewrite ''Radio Rewrite'' is a 2012 musical composition by American composer Steve Reich (born 1936), inspired by two songs by British rock band Radiohead: "Jigsaw Falling into Place" and " Everything in Its Right Place". It is the first time that Reich ...
'' released that same year, the title piece of which was inspired by two Radiohead songs. The third movement was included in the ''Edexcel
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
Anthology of Music'', in the second area of study, "Music in the 20th Century". It was included in the video game ''
Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014. In ''C ...
'' as one of the "great works of music" and was performed by during the
Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps, or simply The Bluecoats, is a World Class competitive drum and bugle corps. Based in Canton, Ohio, the Bluecoats are a member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI). The Bluecoats were the 2016 Drum Corps Inte ...
2015 production "Kinetic Noise".


Recordings

*''Electric Counterpoint'', Pat Metheny soloist, 1989. CD. Included on '' Steve Reich: Works 1965-1995'' *''Electric Counterpoint'', David Tanenbaum, New Albion Records, 1994. CD *''Electric Counterpoint'',
Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoye ...
, ''two versions'', 2010. * ''Electric Counterpoint'',
Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores. Along with his elder brother, th ...
soloist, on the album ''Radio Rewrite'', Nonesuch, 2014. CD/download. * ''Electric Counterpoint'',
Yaron Deutsch Yaron Deutsch ( he, ירון דויטש; born in 1978) is an Israeli guitarist mainly active in contemporary classical music and artistic director of Ensemble Nikel. Biography Yaron Deutsch was born in Tel-Aviv (Israel) in 1978 and studied gu ...
soloist, on the album ''33 RPM'', 2020. LP/download. * ''Electric Counterpoint'', Pierre Bibault soloist, on the album ''Steve Reich'', Music Square, 2021. * ''Electric Counterpoint'', Santiago Quintáns soloist, on the album ''Guitar Hero. Santiago Quintans Plays Steve Reich'', Megadiscs Classics, 2021. * ''Electric Counterpoint'', Giacomo Baldelli soloist, on the album ''New York City Tracks'', Halidon, 2022.


Notes

{{Authority control Compositions for guitar Compositions by Steve Reich 1987 compositions