Composer Steve Reich guides you through his most momentous works
Steve Reich has been hailed as one of the world's greatest living composers. The 80-year-old audio looping pioneer looks back on his legacy.
In 1964, Steve Reich recorded a street preacher's speech, took a razor to the tape, looped samples on two machines — and changed music forever.
The classical composer describes himself as a "faithful scribe" who finds the musicality in other people's words. Today he joins Shad to discuss his decades-long career, as well as music's capacity to document history. Reich's style of looping audio samples laid the groundwork for hip-hop, dub and electronic music.
WEB EXTRA | Reich will be taking part in a special concert tonight at Toronto's Massey Hall with Soundstreams in honour of his 80th birthday. These are the three pieces that will be performed.
Clapping Music (1972)
Music for 18 Musicians (1978)
Tehillim (1981)