Steve Reich
1965-present
Periods
Tape Experiments
1965-1968
Early tape loop and phasing experiments that discovered the gradual process technique, using found speech recordings as raw material for radical new compositional methods.
Rhythmic Minimalism
1970-1976
Percussion-focused process music exploring phasing, augmentation, and rhythmic construction with acoustic instruments, drawing on West African and Balinese gamelan traditions.
Ensemble Minimalism
1976-1984
Large ensemble works with rich harmonic pulsation, interlocking patterns, and sustained rhythmic energy that brought minimalism to its most accessible and emotionally resonant form.
The moment minimalism stopped being an austere intellectual exercise and became a physically overwhelming experience, its eleven-chord cycle generating an hour of shimmering, breathing, pulsating ecstasy.
Reich's first engagement with his Jewish heritage, proving that minimalist process could channel devotional ecstasy as the speech rhythms of Hebrew Psalms become the engine of jubilant, hand-clapping celebration.
Documentary Works
1988-2002
Speech melody and sampling as compositional tools, using recorded voices to generate melodic material and address historical themes of the Holocaust, race, and technology.