Steve Reich: Triple Quartet


Steve Reich: Triple Quartet is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet and other artists. The music was composed by Steve Reich and was commissioned by the quartet; Reich and the quartet have worked together since 1989.

Compositions and performers

Triple Quartet was composed in 1999 and since then has been in the quartet's live repertoire. It is a three-movement work for three string quartets; on the album, quartets two and three are pre-recorded and the players play the first quartet along with the tape, as they do live.
Besides the Kronos Quartet's version of Triple Quartet, the album contains three other Reich pieces. Electric Guitar Phase, one of Reich's "phase pieces," is played by New York guitar player Dominic Frasca. The composition is an updated version of the 1967 Violin Phase arranged for guitar and tape. Alan Pierson conducts Alarm Will Sound and the Ossia Ensemble from the Eastman School of Music, which perform Reich's 1978 Music for a Large Ensemble. The final track is Mika Yoshida's rendition of Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, performed on MIDI marimba.

Credits

Musicians

Production