Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint
Background and context
Structure
Harmony and Tonality
born in New York in 1936
one of the key minimalist composers
His music is usually tonal
Electric Counterpoint was written in 1987
The performer records all of the parts (7 guitars and 2 bass guitars) and then plays this recording back, performing the ‘live guitar’ part over the top
Features of minimalism
Music built from loops
Short, simple musical ideas
Lack of a clear melody
Harmonies made by layering patterns and gradually unfolding over a long period
Constant tempo
Little dynamic contrast
Repetition with ideas gradually changing
Section A ⭐
‘Four-part guitar canon’
Resultant melody played by Live Guitar
Clearly centred on E minor
In 3/2 time, triple metre
Bass guitar enters
2 bar Bass ostinato gradually introduced
Live Guitar still playing resultant melody
Strummed chords in Live Guitar part
New rhythmic counterpoint from Guitars 5, 6, 7
Live guitar returns to playing resultant melody
Structure
Section B ⭐
Same texture as previous section but:
Sudden key change to C minor
Key shifts back to E minor
Metre changes to 12/8 but
Guitars 1-4 stay in 3/2
New Bass ostinato
Return to C minor
Metre changing every 4 bars
Back to E minor
More frequent changes in key and metre build tension
Guitars 5-7 & Basses start to fade out
Structure
Coda ⭐
Four-part guitar canon returns
Ends in E minor
Reich uses tonal ambiguity
Bass guitars confirm E minor when they enter but actually in the Aeolian Mode
Section B is in C minor giving contrast
The piece finishes on an E5 chord (which has no 3rd) giving an open or sparse sound
Dynamics
Not many changes in dynamics
Live Guitar fades in and out
Four ensemble parts playing the first riff are mf throughout
Other parts have dim. finishing with a crescendo to ff for the solo part at the end
Rhythm and Tempo
The tempo is constant throughout
Changing metres: 3/2 to start, 12/8 at bars 82
rhythmic counterpoint
Rhythm
The piece is made up of rhythmic layered ostinati
The ostinati are phase shifted and displaced
Pitch and Melody
Piece is built on ostinati, including the bass guitar parts
Guitar 3 uses additive melody: 2 or 3 notes added at a time until the whole riff is heard
Resultant melody is heavily used throughout: this means that a new melody is produced when a variety of parts each play their melodies at the same time. The live guitar starts playing this once all the parts have entered.
Live Guitar and Guitars 1-4 generally play in the mid- to high-range of the instrument
Guitars 5-7 stay in the mid-range
There are no extreme uses of pitch in the piece
Metamorphosis used in melody - gradually changing shape (one note at a time)
Additive/ Subtractive Melody - where a melody is gradually changed by adding or subtracting notes.
Rhythmic Displacement
Rhythmic Displacement in motifs
Instrumentation
7 electric guitars
2 bass guitars
Texture
Multi-tracking the recorded parts allows for a multi-layered texture
Repetition of short patterns/riffs/motifs/ostinati in varying combinations changes the texture
Four parts play the same riff throughout the piece
Once all parts are playing (bar 24) the texture remains fairly constant (4 part guitar canon)