Tehillim (Reich)

Tehillim (Reich)

"Tehillim" is a piece of music by American composer Steve Reich, written in 1981.

The title comes from the Hebrew word for "psalms", and the work is the first to reflect Reich's Jewish heritage. It is in four parts, marked fast, fast, slow and fast.

"Tehillim" is the setting of Psalms 19:2-5 (19:1-4 in Christian translations), 34:13-15 (34:12-14), 18:26-27 (18:25-26) and finally 150:4-6.

The four parts of the work are based on these four texts respectively.

In its standard chamber version "Tehillim" is scored for four women's voices (one high soprano, two lyric sopranos and one alto), piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, six percussion (playing small tuned tambourines without jingles, clapping, maracas, marimba, vibraphone and crotales), two electric organs, two violins, viola, cello and bass. The voices, winds and strings are amplified in performance.

"Tehillim" may strike listeners familiar with much of Reich's other work as something of a departure from his earlier pieces. In contrast to his entire oeuvre, with the possible exceptions of "The Cave" (1993) and "Proverb" (1995), "Tehillim" is less "radical" musically.

This difference is, on the one hand, thematic. It was the first major composition by Reich to reference explicitly his new-found interest in his Jewish heritage, and his Judaism as such. However, although this is obviously central to the work, and although Reich has never subsequently (until his 2004 "You Are (Variations)") set the Jewish scriptures to music, the real difference lies in the formal aspects of "Tehillim".

Typically, Reich's music is characterised by a steady pulse and the repetition of a comparatively small amount of melodic material emanating from a clear tonal centre (a style of writing which is called 'minimalist'). Both aspects are certainly to be identified in "Tehillim" (the composition in no way marks a complete aesthetic break for Reich), for example in the quick, unchanging tempo of the first two parts, which are played one after another without a break, and the close four-part canons of the first and fourth parts. However, these aspects together constitute only the broad outlines of the work; how they are presented is markedly different from his early work.

These differences are a direct consequence of the need felt by the composer to 'set the text in accordance with its rhythm and meaning'.

There is no fixed metre or metric pattern in "Tehillim". The rhythm of the music comes directly from the rhythm of the Hebrew text. Secondly, the musical setting of lengthy 3-4 line texts results in the composition of extended melodies at that point untypical for Reich. 'Though an entire melody may be repeated either as the subject of a canon or variation, this is actually closer to what one finds throughout the history of Western music'. As such, this second aspect of extended melody contributes to the appearance of structures not without precedent in Western musical history.

'The use of extended melodies, imitative counterpoint, functional harmony and full orchestration may well suggest renewed interest in Classical, or more accurately Baroque, and earlier Western musical practice. The non-vibrato, non-operatic vocal production will also remind listeners a singing style derived from outside the tradition of 'Western Art Music'. However, the overall sound of "Tehillim," and in particular, the intricately interlocking percussion writing which, together with the text, marks this music as unique by introducing a basic musical element that one does not find in earlier Western musical practice including the music of this century. "Tehillim" may thus be heard as traditional and new at the same time'.

None of the writing is informed by the sound or structure (in spite of the composer's recent study of Hebrew cantillation) of Jewish music generally or any existing tradition for singing the Biblical text. Indeed, a major factor in Reich's choosing the Psalms was that 'the oral tradition for Psalm singing in the Western synagogues has been lost. This meant I was free to compose the melodies for "Tehillim" without a living oral tradition to imitate or ignore.'

All quotes taken from the liner notes written by the composer, Steve Reich, in February 1982 for the ECM recording by his own ensemble.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tehillim (Reich) — Tehillim Texte religieux hébraïque Genre musique contemporaine Musique …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Tehillim — (תהלים) is:*The Hebrew name of the Book of Psalms *A piece of music by Steve Reich; see Tehillim (Reich) …   Wikipedia

  • REICH, STEVE — (1936– ), U.S. composer and performer. Reich was born in New York and began studying drumming with Roland Kohloff at the age of 14. At Cornell University (1953–57) he devoted himself mainly to philosophy but also attended lectures of William… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Tehillim — Livre des Psaumes Premiers versets en hébreu du psaume 1. Le livre des Psaumes (ספר תהילים Sefer Tehillim en hébreu, Livre des Louanges) est un livre de la Bible hébraïque (l Ancien Testament des chrétiens), le premier de la section des Ketouvim …   Wikipédia en Français

  • reich — begütert; gut betucht; finanzstark; geldig (umgangssprachlich); finanzkräftig; betucht; potent (umgangssprachlich); bemittelt; wohlhabend; …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Steve Reich — Stephen Michael Reich Nacimiento 3 de octu …   Wikipedia Español

  • Steve Reich — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Reich (homonymie). Steve Reich Steve …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Steve Reich — Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer who pioneered the style of minimalism. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns (examples are his early compositions, It s Gonna Rain and Come Out ),… …   Wikipedia

  • Steve Reich — (2006) Steve Reich, eigentlich Stephen Michael Reich [ɹaɪʃ] (* 3. Oktober 1936 in New York City, New York) ist ein US amerikanischer Komponist, der vor allem im Bereich der Minimal Music bekannt ist und al …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Steve Reich Ensemble — Steve Reich and Musicians Steve Reich and Musicians Steve Reich Ensemble …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”