Beethoven 1 & Reich’s Desert Music

Few composers have had such an impact on the course of musical history as the three brought together in this evening’s concert: Ludwig van Beethoven in the opening years of the 19th century, John Adams and Steve Reich in our own time.

Adams’s exhilarating Short Ride in a Fast Machine evokes a white-knuckle ride he took with a friend in a “very fancy Italian sports car”. A relentless beat on the woodblock launches the orchestra into a full-throttle four-minute fanfare.

The Desert Music is the biggest orchestral piece by master of minimalism Steve Reich. Reich sets texts by William Carlos Williams, and uses the poet’s name as the inspiration for a giant palindromic structure built from his characteristic interlocking, constantly shifting rhythmic patterns. There’s nothing minimalist about the forces Reich musters: glockenspiels, xylophones, marimbas, pianos, a profusion of untuned percussion and a chorus join the orchestra to weave a mesmerising web of sound.

Between these two masterpieces of the 1980s comes Beethoven’s first foray into the world of the symphony – a world he enriched beyond measure. Back in 1800, fans of Mozart and Haydn would have found much that was familiar about Beethoven’s graceful symphonic writing, along with some fresh, imaginative twists that hinted there was much more to come.

Beethoven 200 is made possible by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, founding supporters of the Philharmonia Creative Futures Fund. Cockayne Grants for the Arts is a Donor Advised Donor Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.