Music for 18 Musicians is a work of musical minimalism composed by Steve Reich during 1974-1976. Its world premiere was on April 24, 1976 at Town Hall, New York. Following this, a recording of the piece was released by ECM New Series. A recording of the opening sections is on Steve Reich’s official website. Music for 18 Musicians was written for a cello, violin, two clarinets (both players double on bass clarinet), four pianos, three marimbas, two xylophones, a metallophone, and four women’s voices. In the introduction to the score, Reich mentions that although the piece is named Music for 18 Musicians, it is not necessarily advisable to perform the piece with that few players due to the extensive doubling it requires. With only 18 musicians, the parts are divided as follows: 1. violin 2. cello 3. female voice 4. female voice 5. female voice 6. piano 7. piano 8. piano and maracas 9. marimba and maracas 10. marimba and xylophone 11. marimba and xylophone
Music for 18 Musicians – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
