Books

Conversations

Steve Reich

Hanover Square 352pp (hb) £20.87

Inspired by Stravinsky’s published discussions with conductor Robert Craft, in Steve Reich preserves his shared reflections with collaborators past and present. Michael Tilson Thomas describes the 1973 performance of – in which the Carnegie Hall audience was so unruly the conductor had to shout out bar numbers (‘When we came off stage and you were white as a sheet, I said to you, nothing like this has happened since ’) – while for the 2006 Prom to mark Reich’s 70th birthday. Doing away with the usual thirdparty interviewer has its perks: conversation is natural, personal and, because it is a composer talking to fellow artists, elicits interesting analysis (the impact of Reich being left-handed, or how a violin can double a train whistle, as in ). Most of the conversations took place over Zoom in 2020 (an exception is the 2015 in-person chat with Stephen Sondheim). Unfortunately, each chapter is unimaginatively presented as a straight transcription, which eventually becomes as tedious as a video call itself. ★★★