Week One - Steve Reich: Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Electronic Organ

I listened to Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ (1973) yesterday and now as I write.

What am I hearing and how does it effect me?

Isn't that why anybody listens to music, because of the effect it has on them, whether emotionally, physically and intellectually? And isn't separating emotions, physicality and intellect a artificial division? What am I hearing? I'm hearing the mallets establish either a duple or triple meter, I'm hearing the sustained notes of the voices and organ slowly going back and forth between two sets of pitches but changing how long they sustain these notes after a few repetitions, I'm hearing a shift in the tonal center at about halfway through, I'm hearing the accents and syncopation of the mallet instruments, and I'm hearing either a major, minor, or modal tonality. I'm hearing a four part structure but not while I'm listening; realization of structure happens through remembering what I've heard. Okay, but SO WHAT!! Does the above description of this music make you want to listen to it? It may - you may after reading the above wonder, "Yeah, but what does it sound like?" But wasn't my description good enough!? Of course not. So let me try a different way to describe this piece:

When the music starts I feel a relaxing of my body and a focusing of my mind. I feel the syncopations in my body as little jolts of energy, my head starts boobing slightly, at the same time I am intrigued by the the long slowly changing line of the organ and voices. When the tonality rises I actually feel a lifting in my body. It's not too strong to say that I start to feel a sort of bliss while listening that is akin to the feeling that arises during meditation. This music does not have large ups and downs; there is no big climax, there is just a steady, calm, flow which I find extremely appealing.

So, which description above has more chance of moving you to listen? The first is intellectual, the second focuses more on my physical and emotional response while listening. Both descriptions are woefully inadequate. They are just words about. They are maps but not the territory. ..... Only by listening will this wonderful work make itself known to you. So go now and discover the real territory of Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Electronic Organ.