Reich: The Desert Music; Three Movements - review

Works for full orchestra are rare from Steve Reich. Apart from the two works here, only the psalm setting Tehillim and the rather unsatisfactory Variations from 1979 demand a full complement of woodwind, strings and brass. The 45-minute arch-like span of The Desert Music embeds choral settings of William Carlos Williams in textures that, for all their orchestral richness and multi-voiced complexity, still retain the hard-edged brilliance of Reich's characteristic ensemble sound as their core, while the much more concise Three Movements is perhaps the nearest thing to a conventional orchestral concert piece – an overture, almost – that Reich has written. The musical world of both pieces is one that the conductor Kristjan Järvi seems to understand instinctively; there's a warmth and richness to the textures and a purposeful thrust and precision to the rhythms in his performances that are completely faithful to the essence of Reich's music.