CHAPTER 64 Less is More: Reich and Minimalist Music
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. What is process music?
a. serial music c. music for a procession
b. music that changes gradually d. chance music
2. Which of the following composers is/are (a) minimalist(s)?
a. Steve Reich c. Terry Riley
b. LaMonte Young d. All answers shown here.
3. The process whereby several copies of a recorded musical idea are looped but at different speeds is called
a. process music. c. phase music.
b. looping music. d. musique concrète.
4. Which of the following was an influence on the music of Steve Reich?
a. Ewe drumming c. Judaism
b. gamelan music d. All answers shown here.
5. Which composition by Steve Reich reflects on both his personal experience and that of European Jews at the time of Nazi Germany?
a. It’s Gonna Rain c. Different Trains
b. Tehillim d. Violin Phase
6. Steve Reich was influenced by polyrhythms of
a. Cuba. c. Java.
b. West Africa. d. Mexico.
7. Steve Reich eventually embraced a more developed process-influenced style called
a. process music. c. polyrhythm.
b. chance music. d. minimalism.
8. Electric Counterpoint features the
a. piano. c. synthesizer.
b. electric guitar. d. jazz violin.
9. How many movements are in Electric Counterpoint?
a. three c. five
b. four d. seven
10. Which of the following characterizes Electric Counterpoint?
a. canons c. complexity
b. a repetitive musical idea d. All answers shown here.
11. Electric Counterpoint is intended for a live performer and ________ prerecorded tracks.
a. two c. eight
b. four d. fourteen
12. The melody drums of a royal drum ensemble from Uganda are tuned to a ________ scale.
a. octatonic c. pentatonic
b. diatonic d. chromatic
13. A melody that burrows into our brain and won’t go away is called
a. an “ear–worm.” c. pop music.
b. minimalism. d. brain music.
14. Process music was developed in the early 1960s with the use of
a. recording technology. c. MIDI.
b. personal computers. d. the Yamaha DX7.
15. When was magnetic tape developed?
a. during the Second World War c. during the late 1950s
b. during the First World War d. 1983
16. Steve Reich was born in
a. New York City. c. West Africa.
b. Los Angeles. d. Boston.
17. Members of the rock band King Crimson acknowledged ________ as one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth and early
twenty-first centuries.
a. Steve Reich c. Leonard Bernstein
b. George Gershwin d. Pat Metheny
18. Steve Reich wrote Electric Counterpoint for guitarist
a. Robert Fripp. c. Bill Frisell.
b. Pat Metheney. d. Adrian Belew.
19. Many nineteenth-century composers mistakenly thought music of sub-Saharan cultures was primitive because
a. it lacked melodic and harmonic content. c. it was only performed by men.
b. it was performed by African tribes. d. All of the answers shown here.
20. What piece did Reich compose after he returned from Ghana in 1970?
a. Drumming c. Two Trains
b. Electric Counterpoint d. Piano Phase
21. An entenga is a royal drum ensemble from
a. Uganda. c. Kenya.
b. Ghana. d. Indonesia.
22. What material is used to cover the melody drums for an entenga?
a. cowhide c. leopard skin
b. plastic d. fabric
23. Where is Uganda located?
a. West Africa c. East Africa
b. Indonesia d. South Africa
24. Ugandan people have felt influences from
a. the Arab world. c. their British colonizers.
b. Indonesia. d. All answers shown here.
25. Pat Metheney premiered which work by Steve Reich?
a. Electric Counterpoint c. It’s Gonna Rain
b. Piano Phase d. Two Trains
1. One reason for the growing interest in serialism during the 1940s and 1950s was its sense of scientific rigor.
2. The goal of process music is to make change imperceptible.
3. Phase music uses electronic looping.
4. Steve Reich was influenced by both African drumming and gamelan music.
5. The salient feature of minimalism is contrast.
6. Repetition is an important element of minimalism.
7. Electric Counterpoint can be played by an ensemble of live guitarists.
8. Electric Counterpoint was written for Robert Fripp, guitarist for King Crimson.
9. Electric Counterpoint exhibits several Baroque qualities.
10. Drumming in Uganda is based on rhythms and has no melodic content.
11. Steve Reich is an American-born composer.
12. Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and LaMonte Young developed process music in the early 1960s.
13. Recording technology was a significant factor in the development of process music.
14. Uganda is a land-locked country in East Africa.
15. The interlocking rhythmic patterns of West African music became part of Reich’s phase technique.
1. Describe the origins of musical minimalism.
2. How was Reich influenced by non-Western music? Include examples from the textbook in your answer.
3. Compare Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, III to Bach’s Contrapunctus I. What do these two works have in common?
4. Discuss the parts of a Ugandan royal drum ensemble.