Desert Music

Steve Reich's monumental work for choir and orchestra is more than just a piece of minimal music—it's an acoustic metaphor for what science calls "swarm behavior." Countless rhythmic and melodic phrases are interwoven to form a collective structure that is more than the sum of its parts. Reich employs the repetitive patterns typical of his music, which constantly shift in minute ways, causing the soundscape to move as if in slow motion. Not unlik...