Back to Our Origins

In my third blog post, "Early Polyphony, Architecture and Minimalism", I discussed similarities between the music of Steve Reich and Perotin. The idea that two composers living a millenium apart would have striking similarities in their music might be shocking. However, when listening to Reich I can't help but think of Perotin. It is as though the spirit of Reich's compositions is a twentieth century reincarnation of of the sounds produced at Notre Dame in the thirteenth century.

I was reminded of Perotin while listening to Reich's Come Out (1966). This tape piece was commissioned as a response to the brutal beating of six African American boys in Harlem in 1964 (stevereich.com). Reich chose the voice of Daniel Hamm for this work. The excerpt of recording used is that of Hamm explaining the degree of his injuries. He says,

"I had to, like, open the bruise up and let some of the bruise blood come out to show
them.."

Reich loops the full quotation twice before repeating the phrase "come out to show them" for the remaining 12:45 minutes of the work. In this repetition, Reich lays a foundation similar to the chant used in Perotin's polyphony. Around the 1:05 mark it becomes obvious that the recorded segment is being gradually slowed on another track, creating a sense of imitative polyphony. This repetition slowly expands. As it does, many rhythmic combinations occur. The rhythm is felt by three plosive consonants in Hamm's voice- the [k] sound in "come", the [t] sound in "out" and "to", and the [sh] sound in "show". While the meaning of these words have special significance, I think Reich surely chose this clip for its percussive consonants as well.

At 2:52, a third and/or fourth (its hard to tell) loop is introduced creating a sense of canon. A similarity can be drawn here to the three and four part voice texture used in Perotin's organum. At 8:31, the pieces of recording are brought together forming a rhythmic pattern similar to that of a train engine. The words become harder to interpret, and the sound becomes ominous and somewhat unsettling. Perotin's music does not create the same unsettling feeling heard in Come Out, but it does have the atmospheric, hallucinatory qualities created in this work.

Maybe in the big scheme of things, music's journey is on a circular path.