Steve Reich is not yet 90, but the celebrations for the influential composer are already underway. The world premiere of his new piece for a large ensemble, In All Your Ways, took place at the Edinburgh festival last month, followed by a late-night performance at the BBC Proms. Despite these tributes, Reich remains characteristically cautious when discussing his upcoming 90th birthday on October 3. He admits he has not quite arrived at that milestone yet, preferring not to pre-empt the occasion before it officially arrives.
Born in New York in 1936, Reich has spent six decades fundamentally altering the sonic landscape of Europe and North America. His work has garnered widespread acclaim, with The New Yorker describing him as “the most original musical thinker of our time.” His influence is expansive; he is a pioneer of musical minimalism, known for repetitive structures, driving rhythms, and tonal harmonies. These elements have permeated various genres, from electronic dance music to contemporary classical compositions and film scores.
The reach of his work is significant, evidenced by artists like David Bowie, who hailed his 1976 piece Music for 18 Musicians as “a tonetrack into the future,” and the band Radiohead, whose guitarist Jonny Greenwood recorded a version of Electric Counterpoint. Decades ago, BBC Radio 1 even celebrated his 70th birthday with a specialized remix competition. Currently residing outside New York City, Reich is recovering from a fall that resulted in a broken rib and a damaged wrist. While he notes that the rib seems to be mending itself, the wrist injury hinders his composing process, which relies heavily on playing the piano.
Reich maintains an energetic persona, often wearing his signature black baseball cap during video calls. He speaks with rapid-fire intensity, frequently referencing 20th-century figures like Béla Bartók and John Cage. Though he occasionally struggles with finding specific names—a reality he jokingly attributes to his age—his recall of musical history and technical processes remains razor-sharp. He continues to work on new musical sketches despite current physical frustrations and expresses genuine gratitude for the ongoing recognition of his life’s work.
His approach to composition shifted in 1968 when he rejected the complexity of serialist modernism, seeking instead music where the listener could audibly perceive the process at work. This philosophy evolved from his early experiments with tape recorders, such as his 1965 work It’s Gonna Rain and 1966’s Come Out, which used looped speech samples. His landmark 1967 piece, Piano Phase, was developed by playing against a tape loop, discovering the phasing process through the interaction of human performance and recorded sound.
Reich is known for being critical of his own output, readily admitting to a “closet full of failures.” He remains nuanced about his collaborative video-operas with his wife, artist Beryl Korot—specifically The Cave and Three Tales—questioning whether the material sustains its length. Ultimately, he adheres to a strict standard for success, asserting that “good music is good music, and most music is not.” This ethos drives his continued exploration of musical structures.
Looking back at his development, Reich cites the moment he heard Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at age 14 as the catalyst for his desire to become a composer. While he identifies that moment as a primary watershed, he is less certain about others, suggesting that truly transformative experiences would be impossible to forget. He remains an active participant in the musical world, delivering lectures on music history and engaging with younger composers like Nico Muhly and Caroline Shaw.
His career included significant periods of development, such as performing in the premiere of Terry Riley’s In C and postgraduate studies with Luciano Berio. Reflecting on his own 1971 work Drumming, he expressed satisfaction with how it held up upon revisiting it. As he prepares to enter his 10th decade, Reich continues to look forward, maintaining his creative energy rather than dwelling in the past. He remains a foundational figure, continuously demonstrating the same rhythmic precision that first defined his path in the mid-1960s. The report also notes that but when I ask this most supremely influential of living composers how he feels about becoming a nonagenarian on 3 October, Reich is coy. “I haven’t quite got there yet,” he says. “I don’t want to dot the i before I even get there. The report also notes that born in New York in 1936, Reich has spent the last six decades producing music that has changed the soundtrack of modern life in Europe and North America, and inspired superlatives from a wide array of music critics. The report also notes that alongside his US contemporaries Philip Glass, Terry Riley and La Monte Young, Reich was one of the pioneers of musical minimalism. The report also notes that reich dislikes the label but explains minimalism to me as “an intuitive movement towards what we wanted to hear. The report also notes that we loved Stravinsky and Bartók and jazz – and were appreciating Bob Dylan and listening to African and Indian music.”. The report also notes that no wonder Reich’s influence has reached so far. The report also notes that whether or not they know his name, his is a musical language familiar to millions. The report also notes that today, Reich may be more conscious than usual of his mortality.
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