[.ca] Three Tales (+DVD)

very disappointing:
Like John Adams and Philip Glass, Steve Reich's recent (scant) output has been very disappointing. In fact, I feel now that of the three, Glass is the only one who can still come up with something surprising, even though he is probably the least acclaimed/most maligned of the big three minimalists. Three Tales is on paper a very exciting idea, and it is an improvement on the one Reich work I can't listen to at all, 'The Cave'. Like most commentators have noted, it is the ending of the piece, Dolly, that is the best, but it is still second rate Reich that does little compared to his earlier works. The only innovations in his latest work tend to be in theatrical terms and even they are not so impressive and have as much to do with Beryl Korot as Reich. The use of a repeating Richard Dawkins is very funny and novel, but it just reminds me of Max Headroom from the 80's, who was much funnier and more satirical than any of this piece. Much of the whole work is just plain boring and lacking in emotion. He has always been accused of lacking emotional depth but pieces like Music for Voices, Mallets and Organ, The Counterpoint series and Music for 18 Musicians are full of power and create a great emotional response in the listener. His recent works like Three Tales and the Triple Quartet are ok, but not anywhere near this level. His recent output has been depressingly small and when it does come out it is very dissappointing and it seems he is content to remain stuck in the six or so processes he has gained his reputation from. One thing which could have made this release a bit better would be if they took off the text/commentaries on the CD version. I find the text to be a distraction when listening to the music and they don't seem as essential as the text is in a work like Different Trains. We can see the point of the text on the DVD, but the piece doesn't work as a pure listening experience when it includes the text. Here's hoping new as yet unreleased pieces like Cello Counterpoint and Dance Patterns show us a reinvigorated Reich. I'm not holding my breath though. Now where is my Koyanisqaatsi DVD?!

last train to Petrozavodsk:
It's been a really bleak morning on the Leningrad station (ouch, it is St Petersburg now) and I just manage to find a seat on this over-crowded train heading North. Couples talking in whispers, old men reading Russian books, and the inevitable old apparatchnik longing for days of glory gone forever. With me on the CD-player this CD that just makes the trip bearable with the endless forest passing by outside, interrupted by a lake every now and then. The Sordavala station is another country already, the big city buzz of Petersburg finally behind us. This music is just the right thing for a trip like this, like sitting in a time machine going to places that is hard to describe. Thanks to mr. Reich for surpassing the borders of Western imagination and giving me and all the other fellow-travelers to Petrozavodsk hope (I cannot resist the thought that they somehow are listening in on this unbearably beautiful music...).

Try again, it's all there and good, I promise:
Just because you do not like "Three Tales" does not mean that "Three Tales" sucks. You were expecting "Music for 18 Musicians-the sequel", maybe? This is a different kind of music. To be honest, at first, I did not at all care for the music or the video. Then really, honestly went back and listened to the music. When you listen to what's actually going on, and shut your mind up, you will discover something incredible. You could of course continue thinking that "Three Tales" sucks. Good for you. But you're really missing out on one of the most interesting and spectacular works in recent times.

Listen again (don't listen to the frisbee):
Three Tales is astounding and beautiful. The way in which it covers the material is incredible. The tragic sound of "Captain Ernst Lehman gasped". The mechanic and maniacal music of "is designed to measure the effects on metal, flesh.." Man, it's eerie - the sound of the music is perfect. The interviews of "Dolly" - man oh man, the music is extreme, reverent in places, dancing in others, introspective and yet so outward and foward looking. I feel the Hindenberg crashing down. I feel the nervous anxiousness, the lies and deception in the Bikini Atoll. The microprocessor, the brains, the computer synaptic somatic chatter, a cloud of stars washing me as I listen to the interviews in "Dolly". In short, this music is so wonderfully evocative of the subject matter. Don't listen too hard to those who would tell you rubbish of "Three Tales". Listen with an open mind - you just might hear the music that Steve Reich wrote.

Just to Clarify:
In response to the person who said not to listen to my review. I would like to add that I'm a long term Reich fan, I love most of his music, but I just think this work is extremely disappointing. I have listened to it and watched it a lot to try and get to like it but it just isn't happening. I'm not one of these Glass or Reich freaks who think you can't like one if you like the other. I think they both create great works but in recent years they have both been a bit disappointing. I am not alone in thinking this, almost all the people I know who love Reich's music think this is a poor piece, especially considering the amount of time it took to make. That is the most frustrating thing about Reich, it takes him so bloody long to come up with something, but recently when he does it is just not worth the wait. Glass is far more prolific and although a lot of his recent output is fairly dull, he does produce some good stuff every now and then. You just have to find it. Anyway, I've said all I need to say, Three Tales sucks, go buy something like Trance by Michael Gordon instead.

• Hindenburg: Nibelung Zeppelin
• Hindenburg: A Very Impressive Thing to See
• Hindenburg: I Couldn't Understand It
• Bikini: In the Air-1
• Bikini: The Atoll-1
• Bikini: On the Ships-1
• Bikini: In the Air-2
• Bikini: The Atoll-2
• Bikini: On the Ships-2
• Bikini: In the Air-3
• Bikini: The Atoll-3
• Bikini: On the Ships-3
• Bikini: Coda
• Dolly: Cloning
• Dolly: Dolly
• Dolly: Human Body Machine
• Dolly: Darwin
• Dolly: Interlude
• Dolly: Robots/Cyborgs/Immortality
• Hindenburg: It Could Not Have Been a Technical Matter \oDVD\c