An interesting, thought-provoking
project, especially with the inclusion,
at no additional cost, on DVD, of the
visual "interpretation" of these pieces,
by Reich's wife Beryl Korot, recalling,
at least superficially, the previous
The Cave. However, I have to
question, at the outset, the relevance
or validity of juxtaposing two relatively
distant 20th century historical
events, one, as far as this listener
is concerned, ultimately more significant
than the other, with a third that is
cutting edge already and seems to be
becoming more so by the week/month.
For what it's worth, it seems self-evident
to say that Bikini Atoll and its actual
and potential consequences are still
all-pervading but the Hindenberg disaster,
although interesting in itself, it is
probably not immanent, once the original
lessons had been learnt, i.e. that,
as airship fillers(?)/floatants(?) go,
helium is safe, hydrogen isn't. The
overall theme is obviously one of the
benign/malign trade-off of technology,
progress etc. in general and in that
sense, at least, it works quite well.
Musically speaking though, there is
nothing here that would offer any element
of surprise to a seasoned Reich listener,
save perhaps the ironic(?) Wagner quotation
in Hindenburg. The point is that
the pieces are and are probably
meant to be their texts.
In something like Different Trains,
one of Reich's real masterpieces, the
text and music share the limelight and
are so well integrated that it is hard
to separate the two; here the documentary
aspect assumes prominence.
The best work on this
disc, and by some distance, is Dolly.
An exceptionally focused piece which,
among other virtues, gives ample opportunity
for the brilliant but doctrinaire and
ultimately smug neo-Darwinian reductionist
Richard Dawkins to hang himself, metaphorically
speaking, several times over - death
by soundbite ("Machines created by our
genes")! Several other eminent figures
in the field, including the rather more
humanistic Stephen Jay Gould, contribute
to the "debate"/sound collage, yet I
confess that it may all mean a great
deal more to the biologically enlightened(?),
like myself, than other listeners, the
latter probably in the majority. What
is clear, is the stance taken by Reich
in his selection of material; as the
booklet notes state, he is "expressing
an attitude that life is sacred". This
is something that sits uncomfortably
with Dawkins' reductionist philosophy
and cloning technology but not, I would
say, with the ethos of great scientists
like Albert Einstein. I'm with the composer
on this one and would argue that criticism
he has received along the lines of "his
music relies on technology therefore
he is a hypocrite" is well wide of the
mark. Like music, technology and progress
can be good or bad and act as (be used
as?) a force for either. Reich's masterstroke
in Dolly is to use the most most
manipulated voice present here, a vocodered
childlike utterance, to relate some
of the most simple but also profound
truths (in relation to the Garden of
Eden and "the Fall" and the nature of
reproduction - as opposed to cloning,
presumably).
I have never heard
and certainly never reviewed a disc
which has focused my mind so clearly
on the textual content to the apparent
detriment of the music. That said, I
stand by my original impressions that
this is often very ordinary Reich (and
there is plenty of extraordinary
already out there) in musical terms.
The music, to paraphrase Dawkins' "nihilism"
(I cannot think of a better way to describe
it), almost represents a "survival machine"
for the texts/ideas it carries. In that
sense it is very utilitarian and indeed,
where Dolly is concerned, is
probably doing a great public service
in exposing how extreme some viewpoints
in the mainstream scientific "establishment"
actually are - a "machine created by
our genes" is far easier to justify
aborting, subjecting to "voluntary"
or compulsory euthanasia.
As I stated at the
outset, this is a very stimulating project,
and Reich's integrity and respect for
what he is dealing with are unquestionable.
It provided, above all, to this listener,
a stark reminder, if one were needed,
of how close the dark underbelly of
modern evolutionary theory/genetics
lies to eugenics and the appalling legacy
of Mengele's death camp experiments
- (Steve) Reich vs (Third) Reich, if
you will. Recommended but perhaps not
mainly for the music.
Neil Horner
Synergy Vocals 