The Desert Music
Steve Reich is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the past century. In this large-scale collaboration, musicians from Het Muziek, the Nederlands Kamerkoor, HIIIT, Ensemble Klang, New European Ensemble and students of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague perform his monumental work The Desert Music.
The texts of The Desert Music are drawn from poems by the American poet William Carlos Williams, taken from his collection The Desert Music and Other Poems. Steve Reich deliberately selected texts written in the years following Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the threat of nuclear weapons cast a long shadow over the world. The music reflects both hope and longing, as well as doubt and responsibility. This tension lies at the heart of The Desert Music. The title refers to a desert, while remaining open to different interpretations: a real place, an inner state, or a vision of the future.
Marking Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, the participating ensembles join forces to perform one of his most ambitious works. Under the direction of Joost Geevers, choir, ensemble and percussion create a compelling musical landscape.
Programme
Reich – The Desert Music
Joost Geevers, conductor
