Daniel Variations

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"Reich has done it again," writes the Los Angeles Times' Mark Swed. "Daniel Variations is compelling, lofty, universal, and very powerful. Reich has written gorgeous, overwhelming music before, but in this he outdoes himself."

Description

Nonesuch released an album with two Steve Reich compositions—Daniel Variations and Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings on April 8, 2008. Daniel Variations—a tribute to the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl—is performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and conducted by Grant Gershon. Variation for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings was originally composed for use in a new piece by choreographer Akram Khan; the London Sinfonietta, led by Alan Pierson, performs it on this recording.

Reich explains: “Daniel Variations is in four movements using texts from the Biblical book of Daniel for the first and third movements and from the words of Daniel Pearl, the American Jewish reporter, kidnapped and murdered by Islamist extremists in Pakistan in 2002, for the second and fourth movements.” The texts/movements are:

1. I saw a dream. Images upon my bed & visions in my head frightened me (Daniel 4:2, or 4:5 in Christian translations)

2. My name is Daniel Pearl (I'm a Jewish American from Encino, California)

3. Let the dream fall back on the dreaded (Daniel 4:16, or 4:19 in Christian translations)

4. I sure hope Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done.

The piece is scored for two sopranos and two tenors with two B-flat clarinets, four vibes, bass and kick drums, tam-tam, four pianos, and string quartet. It was co-commissioned by the Barbican Centre in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Casa de Musica in Porto, Portugal, and in memory of Daniel Pearl by an anonymous donor in association with Meet The Composer and the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which is dedicated to cross-cultural understanding and music. Daniel Variations was premiered at the Barbican in London in 2006 as part of Steve Reich’s 70th birthday celebration.Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings was premiered in Köln, also in 2006, with choreography by leading British dancer and choreographer Akram Khan—performed by Khan’s company. Reich says: “This piece is scored for four vibraphones, two pianos, and three string quartets. The silver sound of vibraphones and strings together that I first encountered in The Four Sections (1987) suggested itself as the main overall sound of this piece. Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings is a more traditional set of variations than You Are (Variations) (2004), which preceded it.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Judith Sherman

Daniel Variations
Recorded February 27 & 28, 2007, at Studio A, Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
Engineered by John Kilgore
Mixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John Kilgore Sound, NYC
Second Engineer: Charles Paakkari
Studio Assistance: Bruce Monical and Paul Smith

Variations for Vibes, Pianos, & Strings
Recorded December 18 & 19, 2006, at AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London, England
Engineered by John Kilgore
Second Engineer: Chris Barrett
Mixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John Kilgore Sound, NYC

Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

Design by Barbara DeWilde
Cover photograph by Fogstock/Jupiter Images

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

406780

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
92
ns_album_id
718
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
Steve Reich
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Daniel Variations
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, conductor
Tania Batson, Karen Hogle Brown, Claire Fedoruk, Rachelle Fox, Marie Hodgson, Emily Lin, sopranos
Pablo Corá, Jody Golightly, Shawn Kirchner, Michael Lichtenauer, Kevin St. Clair, George Sterne, tenors
Gary Bovyer, Michael Grego, clarinet
Gloria Cheng, Vicki Ray, Bryan Pezzone, Lisa Edwards, pianos
Wade Culbreath, Theresa Dimond, Michael Englander, John Magnussen, Thomas Raney, Mark Zimoski, percussion
Ralph Morrison, Tereza Stanislav, violins
Eugene Moye, cello
Kazi Pitelka, viola
Steve Scharf, contractor
Bob Dolan, music librarian

Variations for Vibes, Pianos, & Strings
London Sinfonietta
Alan Pierson, conductor
Quartet 1: David Alberman, Jonathan Morton, violins; Paul Silverthorne, viola; Timothy Gill, cello
Quartet 2: Joan Atherton, Simon Smith, violins; Jane Atkins viola; Lionel Handy cello
Quartet 3: Miranda Fulleylove, Elizabeth Wexler, violins; James Boyd, viola; Sally Pendlebury, cello
John Constable, Shelagh Sutherland, pianos
David Hockings, Owen Gunnell, Sam Walton, Alex Neal, vibes

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597994940BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597994933
  • 406780

News & Reviews

  • In celebration of Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary, the label has partnered with photographer Michael Wilson—who has exquisitely captured dozens of Nonesuch artists over the past quarter-century—to produce Michael Wilson / 25 Years: A Nonesuch Collection, an extremely limited quantity of 100 box sets containing newly created prints from his Nonesuch archive, out now. You can take a quick look inside here. Designed by the Grammy-winning team at SMOG Design, each box comprises twenty 12" x 12" prints, numbered and signed by the photographer. Artists featured are Allen Toussaint, Ambrose Akinmusire, Audra McDonald, Bill Frisell, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Frederic Rzewski, Jeremy Denk, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Manuel Galbán and Ry Cooder, Philip Glass, Randy Newman, Rhiannon Giddens, Stephin Merritt and Lemony Snicket, Steve Reich, and Timo Andres, who wrote a note for the box.

  • For Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary, the label has partnered with photographer Michael Wilson—who has exquisitely captured dozens of Nonesuch artists over the past quarter-century—to produce Michael Wilson / 25 Years: A Nonesuch Collection, 100 box sets of 20 newly created prints from his Nonesuch archive, due September 13. Here, Wilson shares stories from the photo sessions behind the images in the box, with Allen Toussaint, Ambrose Akinmusire, Audra McDonald, Bill Frisell, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Frederic Rzewski, Jeremy Denk, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Manuel Galbán and Ry Cooder, Philip Glass, Randy Newman, Rhiannon Giddens, Stephin Merritt and Lemony Snicket, Steve Reich, and Timo Andres.

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch released an album with two Steve Reich compositions—Daniel Variations and Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings on April 8, 2008. Daniel Variations—a tribute to the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl—is performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and conducted by Grant Gershon. Variation for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings was originally composed for use in a new piece by choreographer Akram Khan; the London Sinfonietta, led by Alan Pierson, performs it on this recording.

    Reich explains: “Daniel Variations is in four movements using texts from the Biblical book of Daniel for the first and third movements and from the words of Daniel Pearl, the American Jewish reporter, kidnapped and murdered by Islamist extremists in Pakistan in 2002, for the second and fourth movements.” The texts/movements are:

    1. I saw a dream. Images upon my bed & visions in my head frightened me (Daniel 4:2, or 4:5 in Christian translations)

    2. My name is Daniel Pearl (I'm a Jewish American from Encino, California)

    3. Let the dream fall back on the dreaded (Daniel 4:16, or 4:19 in Christian translations)

    4. I sure hope Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done.

    The piece is scored for two sopranos and two tenors with two B-flat clarinets, four vibes, bass and kick drums, tam-tam, four pianos, and string quartet. It was co-commissioned by the Barbican Centre in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Casa de Musica in Porto, Portugal, and in memory of Daniel Pearl by an anonymous donor in association with Meet The Composer and the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which is dedicated to cross-cultural understanding and music. Daniel Variations was premiered at the Barbican in London in 2006 as part of Steve Reich’s 70th birthday celebration.Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings was premiered in Köln, also in 2006, with choreography by leading British dancer and choreographer Akram Khan—performed by Khan’s company. Reich says: “This piece is scored for four vibraphones, two pianos, and three string quartets. The silver sound of vibraphones and strings together that I first encountered in The Four Sections (1987) suggested itself as the main overall sound of this piece. Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings is a more traditional set of variations than You Are (Variations) (2004), which preceded it.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Daniel Variations
    Los Angeles Master Chorale
    Grant Gershon, conductor
    Tania Batson, Karen Hogle Brown, Claire Fedoruk, Rachelle Fox, Marie Hodgson, Emily Lin, sopranos
    Pablo Corá, Jody Golightly, Shawn Kirchner, Michael Lichtenauer, Kevin St. Clair, George Sterne, tenors
    Gary Bovyer, Michael Grego, clarinet
    Gloria Cheng, Vicki Ray, Bryan Pezzone, Lisa Edwards, pianos
    Wade Culbreath, Theresa Dimond, Michael Englander, John Magnussen, Thomas Raney, Mark Zimoski, percussion
    Ralph Morrison, Tereza Stanislav, violins
    Eugene Moye, cello
    Kazi Pitelka, viola
    Steve Scharf, contractor
    Bob Dolan, music librarian

    Variations for Vibes, Pianos, & Strings
    London Sinfonietta
    Alan Pierson, conductor
    Quartet 1: David Alberman, Jonathan Morton, violins; Paul Silverthorne, viola; Timothy Gill, cello
    Quartet 2: Joan Atherton, Simon Smith, violins; Jane Atkins viola; Lionel Handy cello
    Quartet 3: Miranda Fulleylove, Elizabeth Wexler, violins; James Boyd, viola; Sally Pendlebury, cello
    John Constable, Shelagh Sutherland, pianos
    David Hockings, Owen Gunnell, Sam Walton, Alex Neal, vibes

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Judith Sherman

    Daniel Variations
    Recorded February 27 & 28, 2007, at Studio A, Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Engineered by John Kilgore
    Mixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John Kilgore Sound, NYC
    Second Engineer: Charles Paakkari
    Studio Assistance: Bruce Monical and Paul Smith

    Variations for Vibes, Pianos, & Strings
    Recorded December 18 & 19, 2006, at AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London, England
    Engineered by John Kilgore
    Second Engineer: Chris Barrett
    Mixed by John Kilgore, Judith Sherman, and Steve Reich at John Kilgore Sound, NYC

    Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

    Design by Barbara DeWilde
    Cover photograph by Fogstock/Jupiter Images

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

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