Tehillim

So, last night I scored a v cheap ticket to see the London Sinfonietta at the Southbank Centre. I love cheap tickets for things, and I was very proud to admit that this is the first time I've bought a ticket to a purely classical gig. I did lots of music at school, and though I'm mostly a fan of non-classical music, I've recently challenged myself to learn more about classical stuff, given that I've been playing it since I was 5 and remain terminally ignorant.

First on the bill was Steve Reich's Tehillim - a piece for a small ensemble, lots of percussion and 4 female vocalists. Sung in Hebrew - Tehillim is from the Hebrew word for Psalms - this is the first of Reich's pieces I've heard with vocalists. Though he's one of the biggies of the 20th Century, Reich is really listenable. His signature is hypnotic, interweaving lines which draw you in, and subtly morph and weave around until the listener is utterly lost.

Having listened to some of his other pieces on spotify, live was a totally different experience - the physicality of the 4 percussionists, watching the singers pass seemingly unconnected notes back and forth to build a tight harmony, the almost mechanical unison of the strings.

So while it's almost impossible to pinpoint an individual highlight of the piece, the sheer experience of being lost, that way that the music carries off one part of your mind whilst the rest wanders off... I may be going back for Reich's Drumming in a few weeks.

See also: Chichester Psalms - crazy Hebrew joy by Bernstein

15 step - hypnotica from Radiohead