Steve Reich: Phase | Pattern | Pulse
Pulsing. Surrounding. Step inside the music.
As part of our Steve Reich at 90 weekend, you can hear three of his best-known works in a completely different way.
Phase | Pattern | Pulse places you at the centre of the music. Using 360° spatial audio, it opens up the layers inside Reich’s compositions, so rhythms, harmonies and repeating patterns move around you instead of staying on a stage.
Take a seat in Northern Rock Foundation Hall and spend an hour inside Drumming, Music for 18 Musicians or The Sextets. Whether you already know Reich’s music or you’re hearing it for the first time, you’ll discover details that are easy to miss in a live performance.
Created by Loss >< Gain and Colin Currie Group, Phase | Pattern | Pulse is co-commissioned by The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
Need to know
Price: Free but ticketed
Times: various (see schedule)
Duration: approx. 1 hour.
Age: 12+. Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
Access: unreserved seating on beanbags with some seats available.
Due to the event’s immersive nature, latecomers will not be admitted. Where possible, we’ll move you to the next available slot.
Choose your piece
Each sound installation lasts around one hour, making it easy to fit around the concerts, talks and free performances happening across the weekend.
Saturday 3 October
10am: The Sextets
11.30am: Music for 18 Musicians
1pm: Drumming
2.30pm: The Sextets
4pm: Music for 18 Musicians
5.30pm: Drumming
7pm: The Sextets
8.30pm: Music for 18 Musicians
10.15pm: Drumming
Sunday 4 October
10.30am: Drumming
12pm: The Sextets
1.30pm: Music for 18 Musicians
3pm: Drumming
4.30pm: The Sextets
6pm: Music for 18 Musicians
Which one should you choose?
Music for 18 Musicians
Warm, bright and constantly shifting. A brilliant place to start if you’re new to Steve Reich.
Drumming
A slow-building world of rhythm and repetition. Watch simple patterns drift apart, come back together and keep changing as the music moves around you.
The Sextets
Three works brought together in one journey through shimmering marimbas, driving rhythms and harmonies that seem to hang in the air.
What's happening in the music?
Music for 18 Musicians
One of Steve Reich’s best-loved works, built from a steady pulse that never quite stands still.
As the music unfolds, voices, percussion, pianos and wind instruments weave around one another in tiny, almost invisible changes. Sitting in the middle of the sound lets you hear those changes from every direction, revealing how each layer fits together.
Drumming
This is music that rewards patience.
Built from repeating rhythmic patterns, Drumming changes almost imperceptibly as performers gradually shift in and out of step. In this spatial audio version, those patterns circle the room, separate and reconnect, making Reich’s famous phasing techniques something you don’t just hear – you sit inside.
The Sextets
Three pieces. One shared sound world.
Bringing together Sextet, Double Sextet and Six Marimbas, this installation explores the shimmering harmonies and interlocking rhythms that run through Reich’s music. Instruments move through the space around you, revealing new colours and connections with every subtle shift.
It’s music that’s constantly moving, even when it feels perfectly still.
