Reich: Electric Counterpoint (3rd Movement) (1987)

Texture:

• Polyphonic
• Layered entries of instruments
• Live guitar part is amplified to blend in well so there is no timbre difference
• Little dynamic contrast other than instruments appearing to fade in/out

Harmony:

• Diatonic in Em (without #7th)
• Not functional, so music doesn’t rely on perfect/imperfect cadences
• Change in tonal centre from Em to Cm helps structure work but is actually used to add variety to the repetition of the music
• Adds an E5 chord (no third, therefore not major/minor) which supports tonal ambiguity of non-functional harmony

Instrumentation:

• Live guitar, 7 pre-recorded guitar and 2 pre-recorded bass parts
• Live guitar amplified to blend in
• Guitar exploited for strumming and finger picking techniques
• Panned left and right to help separate the parts (particularly evident in the basses)

Rhythm:

• 3/2
• Tempo is 192 – very fast
• Little rhythmic variety, generally repeating quaver motifs
• Frequent cross rhythms, syncopation
• Rhythmic displacement used to play the same motif
• Bi-metric metre – some instruments move to 12/8 whilst some remain in 3/2

Melody:

• One bar motif repeated to form an ostinato
• Rhythmically displaced melodies enter in canon led by live guitar
• Built up through additive melody
• Live guitar plays the resultant melody

Form:

• Ternary form: 3 sections characterized by instrumentation