Composer Steve Reich turns 75 this year and keeps on rolling. And the 38-year-old Kronos Quartet keeps going with him. Their latest collaboration, Reich's memorial piece WTC 9/11, intentionally recalls the musical processes of Reich's masterpiece, Different Trains, also written for Kronos.
The first critical judgements on the new piece are in, including an album review from SFCV, and suggest that the new piece is also successful.
On its Cal Performances recital this Sunday in Hertz Hall, Kronos plays both pieces together and, aside from the somber mood they will undoubtedly create together, the vividness of this music is likely to make it one of the most life-affirming concerts of the season.