Reich, Steve

US composer. His minimalist music employs simple patterns carefully superimposed and modified to highlight constantly changing melodies and rhythms; examples are Phase Patterns for four electronic organs (1970), Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ (1973), and Music for Percussion and Keyboards (1984).

Reich was a pupil of Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. In 1966, he founded the ensemble Steve Reich and Musicians, and began to study African, Balinese, and Hebrew music. He became a leading light of the minimalist school of composers, abandoning orthodox notions of harmony and counterpoint in favour of repeated phrases which typically evolve only gradually over time. His works have had much success in Europe and the USA. His other compositions include The Cave (1993) and City Life (1994). He received the Polar Music Prize in 2007.