• Tonality in Steve Reich's Nagoya Marimbas

    Author(s):
    Sean Atkinson (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Subject(s):
    Music theory, Musicology
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    minimalism, steve reich, tonality
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/f1x5-ca35
    Abstract:
    This article explores the remarkable tonal qualities of Steve Reich's Nagoya Marimbas . While most of Reich's output might be considered diatonic, rarely do those collections move in tonal paradigms. But in Nagoya Marimbas the two melodic voices combine in various canonic patterns to create a background tonal progression in E minor. The two marimba parts are always heard in phase with one another, playing the same music but at constantly varying intervals of displacement. The result is a long introduction that establishes E minor as tonic, followed by music that features more rapid changes yet continues to reinforce E minor as a tonal center. The piece, though an outlier in Reich's harmonic language, represents an important example of late twentieth-century tonality.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.11116/MTA.6.2.1
    Publisher:
    Leuven University Press
    Pub. Date:
    2020-2-18
    Journal:
    Music Theory and Analysis (MTA)
    Volume:
    6
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    191 - 200
    ISSN:
    2295-5917
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    4 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial

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