Steve Reich - Eight Lines (Octet) (Soft Version)

This was probably slightly more challenging than doing Music for 18 Musicians since Eight Lines doesn't have repeating signs (||: :||) on the sheet music, in difference of Music for 18, where it did have them with number of times repeating in parenthesis (3-5x, 7-12x, etc.) and I could have a bit more freedom in terms of doing my interpretation of the piece. Eight Lines was the opposite, it was strictly written from beginning to end. Enjoy! 😊
Let me know in the comments what song you want to hear in soft version! 🙂

Original version:    • Steve Reich - Octet (1979, ECM 1980, Vinyl...  

About this version:
This is a soft version of the work where I edited the articulation of the instruments (Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Flute, strings etc.) into a softer sound setting, hence the version stated in parenthesis. The process was the same as Music for 18 Musicians, having the score beside me transcribing the notes of the instruments from the score to the computer. Since this piece is shorter than Music for 18, I could do the whole piece under one session. I revised the session numerous times with the score to verify that I didn't missed a single note of the piece.

Instrumentation:
Bb Clarinet 1/Flute 1/Piccolo
Bb Clarinet 2/Bass Clarinet/Flute 2
(1st Clarinet doubles Flute and Piccolo; 2nd Clarinet doubles Bass Clarinet and Flute)
2 Pianos
2 Violins
Viola
Violoncello

About the piece:
"Eight Lines is structured in five sections, of which the first and third resemble each other in their moving piano, cello, viola and bass clarinet figures, while the second and fourth sections resemble each other in their longer held tones in the cello. The fifth and final section combines these materials. The transitions between sections is as smooth as possible with some overlapping in the parts so that it is sometimes hard to tell exactly when one section ends and the next begins.
In the first, third and fifth sections there are somewhat longer melodic lines in the flute and/or piccolo. This interest in longer melodic lines composed of shorter patterns strung together has its roots in my earlier music as well as my studies in 1976-77 of the cantillation (chanting) of the Hebrew Scriptures." (Steve Reich)
Composed in 1979 as "Octet", in 1983, Reich renames the piece "Eight Lines" after making a revision of the work by adding a second string quartet after problems during earlier performances for "Octet". Reich recalls as followed:
"Eight Lines (1983) is exactly the same piece as my Octet (1979) with the addition of a second string quartet. These additional four strings were added because of problems in performing the piece with only one player to a part. For the two violins, this problem was the difficulty of playing rather awkward double stops in tune. This was solved by two first and two second violins so that each player could play one note at a time. For the viola and cello, a second player was added to each to allow the rapid eight note patterns to be broken up between the two players thus preventing fatigue. This small change in instrumentation has proved to make a large difference in performance and for that reason Eight Lines is the only version of the piece suitable for performance." (Steve Reich)

All rights belong to Steve Reich. I do not own the rights of the music

Follow me!
Facebook: Space Keys https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Instagram: @everlong12   / everlong12  
Twitter: @TheEverlong12 https://x.com/TheEverlong12
Twitch: @mostlymarimba   / mostlymarimba  
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlymarimba...
Discord:   / discord  
Support me!: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_d...