Whether it’s because of scope or scale, it’s surprisingly rare to hear Steve Reich’s works on an Aussie stage. As Limelight‘s Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier puts it: with titles like Six Pianos and Music for 18 Musicans, Reich’s instruments are “not easily stacked on the backseats of a rental van”.

Gabi Sultana and Richard Cilli. Photo © Oliver Miller

This year, we’re luckier than most: the legendary American minimalist composer celebrates his 90th birthday next month, and Ensemble Offspring offers the biggest birthday bash in Reich:Repeat:Rejoice.

Opening the concert, however, is a work from EO’s own Artistic Director, percussionist Claire Edwardes and dancer Richard Cilli. Devised for a larger work, Recital in 2019, Metronomes a sweet and funny crash course in phasing, the compositional technique pioneered by Reich in the early 60s that forms the heart of many of his works. 

Phasing, first and foremost, is a physical phenomenon – the strange chorus of two tape machines playing the same loop, slowly slipping out of sync. As Cilli and Edwardes match their metronome partners – one arm sweeps, then two, then hips and more – this fact is strongly apparent. Reich’s early tape work Come Out was originally slated for the program, but Metronomes is a great pick for a live performance.

Maltese pianist Gabi Sultana joins EO for Piano Counterpoint, a tape-and-piano arrangement of 1973’s Six Pianos; a rhythmic. It’s infectiously danceable, and dancer Cilli stays on stage to join Sultana in performance – without the visual spectacle of six live pianos, it’s another good choice from EO to keep eyes on stage for a program that revels in repetition. Sultana locks in with the track tightly – sometimes the star, sometimes inseperable from the wash.

Percussionist Niki Johnson, EO’s Creative Associate, and Edwardes then join pianists Sultana and Ronan Apcar, dancing over jagged rhythmic blocks for a sparkly rendition of Reich’s jazz-flecked Quartet.

Gabi Sultana, Ronan Apcar, Niki Johnson. and Claire Edwardes. Photo © Oliver Miller

It’s an apt time for the Radiohead-inspired Radio Rewrite in Australia. Just the night before, hopeful punters got the email that told them whether they had been successful or not in  nabbing a spot in ticket registrations. Whether there’s cause to celebrate or a need to commiserate (like me), Reich’s Radio Rewrite in EO’s hands is maybe the perfect tonic. EO’s own video of the works

Across its structure, there’s whiffs of the harmony and melodic lines from Jigsaw Falling into Place and Everything in Its Right Place folded amongst a powerful, large-ensemble work that’s unmistakably Reich. 

Ensemble Offspring performing Radio Rewrite. Photo © Oliver Miller

Reich’s larger-scale works make for a balancing act between delicacy and dexterity. Performers must be sharply accurate with pithy, repetitive rhythms, listen well to each other, and follow this gentle push-and-pull throughout the course of the work – slowly bubbling to the surface for a starring moment and retreating at the same speed.

EO, in expanded form conducted by Aussie all-star Sam Weller, nailed it all (sprinkles from clarinetist Jason Noble and Lamorna Nightingale a surefire highlight). After stretches of repetition, Reich’s chord changes feel like the sky opening up. A birthday celebration the great would be proud to see.