''The Four Sections'' is an orchestral work by the

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

American composer

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

. The piece was commissioned for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fra ...

in honour of its 75th Anniversary by the widow of

Ralph Dorfman Ralph Isadore Dorfman, (1911 – November 19, 1985) was a Jewish American biochemist. His work on metabolism in pharmacology and the use of steroid hormones contributed to the development of the combined oral contraceptive pill. ...

." It was completed in August 1987 and given its premier that year on 7 October conducted by

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...

in Davies Hall.Steve Reich's notes
Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 8 January 2012 The title of the work refers to the four sections of the orchestra and the four harmonic sections dividing each movement. The work consists of the following movements: # Strings (with winds and brass) (♩ = 80) # Percussion (♩ = 80) # Winds and brass (with strings) (♩ = 120) # Full orchestra (♩ = 180) The original idea for ''The Four Sections'' was suggested by Tilson Thomas in terms of a Concerto for Orchestra. Reich's approach to the concept of a Concerto for Orchestra was explicitly different from that of Bartok's 'soloist versus orchestra' piece. Instead, Reich saw the orchestra as a means to explore further the ideas presented in works like Six Marimbas and

Violin Phase ''Violin Phase'' is a musical work written by minimalism (music), minimalist composer Steve Reich in October 1967. Structure ''Violin Phase'' is an example of Reich's Phasing (music), phasing technique, previously used in ''It's Gonna Rain'', '' ...

, where identical instruments are interlocked. A typical recording lasts about 25 minutes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Sections, The Compositions by Steve Reich 1987 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra