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Steve Reich: Barbican Hall, London

Mike Barnes, The Wire, March 2005

ANTICIPATION WAS high at Ensemble Modern's UK premiere of Steve Reich's new piece, You Are (Variations), which earned enthusiastic press when first performed in the US last year. Although Reich is a constantly questing composer, recent compositions have varied in quality. They have ranged from the truly innovative (Different Trains) to the laboured and contrived (The Cave), while the well realised City Life was somewhat less exciting than promised.

Total word count of piece: 557

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