Cover design for Music for 18 Musicians (from the Amazon.com Web page for the reissued release of the CD)
This morning’s electronic mail included an item that I found to be as much eccentric as nostalgic. The “headline” was as follows:
In Honor of Steve Reich's 90th Birthday, ECM Releases Recordings on ECM, a 3-LP Box Set Including Reich's Albums That Were Released on the Label Between 1978-1982:
- Music for 18 Musicians
- Octet / Music for a Large Ensemble / Violin Phase
- Tehillim
I find this to be eccentric because I am old enough to remember when the earliest CDs were released, providing listeners with uninterrupted longer durations. For those that do not know, the story goes that the CD was designed to provide an account of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 125 ninth (choral) symphony without the physical interruption of chasing one side of an LP album to another. “Music for 18 Musicians” was even better suited for CD than was the Beethoven symphony, since the entire duration, about 56 and a half minutes, is performed without any interruption.
It goes without saying that this album was one of my earliest CD purchases. I still have it; and, while I do not visit it frequently, every listening experience is as refreshing as ever. It is also worth noting that, in addition to duration, the CD has the benefit of no physical contact. Thus, while vinyl records are subjected to some level of wear-and-tear from the phonograph needle, a CD only has to contend with a laser beam that avoids such contact. In other words, every time I listen to my CD of “Music for 18 Musicians,” it sounds as fresh as it did when I made my purchase.
Presumably, ECM announced this new release because there is a trend of going back to LPs. I suppose that trend was motivated by the fact that it is limited in the number of listeners, as if that limitation makes the release more “special” than an “ordinary CD.” To be fair, the only “special” aspect is that the LP is analog, while the CD is digital. This reminds me that the affordances of analog computing are far more limited than those in the digital domain!
Perhaps the appeal of the LP involves the nostalgia for earlier times. In that context, it might be useful to remember what things were like when a trip from New York to Los Angeles would involve rail travel (possibly with several changes of trains), rather than a non-stop flight! Personally, I am no great fan of “good old days;” and it is hard for me to remember if I was ever inclined to resist a new technology!
