for large ensemble
Duration: 16'
Scoring2.2.2.0-0.0.0.0-2vib-2pft-4.2.2.1 total of 19 musicians (two ensembles)
World Premiere11/10/2016 Royal Opera House, London Wayne McGregor, choreographer / Royal Ballet / Koen Kessels
Composer Notes
Runner, for a large ensemble of winds, percussion, pianos and strings was completed in 2016 and is about 16 minutes in duration. While the tempo remains more or less constant, there are five movements , played without pause, that are based on different note durations. First even sixteenths, then irregularly accented eighths, then a very slowed down version of the standard bell pattern from Ghana, fourth a return to the irregularly accented eighths and finally a return to the sixteenths but now played as pulses by the winds for as long as a breath will comfortably sustain them. The title was suggested by the rapid opening and my awareness that, like a runner, I would have to pace the piece to reach a successful conclusion.
-Steve Reich, 2016