Music for Pieces of Wood grows out of the same roots as Clapping Music: a desire to make music
with the simplest possible instruments. The claves, or cylindrical pieces of hard wood, used here
were selected for their particular pitches (A, B, C-sharp, D-sharp, and D-sharp an octave above),
and for their resonant timbre. This piece is one of the loudest I have ever composed, but uses no
amplification whatsoever.
The rhythmic structure is based entirely on the process of rhythmic “build-ups” or the substitution
of beats for rests, and is in three sections of decreasing pattern length: 6/4,
4/4, 3/4.
—Steve Reich
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