New York Classical Review

For anyone who has been fascinated by the sight of two lights that blink at almost but not quite the same rate, gradually going in and out of phase with each other, the idea behind Steve Reich’s Drumming isn’t hard to understand.

Likewise, the idea that repeating patterns in an unwavering 12/8 beat could hold listeners riveted for an hour and a quarter seemed not so far-fetched Wednesday night at the 92^nd Street Y, as Sō Percussion and assisting artists honored Reich’s 90^th birthday by delivering one of his foundational works in all its intricate glory.

Conceived in 1971, after a sojourn in Ghana studying with a master drummer of the Ewe people, Drumming not only greatly expanded Reich’s concept of phase music but influenced all his later work and other composers’ as well.

On Wednesday the stage was crowded with multiple marimbas, glockenspiels and tuned bongos, operated by up to nine percussionists, not to mention two female vocalists and a piccolo player, who made sounds that imitated percussion instruments.

All those people and instruments going in and out of phase might sound like a recipe for chaos, or kindergarten after a cookie break. Instead, the smooth execution of Reich’s well-organized scheme generated long waves of rhythmic energy with innumerable side ripples and eddies.

At times, the intricate weave was just that, a splendid carpet of sound. But then a phase would click in somewhere, and a familiar pattern would flash by—say, the sway of a samba or a Brahms-style two-against-three—before disappearing back into the crowd. And it was all because of different ways of dividing a 12-to-a-bar beat, and knocking it all a little off kilter.

One might imagine that, for the performer, managing one’s own part amid so much that’s similar but different would require fierce concentration. And no doubt it does, but part of the art of musical performance is in making it look spontaneous and effortless.

As the players—Sō Percussion core members Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting, plus percussionists David Degge, Matt Evans, Amy Garapic, Ayano Kataoka, Doug Perkins and Clara Warnaar—walked around the stage and took their positions at the various instruments, and vocalists Beth Meyers and Becca Stevens and piccolo player Alex Sopp performed upstage, Wednesday’s performance unfolded in an atmosphere of serene enjoyment.

Back wall projections and lighting color changes (uncredited in the program) demarcated the piece’s sections. The light cues were a pleasant atmospheric accompaniment, but mattered far less than the rich palette of percussion colors, from an organ-like hum of marimba to ear-rattling bongo thwacks, that emerged from the ensemble.

Speaking of sections—and the composer may percuss me with his cane for saying this—the four clearly delineated “parts” of Drumming resembled in some ways the four-movement symphony scheme of Haydn and Beethoven. Part One presented the opening argument on the array of tuned bongos; Parts Two and Three developed it for smallish groups, marimbas and voices in one case and a fairy-tale scherzo for glockenspiel and piccolo in the other; and Part Four was the grand finale for all performers together, ending in the best minimalist fashion, abruptly in mid-crescendo.

The audience stood and applauded as composer Reich made his way down the aisle to shake hands with the performers. Then all on stage serenaded him with an encore, his piece Clapping Music, an exuberant phase piece for clapping hands.

The 92^nd Street Y presents Sandbox Percussion performing Andy Akiho’s Seven Pillars, in person and live streamed, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7. 92ny.org