Terry Riley

Riley's music is usually based on improvising through a series of modal figures of different lengths. Works such as In C (1964) and the Keyboard Studies (1964–1966) demonstrate this technique. The first performance of In C was given by Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Pauline Oliveros, and Morton Subotnick, among others. Its form was an innovation: The piece consists of 53 separate modules of roughly one measure apiece, each containing a different musical pattern but each, as the title implies, in the key of C. One performer beats a steady pulse of Cs on the piano to keep tempo. The others, in any number and on any instrument, perform these musical modules following a few loose guidelines, with the different musical modules interlocking in various ways as time goes on. In the 1950s Riley was already working with tape loops, a technology still in its infancy at the time; he would later, with the help of a sound engineer, create what he called a "time-lag accumulator". He has continued manipulating tapes to musical effect, in the studio and in live performances throughout his career. An early tape loop piece titled Music for the Gift (1963) featured the trumpet playing of Chet Baker. It was during Riley's time in Paris, while composing this piece, that he conceived of and created the time-lag accumulator technique. Premiered in 1968 in the Magic Theatre Exhibition at the Nelson Atkins Gallery in Kansas City, a new version of the installation was commissioned three decades later by Lille 2004-European Capital of Culture and purchased by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lyon. A third version was built and presented by the Schauspielhaus in Bochum in 2019. He has composed using just intonation as well as microtones. In New York City in the mid-1960s he played with his longtime friend La Monte Young, as well as with John Cale and tabla player Angus MacLise, who were founding members of The Velvet Underground. Riley is credited as inspiring Cale's keyboard part on Lou Reed's composition "All Tomorrow's Parties", which was sung by German actress Nico and included on the album The Velvet Underground and Nico, recorded in 1966. Riley's famous overdubbed electronic album A Rainbow in Curved Air (recorded 1968, released 1969) inspired many later developments in electronic music. These include Pete Townshend's organ parts on The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley", the latter named in tribute to Riley as well as to Meher Baba. Charles Hazlewood, in his BBC documentary on Minimalism (Part 1) suggests that the album 'Tubular Bells' by Mike Oldfield was also inspired by Riley's example. The English progressive rock group Curved Air, formed in 1970, took its name from the album. Riley's collaborators have included the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Pauline Oliveros, the ARTE Quartett, and, as mentioned, the Kronos Quartet. His 1995 Lisbon Concert recording features him in a solo piano format, improvising on his own works. In the liner notes Riley cites Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Bill Evans as his piano "heroes", illustrating the importance of jazz to his conceptions.

• 1963: Music for The Gift (Organ of Corti 1, 1963) • 1965: Reed Streams, Mass Art Inc. M-131 • 1967: You're No Good, recorded in 1967 but unreleased until 2000 (Cortical Foundation / Organ of Corti, 2000) • 1968: Germ, with Gérard Frémy & Martine Joste (Spalax CD 14542, 1998). Includes a Pierre Mariétan track. • 1968: In C, Columbia MS7178 • 1969: A Rainbow in Curved Air, CBS 64564 • 1971: Church of Anthrax, with John Cale (CBS) • 1972: Happy Ending (soundtrack to Joël Santoni's film Les Yeux Fermés), Warner Bros. Records France 46125; Les Yeux Fermés & Lifespan, for solo electric organ; two soundtracks (2007 reissue) • 1972: Persian Surgery Dervishes, Shanti 83502 • 1975: Le Secret de la Vie (Lifespan film soundtrack), Philips France 9120 037 • 1975: Descending Moonshine Dervishes, Kuckuck Records • 1980: Shri Camel, CBS Masterworks M3519, for solo electronic organ tuned in just intonation and modified by digital delay • 1983: Songs for the Ten Voices of the Two Prophets, for two Prophet 5 synthesisers, Kuckuck Records • 1984: Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain, a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet • 1984: Terry Riley and Krishna Bhatt: Terry Riley and Krishna Bhatt Duo, a collaboration with Krishna Bhatt • 1985: No Man's Land • 1986: The Harp of New Albion, for piano tuned in just intonation • 1987: Chanting the Light of Foresight, with Rova Saxophone Quartet in just intonation • 1989: Salome Dances for Peace, for the Kronos Quartet • 1995: In C – 25th Anniversary Concert, version featuring Riley as one of four vocalists, recorded live January 14, 1990, San Francisco, New Albion Records • 1995: Lisbon Concert, solo piano concert, recorded live July 16, 1995 Festival dos Capuchos, Teatro São Luis, Lisbon, Portugal., New Albion Records • 1997: Lazy Afternoon Among the Crocodiles, experimental album recorded with contrabassist Stefano Scodanibbio. • 1998: Piano Music of John Adams and Terry Riley, performed by Gloria Cheng • 1999: The Book of Abbeyozzud • 2001: Moscow Conservatory Solo Piano Concert, recording of a live performance on 18 April 2000 • 2001: Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam, with Riley's tribute to the son of David Harrington performed by the Kronos quartet, and a solo piano improvisation by Riley • 2002: Atlantis Nath, hand-numbered signed edition of 1000 copies • 2003: Cantos Desiertos (Naxos) • 2004: I Like Your Eyes Liberty, duets with Terry Riley, piano and Michael McClure, poetry (Sri Moonshine Music) • 2004: The Cusp of Magic, with the Kronos Quartet, composed for his seventieth birthday, an ode to the rite of Midsummer Eve • 2005: Diamond Fiddle Language duets with Stefano Scodanibbio, bass (Wergo) • 2005: Assassin Reverie, Arte Quartett, saxophone qt. (New World Records) • 2008: Banana Humberto, piano concerto with Paul Dresher Ensemble • 2008: The Last Camel in Paris, live solo electric organ performance in Paris, 1978 • 2010: Two Early Works, the first-ever recordings of two of Riley's early compositions, performed by the Calder Quartet • 2010: Autodreamographical Tales (Tzadik Records) • 2011: Keyboard Studies Nos. 1 and 2 / Tread on the Trail (Stradivarius) • 2012: Aleph (Tzadik Records) • 2015: ZOFO Plays Terry Riley, ZOFO piano duo (Sono Luminus) • 2015: One Earth, One People, One Love: Kronos Plays Terry Riley, Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch Records) • 2015: Music Of Terry Riley – Sunrise Of The Planetary Dream Collector, Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch Records) • 2019: Sun Rings, Kronos Quartet (Nonesuch) • 2019: The Lion's Throne, with singer Amelia Cuni, recorded live (Sri Moonshine Music, SMM008) • 2019: Archangels, with conductor Julian Wachner, Trinity Choir, Novus Cellos (National Sawdust Tracks) • 2021: Zephyr, Francesco D'Orazio, violin • 2022: Autodreamographical Tales, transcriptions and arrangements for the Bang on a Can All-Stars (Cantaloupe Music) • 2022: Keyboard Studies, John Tilbury (Another Timbre) • 2022: Organum for Stefano, Terry Riley pipe organ, voice. Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna, Italy, May 7, 2013. (i dischi di angelica) • 2022: The Sands, James Feddeck, Cleveland Orchestra (CMA Recorded Archive Editions) • 2023: Standard(S)and: Kobuchizawa Sessions #1 (Star/Rainbow Records) • 2025: Terry Riley - The Columbia Recordings (Sony Classical)