Steve Reich: Jacob’s Ladder at the BBC Proms
The UK premiere of Steve Reich’s most recent work, Jacob’s Ladder, is presented by the BBC Proms on 30 August with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Synergy Vocals conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Following performances in New York, Paris, Stockholm and Istanbul, Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder reaches London on 30 August at the BBC Proms. The UK premiere at the Royal Albert Hall features the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Synergy Vocals under the baton of Martyn Brabbins. Jacob’s Ladder sets Biblical texts describing Jacob’s vision of a ladder between Heaven and Earth, with angels ascending and descending.
Reich’s 20-minute score was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic (Jaap van Zweden, Music Director), BBC Radio 3, Fundação Casa da Música Porto, Istanbul Music Festival and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, O/Modernt, Radio France and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Composed in 2023, the work was premiered in New York’s Lincoln Center in October 2023 by the New York Philharmonic and Synergy Vocals conducted by Jaap van Zweden. The European premiere at Radio France’s Présences festival in February, as part of a major Reich focus in Paris, was followed by performances at the O/Modernt Winter Festival in Stockholm and the Istanbul Music Festival.
Steve Reich comments on the background to Jacob’s Ladder: “At first thought, a musical equivalent to a ladder might well be a scale or mode. The messengers (the Hebrew word also means angels) ascending and descending then become notes on that scale or mode. Of course, one sometimes only goes up a few rungs to reach something and then descends, or perhaps climbs higher, pauses, and then descends pausing at each rung on the way down. Finally, it becomes clear that metaphorically any melodic musical movement on a scale or mode is included in this dream of ascending and descending a ladder between heaven and earth.”
“The 20-minute new piece burbles with a steady, propulsive rush … brightly etched … lilting vividness… Reich flashes - without lingering - on jeweled moments… Energetic while meditative … light, graceful, refreshing.”
The New York Times
Reich/Richter, the recent collaboration between Steve Reich and artist Gerhard Richter continues to travel widely with its German premiere presented at the Elbphilharmonie on 13 October, followed by a further performance by ensemble unitedberlin at the Konzerthaus in Berlin on 20 October. These performances are presented in combination with the film »Moving Picture« by video artist Corinna Belz, who has created a whirring world of shapes and colours in moving image from photos of Richter’s cropped pictures. The 24/25 season also brings Reich/Richter’s Danish premiere by the Athelas Sinfonietta in Copenhagen on 28 January and a performance in Brighton directed by Colin Currie on 23 March.
Steve Reich’s 90th birthday is celebrated in 2026, with planned festival features and premieres of his latest new works.
> Read a recent interview with Steve Reich in the Lunch with the FT series
> Further information on Work: Jacob's Ladder
Photo: Jeffrey Herman