Hermione Hoby on Steve Reich

Available for over a year

Annie Proulx wrote, in The Shipping News: "You know, one of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music". In this series of Radio 3's The Essay authors meditate on a piece of music that has formed the backdrop to their craft. In five intimate radio essays they explore how pieces inspire creativity through mood, narrative or structure, inviting us to step into the music – and the author’s – inner world. New York based author and journalist Hermione Hoby has listened to Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians almost every day for the last seven years. In this short radio essay she reveals how this classic piece of minimalism helps her write. Producer, Miranda Hinkley. Executive Producer, Peggy Sutton. A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 3.