Lesson plan

Daniel Variations

Daniel Variations is a composition for large ensemble written by American composer Steve Reich in 2006. It is scored for two soprano and two tenor voices, two clarinets, four pianos, string quartet, and six percussion players (playing bass drum, gong, and four vibraphones). Daniel Variations is in four movements. The first and third movements quote verses from the biblical book of Daniel, while the second and fourth movements use the words of Daniel Pearl, a Jewish American reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan in 2002. The texts for the movements are: #I saw a dream. Images upon my bed and visions in my head frightened me. (Daniel 4:2, or 4:5 in Christian translations) #My name is Daniel Pearl. (I'm a Jewish American from Encino California.) #Let the dream fall back onto the dreaded. (Daniel 4:16, or 4:19 in Christian translations) #I sure hope that Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done Repetitions of each text unfold within a series of harmonic variations structured similarly to Reich's You Are (Variations) (2004), amidst a texture of interlocking string motifs, piano and vibraphone accents and woodwind accompaniment.…

Back to article

Article summary

Daniel Variations is a composition for large ensemble written by American composer Steve Reich in 2006. It is scored for two soprano and two tenor voices, two clarinets, four pianos, string quartet, and six percussion players (playing bass drum, gong, and four vibraphones). Daniel Variations is in four movements. The first and third movements quote verses from the biblical book of Daniel, while the second and fourth movements use the words of Daniel Pearl, a Jewish American reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan in 2002. The texts for the movements are: #I saw a dream. Images upon my bed and visions in my head frightened me. (Daniel 4:2, or 4:5 in Christian translations) #My name is Daniel Pearl. (I'm a Jewish American from Encino California.) #Let the dream fall back onto the dreaded. (Daniel 4:16, or 4:19 in Christian translations) #I sure hope that Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done Repetitions of each text unfold within a series of harmonic variations structured similarly to Reich's You Are (Variations) (2004), amidst a texture of interlocking string motifs, piano and vibraphone accents and woodwind accompaniment.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.