Composer Steve Reich, whose latest Nonesuch album, WTC 9/11, is due out on September 20, spoke with musicOMH for an extensive interview that covers the new recording and much more. The publication of the interview follows yesterday's announcement in the Nonesuch Journal that the title piece would be available as a digital EP starting this Tuesday, September 6.

In the interview, Reich talks with musicOMH deputy editor Ben Hogwood about the personal nature of WTC 9/11, which reflects on the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, when Reich and his family lived only four blocks away from the site of the tragedy. He explains how Kronos Quartet, for whom he had written two previous string quartets, commissioned him to write WTC 9/11, and talks of working with Sō Percussion on the piece Mallet Quartet, which the ensemble performs on the new album.

Reich goes on to discuss his continued involvement in the many performances of his work taking place around the world, especially during this year filled with multiple celebrations of the composer's 75th birthday. (He will be in Kraków, Poland, on September 11, when the Sacrum Profanum Festival gets under way with an all-Reich concert.)

The interview also touches on other recent works by the composer, like 2x5 and the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet, along with some details on the new piece Reich is writing for the London Sinfonietta. Reich also shares his thoughts on the current state of the music business and on bands like Radiohead and The National.

Read the interview at musicOMH.com.

To pre-order the WTC 9/11 album and receive a free download of the title piece starting September 6 and the complete album starting September 20, head to the Nonesuch Store now.