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{{Short description|1964 musical composition by Terry Riley}}
{{Italic title}}
{{about||the album by Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.|In C (album)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = In C
| composer            = [[Terry Riley]]
| image               = Incipit of Terry Riley's In C.png
| image_upright       = 1.5
| alt                 = Incipit of ''In C''
| caption             = Incipit of ''In C''
| translation         = 
| native_name         = 
| native_name_lang    = 
| key                 = [[C major]]
| catalogue           = 
| opus                = 
| genre               = [[Minimal music|minimalism]]
| form                = open
| text                = 
| language            = 
| melody              = 
| client              = 
| composed            = March 1964
| performed           = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1964|11|04|df=y}}|location=San Francisco Tape Music Center}}
| published           = <!-- {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|location=}} -->
| movements           = 
| scoring             = open
| misc                = 
}}
'''''In C''''' is a composition by [[Terry Riley]] from 1964. It is one of the most successful works by an American composer and a seminal example of [[minimal music|minimalism]]. The score directs any number of musicians to repeat a series of 53 melodic fragments in a guided improvisation.

Terry Riley's 1968 recording of ''In C'' was added to the [[National Recording Registry]] in 2022. The piece inspired countless other composers, including [[Philip Glass]], [[Steve Reich]], [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]], and [[Julius Eastman]].

==Composition==
Alongside fellow students [[Loren Rush]] and [[Pauline Oliveros]], Terry Riley had been involved with group improvisation since 1957–8.<ref name=NPR>{{Cite web|title=''In C'' Forever: The eternal evolution of Terry Riley's minimalist masterpiece |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/03/nx-s1-4886709/in-c-forever-the-eternal-evolution-of-terry-rileys-minimalist-masterpiece|publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> The immediate forerunner for the piece was the incidental music Riley wrote for [[Ken Dewey]]'s play ''The Gift''. It was being performed in Paris in 1963 when Riley was asked to provide music for it. He ran into [[Chet Baker]] and recorded his quartet performing songs that included [[Miles Davis]]' "[[So What (Miles Davis composition)|So What]]". Riley was familiar with the [[Echoplex]] and wanted to replicate its sound. A technician from [[Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française|ORTF]] set up a [[tape loop]] system for the composer. ''Music From The Gift'' inspired Riley to work with loops for years to come.<ref>Strickland, Edward. ''American Composers: Dialogues on Contemporary Music''. Bloomington: [[Indiana University Press]], 1991. 112.</ref> Riley created installations using tape loops that he called "time-lag accumulators".<ref>[[Alfred Frankenstein|Frankenstein, Alfred]]. "Magic Theater in Kansas City", ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. June 2, 1968. 31–2.</ref><ref name=Alburger/>{{rp|5}}

When he was back in San Francisco the following year, Riley was playing piano nightly at the Gold Street Saloon. On the way to work one night in March 1964, he heard ''In C'' in his head and wrote it down after the show. The score consists of short melodic fragments, which was a staple of Riley's music from that period.<ref>Mertens, Wim. ''American Minimal Music: La Monte Toung, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass''. Translated by J. Haukiet. London: Kahn & Averill, 1983. 37f.</ref> Soon after, [[Morton Subotnick]] asked Riley to perform solo at the [[San Francisco Tape Music Center]]. He prepared the work to be performed with an ensemble on that concert.<ref name=Duck>Duckworth, William. ''[https://archive.org/details/bwb_P8-AFH-901/page/277/mode/1up Talking Music]''. Schirmer Books, 1995.</ref>{{rp|277f}}

Riley saw ''In C'' as way a for instrumentalists to play in the style he had developed with tape loops.<ref name=Alburger>[[Mark Alburger|Alburger, Mark]]. "Shri Terry: Enlightenment at Riley's Moonshine Ranch". ''Twentieth‐Century Music'' 4, no. 3. March, 1997. 1–20.</ref>{{rp|7}} His artistic goal was [[Shamanism|shamanistic]]. He wanted to write music that created a [[satori]] for the listener:<blockquote>I was never concerned with minimalism, but I was very concerned with [[psychedelia]] and the [[Counterculture of the 1960s#Psychedelic research and experimentation|psychedelic movement]] of the sixties as an opening toward consciousness. For my generation that was a first look towards the East, that is, [[peyote]], [[mescaline]], and the [[psychedelic drug]]s which were opening up people's attention towards higher consciousness. So I think what I was experiencing in music at that time was another world...music was also able to transport us suddenly out of one reality into another. Transport us so that we would almost be having visions as we were playing. So that's what I was thinking about before I wrote ''In C''. I believe music, shamanism, and magic are all connected, and when it's used that way it creates the most beautiful use of music.<ref name=Duck/>{{rp|269}}</blockquote>

Most of the music Terry Riley composes is not written down. ''In C'' was an early exception, and remained one of his few notated pieces until [[Kronos Quartet]] began commissioning him in the 1980s. Riley specifically scored ''In C'' so that it would be open to many interpretations. The score is so minimal it fits on a single page, and Riley felt, "if you can't do it with just that, it's not worth doing".<ref>Smith, Geoff and Nicole Walker Smith. ''[https://archive.org/details/newvoicesamerica0000smit/page/233/mode/1up New Voices: American Composers Talk about Their Music]''. Amadeus Press, 1995. 233.</ref>

==Performances==
Terry Riley and a small group of players began trying out ''In C'' at house concerts around San Francisco in the fall of 1964. One of the issues that quickly emerged was coordinating the players. [[Steve Reich]] suggested using an 8th note pulsing rhythm to keep the ensemble together. Though Riley envisioned the piece without a prevailing rhythm, he agreed to the utility of Reich's solution.<ref name=Carl>[[Robert Carl|Carl, Robert]]. ''Terry Riley's in C''. From ''Studies in Musical Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation'', Edited by [[Malcolm Gillies]]. Oxford University Press, 2009.</ref>{{rp|43–4}}

The piece was premiered on November 4, 1964 during "An Evening of Music by Terry Riley"  at the [[San Francisco Tape Music Center]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2013/jan/28/terry-riley-contemporary-music-guide "A guide to Terry Riley's music"] by [[Tom Service]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 29 January 2013</ref><ref>[https://www.mixcloud.com/RadioEclectus/radio-eclectus-039-stuart-dempster-interviewed-apr-9-2020/ "Radio Eclectus: Stuart Dempster interviewed by Michael Schell"], April 9, 2020</ref> ''Music from the Gift'' was played as the audience arrived. The first half included Riley's ''I'', ''Shoeshine'', ''In B{{music|flat}} or Is It A{{music|flat}}?'', and ''COULE''.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|49}}

There was a break to set up ''In C''. In addition to the musicians, [[Tony Martin (artist)|Tony Martin]] projected a light show on the ceiling. At one piano, Jeanie Brechan pulsed the top two Cs above Terry Riley who shared the instrument. Warner Jepsen and James Lowe played a second piano. The other keyboard instruments were played by [[Steve Reich]] ([[Wurlitzer electronic piano]]), [[Pauline Oliveros]] ([[accordion]]), and [[Ramón Sender (composer)|Ramón Sender]] ([[Chamberlin]] organ, male voice setting). The Chamberlin was housed in a recording studio upstairs from the concert space. Audio was piped up to Sender in order to coordinate. The wind section included [[Mel Weitsman]] ([[Recorder (musical instrument)|sopranino recorder]]), [[Morton Subotnick]] ([[clarinet]]), [[Jon Gibson (minimalist musician)|Jon Gibson]] ([[soprano saxophone]]), Sonny Lewis ([[tenor saxophone]]), Stan Shaff, and Phil Winsor ([[trumpet]]s).<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|43–6}} Oliveros recalls that the ensemble performed at a stately tempo of 69 beats per minute.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|50}}

The concert was repeated two days later. [[Alfred Frankenstein]] reviewed the November 6th performance for the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. He raved, "'On C' was the evening's masterpiece, and I hope the same group does it again." He wrote:<blockquote>At times you feel you have never done anything all your life long but listen to this music and as if that is all there is or ever will be, but it is altogether absorbing, exciting, and moving, too. One is reminded of the efforts of [[Carlos Chávez|Carlos Chavez]] to reconstitute the ceremonial music of pre-Columbian Mexico. Terry Riley may have captured more of its spirit than Chavez did.<ref name=VF>[[Alfred Frankenstein|Frankenstein, Alfred]]. "Music Like None Other on Earth", ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. November 8, 1964. 28.</ref></blockquote>

After the premiere, Riley headed to Mexico for three months.<ref name=Duck/>{{rp|274}} ''In C'' was performed again at the Center the following spring during a three day festival of Riley's music from May 25–7, 1965.<ref>Tom Welsh, “Chronology” in David Bernstein, ed., ''The San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant‐Garde''. [[University of California Press]], 2008. 239.</ref>

The New York City premiere took place at Carnegie Recital Hall on December 19, 1967 on a program with [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Octet (Stravinsky)|Octet]]'' and works by [[Harley Gaber]] and Dorrit Licht. The performance reminded ''New York Times'' critic [[Donal Henahan]] of [[Alban Berg]]'s Invention on One Note in ''[[Wozzeck]]'', and he admired the ensemble's "[[Gamelan|gamenlanlike]] sonorities". He continued, "Mr. Riley's effort produced a happy din, which was at worst hypnotic and often fascinating in its multilayered rhythms and sound patterns. One observed with compassion that the woman pianist, whose duty was to pound one note throughout, wore gloves. It put one in mind of [[Hildegarde]]."<ref name=NYT67>[[Donal Henahan|Henahan, Donal]]. "[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/12/20/90910027.html?zoom=16 New-Music Series Puts Toes to Test: Audience Exhorted to Walk Around—Some Don't Stop]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. December 20, 1967. 55.</ref>

The pianist was Margaret Hassell, and she wore bandages on her fingers underneath the gloves to pad them for the exertion of the part.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|81}} [[Lukas Foss]] had arranged speakers throughout the venue so the music could be heard from multiple vantage points, and the audience was encouraged to circulate during the piece.<ref name=NYT67/>
[[File:Music Now May 1968 Prog Pg1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Program from first UK performance, May 1968]]
The first UK performance of ''In C'' was on 18 May 1968 at [[Royal Institute Galleries]] by the Music Now Ensemble directed by [[Cornelius Cardew]].<ref>Programme for the Cornelius Cardew Ensemble, Royal Institute Galleries. (1968)</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter=4. Systems and Other Minimalism in Britain|last=Anderson|first=Virginia|date=2013|title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music|editor1=Keith Potter|editor2=[[Kyle Gann]]|editor3=[[Pwyll ap Siôn]]|location=Farnham, Surrey|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=9781472402783}}</ref> The performance was aggressively driven by an electric guitar playing the pulse loud and fast. ''[[The Musical Times]]'' found it "rewarding" and wrote, "whereas previous performances of Riley's work have tended to be delicate, full of barely perceptible intricacies for the relaxed mind to absorb, this one was totally uncompromising. It demanded a fight".<ref>Philips, Jill. "Music in London", ''[[The Musical Times]]'' vol. 109, no. 1505, July 1968. 644–645. {{JSTOR|952710}}</ref>

[[Alexei Lubimov]] organized the Soviet premiere of ''In C'' in 1969 for an audience that included [[Sofia Gubaidulina]] and [[Alfred Schnittke]].<ref name=Repit>Repetitition Orchestra, ''Terry Riley''. Liner notes. Long Arms Record CDLA 01033, 2001.</ref> The piece also received its German premiere that year at the [[Darmstädter Ferienkurse]]. [[Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski]] was relieved when the piano strings broke under the stress of the pulse, but the neighboring B strings had been tuned up a half step and the work continued to his dismay.<ref>[[Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski|Lewinski, Wolf-Eberhard von]]. "Kranichsteiner Talfahrt 1969", ''Melos'' 36. October, 1969. 429ff.</ref> This [[scordatura]] had also been used at previous performances.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|81}}

[[Oakland Symphony]] performed the first orchestral version of ''In C'' in 1970. Six months later, [[San Francisco Ballet]] used many of the same musicians to perform Riley's score for a production called ''Genesis 70'' choreographed by Carlos Carvajal.<ref name=Hill>Hill, Sarah. ''San Francisco and the Long 60s''. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. 277f.</ref>

A 25th anniversary concert was held on January 14, 1990 at the [[Fort Mason#Current uses|Fort Mason Center]] in [[San Francisco]]. Riley and his son [[Gyan Riley|Gyan]] performed in an eclectic group that included [[Jaron Lanier]]. Ramón Sender and Warner Jepsen also performed. The lineup included [[Kronos Quartet]], and Riley was particularly fond of the way they [[Portamento|slid into the notes]] of the musical fragments.<ref name=Duck/>{{rp|279}} The performance was recorded and released on CD in 1995.<ref>Terry Riley, ''[https://www.discogs.com/release/1263216-Terry-Riley-In-C-25th-Anniversary-Concert In C – 25th Anniversary Concert]''. New Albion, 1995.</ref>

==Form==
===Score===
The score of ''In C'' consists of 53 modules that fit on a single page. Each module is a short musical phrase notated in [[treble clef]] without a [[time signature]] and bracketed by [[repeat sign]]s. Riley uses nine different pitches, only omitting C{{music|sharp}} and E{{music|flat}} from the [[chromatic scale]].<ref name=Reed>Reed, S. Alexander. 2011. "''In C'' on Its Own Terms: A Statistical and Historical View". ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 49, no. 1 (Winter): 47–78. {{doi|10.7757/persnewmusi.49.1.0047}}</ref>{{rp|49}}

The total duration of the written score is only 521 [[eighth note]]s. The shortest module lasts one 8th note, and the longest lasts 64. The material varies widely in character, from drones to running [[Sixteenth note|16th note]] figures. Three of the modules are repeated: Nos. 10 (as 41), 11 (as 36), and 18 (as 28). The longest figure is #35, which spans 60 pulses, ranges an octave and a half, and includes seven of the score's pitches. Its length creates a sense of figure 35 as a turning point in the piece, creating a symmetry or even hinting at a very loose [[ternary form]].<ref name=Reed/>{{rp|52}}

Riley indicates no tempo, instrumentation, or dynamics. The notation is extremely uncluttered, and by implication, open to a wide range of interpretation. The first melody outlines a [[major third]] with its three [[quarter note]] Es ornamented with [[grace note]] Cs. The final melody is a minor third between G and B{{music|flat}} played in sixteenth notes. The structure of the melodic modules creates a vague sense of tonal shifts, for instance from C to E and then C to G.<ref name=Riley68/>

All of the [[Motif (music)|motifs]] are [[Diatonic and chromatic|diatonic]] until #14, which introduces an F{{music|sharp}}. The raised fourth [[Degree (music)|scale degree]] prevails until module 31 when the F{{music|natural}} returns. The F{{music|sharp}} makes one final appearance in module 35, shortly after a B{{music|flat}} is introduced. The seventh scale degree returns to B{{music|natural}} until #49, where it remains lowered until the end of the piece. Riley composed the modules with strong interrelations. Rarely is a module not clearly related to its predecessor.<ref>Hanninen, Dora A. ''A Theory of Music Analysis: On Segmentation and Associative Organization''. [[Boydell & Brewer|University of Rochester Press]], 2012. 313f.</ref>

===Instructions===
There are a few rules for performing ''In C'' that have remained since its first performance. They primarily define the [[Indeterminacy (music)|indeterminacy]] of the piece:
*'''Instrumentation''': The piece can be played by any group of musicians on any type of instrument.
*'''Tempo''': There is no required tempo. All performers play at the same pace.
*'''Patterns''': The 53 patterns are to be played in order. 
*'''Repetitions''': Individual players determine how often to repeat any pattern.
*'''Transposition''': Patterns may be transposed up or down. 
*'''Coordination''': An 8th note pulse may be used to coordinate the performance. It can be played on the top two octaves of a piano or mallet percussion. Time can also be kept by improvised percussion.
*'''Ending''': The piece ends when all players arrive at pattern 53. Performers stop playing individually.<ref name=Riley05/>

[[File:Module 12 from Terry Riley's "In C".png|thumb|Terry Riley's diagram of potential alignments for module 12 from ''In C''.<ref name=Turek/>|left]]Riley suggests a group of about three dozen performers, while acknowledging smaller and larger groups are possible.<ref name=Riley05>Riley, Terry. [https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/in_c_-_00lead_part_x1 ''In C'']. [[Associated Music Publishers]], 2005.</ref> Though they are governed by the same tempo, the musicians are not required to play together. Performers are encouraged to stagger their entrances, which creates a [[Heterophony|heterophonic]] [[Canon (music)|canon]]. Riley diagrammed the 12th module in several alignments to demonstrate how freely the musicians can perform the score. He initially asked players to remain within 4–5 modules of each other.<ref name=Turek/> The current instructions reduce that bandwidth to 2–3 patterns. Riley also recommends coalescing in [[unison]] at some point.<ref name=Riley05/>

If one of the motifs is too difficult to play, a performer is allowed to omit it. Riley even allows for the rhythms of patterns to be augmented.

''In C'' has elements of [[aleatoric music]] due to its improvisatory nature.<ref>Honigmann, David. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160924021518/https://www.ft.com/content/8959b73a-2f30-11e3-ae87-00144feab7de#axzz38lf7q1Lq In C, Barbican, London – review]". ''[[Financial Times]]'', October 7, 2013.</ref> However, much of its structure is specifically designed to reduce the scope of chance.<ref>Bernard, Jonathan W. "The Minimalist Aesthetic in the Plastic Arts and in Music." ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'', vol. 31, no. 1, 1993. 96. https://doi.org/10.2307/833043.</ref> Riley conceived of a version where each pattern lasted a week and the final pattern was played in the new year.<ref name=Turek/> He estimates an average run time of 45–90 minutes.<ref name=Riley05/> His instructions avoid declarative statements and read like a series of helpful suggestions. Riley composed the piece to deliberately have "a lot of liberties".<ref name=Alburger/>{{rp|9}}

===Performance Practice===
The score's instructions for performers have gone through several iterations.<ref name=Reed/>{{rp|48}} Originally, it had none as musicians played from Riley's [[Ozalid (trade mark)|ozalid]] copies of the score. After the 1968 release of the Columbia [[LP record|LP]], many performances relied on the score that was printed in the album liner.<ref name=Hill/><ref name=Carl/>{{rp|44}} The Soviet premiere, for instance, was made possible because [[Edison Denisov]] passed on his copy of the record to Alexei Lubimov.<ref name=Repit/> The LP includes a terse paragraph, written by David Behrman, that explains how to interpret the score.<ref name=Riley68/> Most musicians were exposed to Behrman's instructions before Riley bothered to write any down.

Riley did eventually pen two pages of handwritten notes to explain how to perform ''In C''.<ref name=Turek/> In 1989, he released a shorter typed set of instructions.<ref name=Riley89>Riley, Terry. ''In C''. Celestial Harmonies, 1989.</ref> The most recent set of instructions from 2005 differ significantly from Riley's originals, and all three are afterthoughts, born from the experience of playing the piece with a wide range of instruments and skill levels.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|58–60}}

The one thing the composer has stressed in every version of the instructions is listening:
::"Don't be in a hurry to move from figure to figure. Stay on your part and keep repeating it, listening for how it is relating to what the rest of the ensemble is playing."<ref name=Turek/> 
::"It is important to think of patterns [[Period (music)|periodically]] so that when you are resting you are conscious of the larger periodic composite accents that are sounding, and when you re-enter you are aware of what effect your entrance will have on the music's flow." (1989)<ref name=Riley89/>
::"It is very important that performers listen very carefully to one another and this means to occasionally drop out and listen...One of the joys of playing '''''In C''''' is the interaction of the players in polyrhythmic combinations that spontaneously arise among patterns. Some quite fantastic shapes will arise and disintegrate as the ensemble progresses through the piece." (2005)<ref name=Riley05/>

Behrman's instructions for the album refer to an unwritten part, "Not included in the score is a piano part, called the Pulse, which consists entirely of even octave eighth notes to be drummed steadily on the top two C's of the keyboard throughout the duration of a performance."<ref name=Riley68/> The prevalence of the Pulse on the recording, along with Behrman's note gave rise to the impression that it is a requirement of the piece. One set of liner notes even fetishizes it, "[[In the beginning (phrase)|In the beginning]] was the pulse."<ref>European Music Project, zignorii++, ''In C''. Liner notes by Johannes Ullmaier, trans. Steven Lindberg. WERGO, 2002.</ref>
 
However, Riley's first instructions are more playful and hint at the available leeway, "The pulse is traditionally played by a beautiful girl on the top two octaves of a grand piano. She must play loudly and keep a strict tempo for the entire ensemble to follow."<ref name=Turek>Riley, Terry. ''In C'' in ''Analytical Anthology of Music''. Edited by Ralph Turek. 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, 1992. 540.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.williams.edu/files/2010/01/050708_IN_C_program.pdf|access-date=2025-02-26|title=Terry Riley" ''In C''|date=2007-07-27|publisher=[[Williams College]], Department of Music}}</ref> The current version of the score explicitly makes the Pulse optional, "The ensemble can be aided by the means of an eighth note pulse played on the high C's of a piano or mallet instrument."<ref name=Riley05/>

After decades of familiarity with ''In C'', Riley recognized that the pulse had outlived its usefulness. Technique had advanced to a point where "any good musicians now could keep it together...I don't like The Pulse, as is sometimes used, 'out in front,' where it becomes very annoying. That wasn't my intention of the piece at all."<ref name=Alburger/>{{rp|9}} At the 20th anniversary performance in Hartford, no pulse was used to revelatory effect.<ref name=Potter/>{{rp|111f}}

==1968 Recording==
{{Infobox album
| italic_title = In C
| name         = In C
| type         = Studio album
| artist       = [[Terry Riley]]
| cover        = Terry_Riley_In_C_1968.jpg
| alt          =
| released     = 1968
| recorded     = March 27–8, 1968
| venue        =
| studio       = [[CBS 30th Street Studio]]
| genre        = [[Minimal music|minimalism]]
| length       = 43:00
| label        = [[Columbia Records]]
| producer     = [[David Behrman]]
| prev_title   = Reed Streems
| prev_year    = 1966
| next_title   = [[A Rainbow in Curved Air]]
| next_year    = 1969
}}
In late 1965, Terry Riley moved to New York City and started performing on [[soprano saxophone]] in his apartment on Grand Street in the Bowery. He would use [[Revox]] machines to create tape delays and loop his improvisations. One of the people who loved the shows was [[David Behrman]], the producer for [[Columbia Records]]' ''Music of Our Time'' series.<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|76–8}}

When Columbia was ready to record the piece, Riley performed it once more at [[Carnegie Hall#Weill Recital Hall|Carnegie Recital Hall]] on March 26, 1968. The musicians then recorded the piece on the following two days, along with works by Carlos Alcina, [[David Rosenboom]], and [[Yuji Takahashi]]. The sessions were engineered by [[Fred Plaut]] and Russ Payne. David Behrman conducted the ensemble by holding up cue cards for each module. His job was to keep the ensemble on pace for a recording that would fit on the two sides of an [[LP record]].<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|80–2}} Margaret Hassell broke a string on the piano while playing the pulse.<ref name=Sun/>{{rp|170}}

Riley knew that the texture would be more captivating if it were thicker. With only eleven musicians, he decided to record the piece three times and [[Overdubbing|overdub]] the takes.<ref name=Carl22>Carl, Robert. "[https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/In-C_Carl.pdf 'In C'—Terry Riley (1968)]", [https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/recording-registry/index-of-essays/ Library of Congress], [[National Recording Preservation Board]] (2022).</ref> Columbia staff were hesitant to apply a pop music recording technique to a classical piece, but the ensemble was consciously blurring the boundaries between the two genres. When everyone listened to the initial [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mix]] of the session, David Behrman exclaimed, "I think we've just changed music."<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|83}}

The album's cover was designed by Billy Bryant, and it incorporates a [[blurb]] from Alfred Frankenstein's review of the premiere. The founder of ''[[Crawdaddy (magazine)|Crawdaddy!]]'', [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy)|Paul Williams]], also wrote an enthusiastic essay for the package. He writes: <blockquote>I'm not here to justify this record, or explain it...Allright, so let's say that what we have here is a '[[Psychedelic experience|trip]]', a voluntary, unpredictable, absorbing experience, one which brings together parts of one's self perhaps previously unknown to each other...Playing this record for a small group of people is like watching a web being spun. Playing it for a friend means watching a ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'' of reactions.<ref name=Riley68>Riley, Terry. ''[https://archive.org/details/lp_in-c_terry-riley/mode/1up In C]''. [[Columbia Records]] (MS 7178), 1968.</ref></blockquote>

Most importantly for ''In C's'' legacy, a foldout in the record liner included a copy of the score which enabled people to perform it. Whereas most of Riley's compositions are formally published in order to control the  [[performing rights]], Riley has never relied on a publisher to protect ''In C''. This decision is a marked departure from the other titans of minimalism (Young, Reich, and Glass) who zealously guard their performing rights.<ref name=Sun>Sun, Cecilia J. ''Experiments in Musical Performance: Historiography, Politics, and the Post-Cagian Avant-Garde''. University of California, 2004.</ref>{{rp|152}} By giving the piece away as a kind of [[freeware]], Riley inadvertently ensured its popularity.<ref name=Carl22/>

===Personnel===
{{Image frame
|content='''Track Listing'''
{{Track listing
| headline      = Side One

| all_writing   = [[Terry Riley]]

| title1        = In C
| length1       = 23:50
}}
{{Track listing
| headline      = Side Two
| title1        = In C
| length1       = 19:10
}}|width=300|align=right}}
*Terry Riley – leader and saxophone
*[[Jon Hassell]] – trumpet 
*Edward Burnham – vibraphone 
*[[David Rosenboom]] – viola 
*Darlene Reynard – bassoon 
*Jerry Kirkbride – clarinet 
*David Shostac – flute 
*[[Jan Williams]] – marimbaphone 
*Lawrence Singer – oboe 
*[[Stuart Dempster]] – trombone 
*Margaret Hassell – the pulse

===Reception===
''In C'' was well-reviewed by critics. For ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]'', Janet Rotter dubbed the composition "the global village's first ritual symphonic piece" and raved, "Terry Riley has not yet reached the mass concert audience that [[the Beatles]] have, but he has written in his own way to that audience".<ref>Rotter, Janet. "Sound", ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]''. February 1969. 66.</ref> In ''[[Sound & Vision (magazine)|Stereo Review]]'', David Heckman admired the effect while disliking the result, "In C produces, over the course of its forty-three minutes, a vague hypnotic effect, that is doubtless related to the repeated C, hammering away incessantly through the musical fabric. Isolated motives, bits and snatches of themes, and a kind of ''[[Klangfarbenmelodie]]'' of individual pitches drift in and out of one's consciousness. Very nice, for a while, but ultimately wearing."<ref>Heckman, David. ''[[Sound & Vision (magazine)|Stereo Review]]''. March 1969. 103–4.</ref> Alfred Frankenstein revisited the piece with undimmed enthusiasm in his album review for ''[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]'', "Terry Riley's ''In C'' is one of the definitive masterpieces of the twentieth century. It is probably the most important piece of music since [[Pierre Boulez|Boulez]]' ''[[Le Marteau sans maître|Marteau sans maître]]'', conceivably it is the most important since the ''[[The Rite of Spring|Sacre]]''."<ref>[[Alfred Frankenstein|Frankestein, Alfred]], ''[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]''. February 1969. 104.
</ref>

In 2022, the 1968 LP recording of ''In C'' was selected by the [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in the United States [[National Recording Registry]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{cite web |title=National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022 |url=https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/national-recording-registry-inducts-music-from-alicia-keys--ricky-martin--journey-and-more-in-2022/s/fee30140-0454-401c-a2a2-205298e32fb1 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Upon hearing the premiere of ''In C'', [[Alfred Frankenstein]] remarked that Riley had developed "a style like that of no one else on earth", and the critic accurately predicted, "he is bound to make a profound impression with it."<ref name=VF/> Indeed, Riley's composition is often cited as the first [[minimal music|minimalist]] composition to make a significant impact on the public consciousness and inspire a new movement.<ref>Strickland, Edward. ''Minimalism: Origins''. [[Indiana University Press]], 1993. 145.</ref><ref>Christopher Bonds, ''The Musical Impulse'', second, revised edition (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 1994): 345. {{ISBN|9780840398024}}</ref> Terry Riley's website advertises ''In C'' as "The composition that launched the Minimalist movement".<ref>"[http://www.terryriley.net/sheetmusic.htm#OrderingDetails Scores]", ''TerryRiley.net''. Accessed March 29, 2025.</ref> However, he has repeatedly dismissed the idea in interviews:<blockquote>
People say minimalism started with [[Erik Satie]], and it may have started with [[Carlo Gesualdo|Gesualdo]]; I don't know who it started with. But in this group of people, which is Steve Reich, Philip Glass, La Monte Young, and me, obviously it was La Monte who was the first one. The ''[[Trio for Strings]]'' is the landmark minimalist piece.<ref name=Duck/>{{rp|282}}</blockquote>
''In C'' came at a time when [[experimental music]] in America was synonymous with atonality. The simple fact of using a key signature for a title was its own form of revolt against current trends.<ref>[[Tom Johnson (composer)|Johnson, Tom]]. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j9RHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_YsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6413%2C724144 Lyricism Is Alive, and, well...]", ''[[The Village Voice]]''. April 12, 1973. 51.
::Anthologized as "[https://editions75.com/tvonm/articles/1973/terry-riley-returns-to-tonality.html Terry Riley Returns to Tonality]".</ref><ref name=Duck/>{{rp|266}} The modal patterns of ''In C'' proved a much more malleable device than Young's static sonorities. Steve Reich and others point to Riley's technique as a seminal influence on their work.<ref name=Potter>Potter, Keith. ''Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass''. [[Cambridge University Press]], 2002. 164.</ref> [[Morton Subotnick]] recalled how ''In C'' "brought a forward movement to repetition...it blossomed in a direction, and that directionality, and the beat, was not what people were thinking at the time...it was a kind of cockamaimie [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] ''[[Boléro|Bolero]]''; people don't think about it now because it's so ordinary. Everyone's grown up with Glass and Reich, but that didn't exist at that point."<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|99}} One historian concluded that Riley's composition "achieved something unprecedented...It was ''In C'' that made minimalism a viable commercial force in American music, for it took minimalism out of the lofts and galleries - where Young's far more austere music was destined to remain".<ref>Schwarz, K. Robert. ''[https://archive.org/details/minimalists0000schw_w0n5/page/44/mode/1up Minimalists]''. London: Phaidon Press, 1996. 44.</ref>

A decade after it was written, ''In C'' was described as "the single most influential post-1960 composition by an American".<ref>[[Robert Palmer (American writer)|Palmer, Robert]]. "Terry Riley: Doctor of Improvised Surgery", ''[[DownBeat]]'', 42/19. November 20, 1975. 17–41.
::Anthologized in ''Blues & Chaos: the Music Writing of Robert Palmer'' (Scribner, 2009).</ref> Riley's score is one of the classics of experimental music, and it injected a physical exhilaration into the genre that was previously lacking.<ref>[[Michael Nyman|Nyman, Michael]]. ''Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond''. New York: Schirmer, 1974. 113, 127.</ref> Because of the openness of the score, ''In C'' is attractive to presenters. It has become one of the most widely performed pieces from the twentieth century.<ref>[[Kyle Gann|Gann, Kyle]]. ''[https://www.kylegann.com/AM20C.html American Music in the Twentieth Century]''. New York: Schirmer, 1997. 196.</ref> Riley described the score as "a gift that The Universe kindly bestowed on the Terry Riley of 1964, who might possibly be a stranger if he showed up at my door today".<ref>SMCQ, ''In C''. Liner notes. ATMA Classique, 2000.</ref>

The foregrounding of the repeated C gave rise to the mistaken impression that the piece is about that relentlessly hammered note.<ref name=Sun/>{{rp|170}} One detractor mused, "A modern vision of [[Hell]] might well contain an unbroken loop of ''In C''".<ref>[[Norman Lebrecht|Lebrecht, Norman]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/companionto20thc00lebr/page/288/mode/1up?view=theater The Companion to Twentieth-Century Music]''. Simon & Schuster, 1992. 288.</ref>  Another writer concluded, "''In C'' is, at root, an exercise in human relations."<ref>Fink, Robert. ''Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music As Cultural Practice''. [[University of California Press]], 2005. 90.</ref> Riley described it as a "musical [[House of mirrors|hall of mirrors]]".<ref>Morgan, Robert. ''[https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000morg_q6g1/page/426/mode/1up Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America]''. W. W. Norton, 1991. 426.</ref> Due to its communal ethos, ''In C'' has been called "the quintessential [[1960s|Sixties]] piece".<ref>Potter, Keith. "[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/guru-in-need-of-a-cchange-1582318.html Guru in Need of a C-Change]", ''[[The Independent]]''. November 17, 1995. 14.</ref>

==Discography==
[[Robert Carl]] published extensive analyses of several commercial recordings. He found tempi ranging 92–132 [[Tempo|beats per minute]]:<ref name=Carl/>{{rp|111–23}}
;With Terry Riley's involvement:
*Terry Riley, ''In C'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1968) – Re-mastered for CD release by [[Sony Classical Records|Sony Classical]] in 2009
*Shanghai Film Orchestra, ''In C'' (Celestial Harmonies, 1989) – Performed on [[List of Chinese musical instruments|traditional Chinese instruments]]. Mixed by Riley, [[Brian Eno]], and [[Jon Hassell]].<ref>"[https://www.harmonies.com/releases/13026.htm In C]", harmonies.com. Accessed March 17, 2025.</ref>
*Terry Riley, ''In C – 25th Anniversary Concert'' (New Albion, 1995) – With Riley singing and directing the ensemble.
*The Repetitition Orchestra, ''Terry Riley'' (Long Arms Records, 2001) – With Riley on piano

;Independent of Riley:
*[[Piano Circus]], ''Six Pianos/In C'' ([[Argo Records (UK)|Argo]], 1990)
*Ensemble Percussione Ricerca, ''In C/Djembé'' (Materiali Sonori, 1995)
*[[Quebec Contemporary Music Society|SMCQ]], ''In C'' ([[ATMA Classique]], 2000) – Conducted by [[Walter Boudreau]]
*[[Ictus Ensemble|Ictus]], ''In C'' (Cypres, 2000) – With Blindman Kwartet
*[[Bang on a Can]], ''In C'' ([[Cantaloupe Music]], 2001)
*[[The Styrenes]], ''In C'' (Enja Nova, 2002)
*[[Acid Mothers Temple|Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.]], ''[[In C (album)|In C]]'' ([[Eclipse Records]], 2001) – Flipside includes the band's composition "In E"
*European Music Project, zignorii++, ''In C'' ([[WERGO]], 2002)
*re-sound, ''In C'' ([[Move Records]], 2002)<ref>"[https://www.move.com.au/disc/re-sound-in-c In C]". move.com.au. Accessed March 17, 2025.</ref>
*DésAccordes, ''In C'' (Gazul Records, 2005)
*Ut Gret, ''Recent Fossils'' (ear X-tacy Records, 2006) – ''In C'' is on disc 3
*[[Ars Nova Copenhagen]], ''Terry Riley – In C'' (Ars Nova, 2006) – Conducted by [[Paul Hillier]] with Percurama
*American Festival of Microtonal Music, ''Ear Gardens'' (Pitch, 2007) – ''In C'' in [[just intonation]]
*The New Audience Ensemble, ''Live at the Edge'' (Odessa Mama Records, 2006)
*[[Jeroen van Veen (pianist)|Jeroen van Veen]], ''Minimal Piano Collection'' ([[Brilliant Classics]], 2006) – ''In C'' is on disc 9
*[[Grand Valley State University]] New Music Ensemble, ''In C Remixed'' ([[Innova Recordings]], 2008) – ''In C'' is on disc 2
*[[Orkest de Volharding]], ''The Minimalists'' ([[Mode Records|Mode]], 2009)
*Hans Balmer, ''Minimal Flute'' (Fontastix, 2009)
*GVSU New Music Ensemble, ''Terry Riley – In C'' ([[Ghostly International]], 2009) 
*Invisible Polytechnic, ''Perform In C By Terry Riley'' ([[Junior Aspirin Records]], 2011)
*The Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra, ''Terry Riley – In C'' (Living Records, 2012)
*[[Portishead (band)|Adrian Utley's]] Guitar Orchestra, ''In C'' ([[Geoff Barrow#Invada|Invada Records]], 2013)
*Minimalist Ensemble, ''In C'' ([[Alexander Campkin]], 2013)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071230162533/http://www.minimalistensemble.co.uk/ CD Recording], minimalistensemble.co.uk. Archived December 30, 2007. Accessed March 17, 2025.</ref>
*''[[Africa Express Presents... Terry Riley's In C Mali]]'' ([[Transgressive Records|Transgressive]], 2014) – With [[Brian Eno]] and [[Damon Albarn]]
*Fighting Windmills + Sethstat, ''In C'' (PMGJazz, 2018)
*[[The Young Gods]], ''Play Terry Riley In C'' (Two Gentlemen Records, 2022)

;Adaptations
*L’Infonie, ''Volume 33: Mantra'' ([[Polydor Records|Polydor]], 1970) – Incorporates ''In C'' in a larger improvisation.
*[[Grand Valley State University]] New Music Ensemble, ''In C Remixed'' ([[Innova Recordings]], 2008) – Features remixes by [[Jad Abumrad]], [[Mason Bates]], [[Jack Dangers]], Dennis DeSantis, [[R. Luke DuBois]], Mikael Karlsson/Rob Stephenson, [[Zoë Keating]], [[Phil Kline]], [[Kleerup]], [[Glenn Kotche]], [[David Lang (composer)|David Lang]], [[Michael Lowenstern]], Paul D. Miller ([[DJ Spooky]]), [[Nico Muhly]], [[Todd Reynolds (musician)|Todd Reynolds]] and [[Daniel Bernard Roumain]] (DBR).<ref>Radiolab, [http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2009/dec/14/in-c/ "''In C''"], December 14, 2009</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Sun, Cecilia. "Journey to the East: Asian Influences in the Performance History of Terry Riley's In C." ''Intercultural Music: Creation and Interpretation''. Edited by Sally Macarthur, Bruce Crossman, and Ronald Morelos. Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2006.
*Vosper, Richard Field. “Structure and Probably Organization of In C by Terry Riley: An Analysis of Stochastic Projection of Pattern Behavior.” MA thesis, [[San Jose State University]]. 1980.

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/terry-riley-in-c 1968 ''In C'' LP] audio with the electronic swoops between each side at [[Internet Archive]]. (See Carl, p.&nbsp;83f)
*{{YouTube|pFS8Ru27rqs|Steve Reich – rhythm and minimalism (interview)}}, [[Andrew Ford (composer)|Andrew Ford]], ''The Music Show'', May 6, 2012, [[ABC Radio National]]
*[[Kyle Gann]], "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100114231924/https://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2009/07/those_jangling_high_cs_on_the.html Those Jangling High C's on the Piano]", ''Artsjournal.com''. July 2, 2009.
::A review of Robert Carl's ''In C'' with instructive comments from several users.

{{Terry Riley}}
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[[Category:Compositions by Terry Riley]]
[[Category:Minimalistic compositions]]
[[Category:1964 compositions]]
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[[Category:United States National Recording Registry albums]]