Steve Reich, Radiohead and the four chords that captivated a classical genius: “So marvellously simple”

Composer Steve Reich was captivated by the harmonic ambiguity of Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place” after meeting guitarist Jonny Greenwood at a festival in Krakow. The encounter led Reich to draw on Radiohead’s music for his own composition, showing how he regarded the band’s work as serious musical invention that could cross the boundaries between classical and popular music.

Reich’s piece “Radio Rewrite” uses chord progressions from “Everything in Its Right Place” and takes structural inspiration from “Jigsaw Falling into Place”. He described the first song as moving from F minor to F major, making its apparently simple progression feel ambiguous. Reich and Greenwood’s shared interest in musical experimentation later grew into an enduring creative relationship and a published book of conversations.