Its world premiere was on April 24, 1976, at The Town Hall in the Midtown Manhattan Theater District.
[1] In his introduction to the score, Reich mentions that although the piece is named Music for 18 Musicians, it is not necessarily advisable to perform the piece with that few players due to the extensive need for musicians to perform on multiple instruments.
A prominent factor in this work is the augmentation of the harmonies and melodies and the way that they develop this piece.
The metallophone (unplugged vibraphone), is used to cue the ensemble to change patterns or sections.
There have been many performances of the piece, and several commercial recordings: The version on Works 1965–1995 lasts just over an hour.