Minimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Postmodernity (also spelled post-modernity or the pejorative postmodern condition) is generally used to describe the economic and/or cultural state or condition Postchristianity, postChristendom or postChristianism are variants of a term used to describe a contemporary cultural attitude strictly linked to Postmodernism Postmodern philosophy' is a philosophical direction which is critical of the foundational assumptions and structures of philosophy Postmodern architecture was an international style whose first examples are generally cited as being from the 1950s and which continues to influence present-day Architecture Postmodern art is a term used to describe art which is thought to be in contradiction to some aspect of Modernism, or to have emerged or developed in its aftermath Postmodernist film describes the articulation of ideas of Postmodernism through the cinematic medium. The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post- World War II literature Postmodern music is music which follows the postmodern ideology Postmodern theatre is a recent phenomenon in world Theatre, coming as it does out of the postmodern Philosophy that originated in Europe in the In the Humanities and Social sciences, critical theory is the examination and critique of Society and Literature, drawing from knowledge across Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones Consumerism is the equation of personal Happiness with the purchase of material possessions and consumption. Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 Downtown music is a subdivision of American music. The scene the term describes began in 1960 when Yoko Ono — one of the Fluxus artists at that time The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 In Music a phrase ( Greek φράση, sentence expression, see also Strophe) is a section of music that is relatively In Music, a figure is a recurring fragment or succession of Notes that may be used to construct the Accompaniment. In Music, a motif or motive is a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes that may be used to construct the entirety or parts In Music a cell is similar to a figure or motif. The 1957 Encyclopédie Larousse defines a cell as follows "a small Starting in the early 1960s as a scruffy underground scene in San Francisco alternative spaces and New York lofts, minimalism spread to become the most popular experimental music style of the late 20th century. The movement originally involved dozens of composers, although only four—Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and, less visibly if more seminally, La Monte Young—emerged to become publicly associated with it in America. Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician In Europe, its chief exponents were Louis Andriessen, Karel Goeyvaerts, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Steve Martland, Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener. Louis Andriessen ( June 6, 1939) is a Dutch Composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. Karel Goeyvaerts ( Antwerp 8 June 1923 – February 3 1993, Antwerp was a Belgian Composer. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Richard Gavin Bryars (born 16 January 1943) is an English Composer and Double bassist He has been active in or has produced works in a variety Steve Martland (born Liverpool, England, October 10, 1959) is an English Composer. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (ˈxɛnrɨk mʲiˈkɔwaj guˈrɛ͡tski (born December 6 1933 in Czernica, Silesia, Poland) is a Polish Composer WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Not to be confused with John Taverner The term "minimalist music" was derived around 1970 by Michael Nyman from the concept of minimalism, which was earlier applied to the visual arts. Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design especially Visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography [1] For some of the music, especially that which transforms itself according to strict rules, the term "process music" has also been used. Process music or systems music is music that arises from a Process, and more specifically music that makes that process audible
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Brief history
The Other Side
The word "minimalism" was first used in relation to music in 1968 by Michael Nyman in a review of Cornelius Cardew's piece The Great Digest. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Cornelius Cardew ( May 7, 1936 – London, December 13, 1981) was an English Avant-garde Composer, Nyman later expanded his definition of minimalism in music in his 1974 book Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr Tom Johnson, one of the few composers to self-identify as minimalist, also claims to have been first to use the word as new music critic for The Village Voice. American Composer and critic Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939 in Greeley Colorado) is one of the few composers to self-identify as This article is about a New York newspaper For the Ottawa Hills Ohio magazine see The Village Voice of Ottawa Hills. He describes "minimalism":
The idea of minimalism is much larger than most people realize. It includes, by definition, any music that works with limited or minimal materials: pieces that use only a few notes, pieces that use only a few words of text, or pieces written for very limited instruments, such as antique cymbals, bicycle wheels, or whiskey glasses. It includes pieces that sustain one basic electronic rumble for a long time. It includes pieces made exclusively from recordings of rivers and streams. It includes pieces that move in endless circles. It includes pieces that set up an unmoving wall of saxophone sound. It includes pieces that take a very long time to move gradually from one kind of music to another kind. It includes pieces that permit all possible pitches, as long as they fall between C and D. It includes pieces that slow the tempo down to two or three notes per minute. [2]
The most prominent minimalist composers are John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young. John Coolidge Adams (born February 15 1947 is an American Composer with strong roots in minimalism. Louis Andriessen ( June 6, 1939) is a Dutch Composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician
Music by Philip Glass
The early compositions of Glass and Reich tended to be very austere, with little embellishment on the principal theme, and written for small instrumental ensembles (of which the composers were members), made up, in Glass's case, of organs, winds—particularly saxophones—and vocalists, in Reich's case with more emphasis on mallet and percussion instruments. In Music, a theme is the initial or primary Melody. The Encyclopédie Fasquelle (Michel 1958–61 defines a theme as follows "Any (These works are scored for any combination of such instruments: one piece by Reich, the aptly named Six Pianos, is scored just so. ) Adams' works have most often been written for more traditional classical forces: orchestra, string quartet, even solo piano. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece
The music of Reich and Glass drew early sponsorship from art galleries and museums, presented in conjunction with visual-art minimalists like Robert Morris, in Glass's case, and Richard Serra, Bruce Naumann, and the filmmaker Richard Snow, in Reich's. Robert Morris (b February 9, 1931 Kansas City Missouri) is an American sculptor conceptual artist and writer Richard Serra (born November 29, 1939) is an American minimalist sculptor and Video artist known for working with large Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941, in Fort Wayne, Indiana [3]
Early development
Musical minimalism had its origins in both conceptualism and twelve-tone music. Conceptualism is a Doctrine in Philosophy intermediate between Nominalism and realism that says universals exist only within the Twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony, especially in British usage twelve-note composition) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold
In 1960, Terry Riley wrote a string quartet in pure, uninflected C major. Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school In 1963 Riley made two electronic works using tape delay, Mescalin Mix and The Gift, which injected into minimalism the idea of repetition. Next, Riley's 1964 masterpiece In C made persuasively engaging textures from repeated phrases in performance. In C is an aleatoric Musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for any number of people although he suggests "a group of about 35 is The work is scored for any group of instruments. In in 1965 and 1966 Steve Reich produced three works—It's Gonna Rain and Come Out for tape, and Piano Phase for live performers—that introduced the idea of phase-shifting, i. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 " It's Gonna Rain " is a Musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1965; the work is approximately 17 minutes and 50 seconds in length Come Out is a 1966 piece by American Composer Steve Reich. Reich was asked to write this piece to be performed at a benefit for the retrial of the Piano Phase is a piece of Music written in 1967 by the minimalist Composer Steve Reich for two Pianos It is e. , allowing two nearly identical phrases or sound samples at slightly differing lengths or speeds to repeat and slowly go out of phase with each other. Starting in 1968 with 1 + 1, Philip Glass wrote a series of works that incorporated additive process (form based on sequences such as 1, 1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2 3 4) into the repertoire of minimalist techniques; these works included Two Pages, Music in Fifths, Music in Contrary Motion, and others. By this point, the minimalist style was in full swing.
Minimalist style in music
Some of these traits have precedents in the history of European music—Richard Wagner, for instance, opened his opera Das Rheingold with several minutes of static tonality on an E-flat chord, with a linear crescendo of figurations. Das Rheingold ("The Rhine Gold" is the first of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung) by Richard Wagner
Consonant harmony is a much noted feature: it means the use of intervals which in a tonal context would be considered to be "stable", that is the form to which other chords are resolved by voice leading. In Music, voice leading is the relationship between the successive pitches of simultaneous moving parts or voices. In minimalism this function of stability is ignored.
Another trait of the minimalist movement established at an early point in time is the use of phase in consonant context to provide variety. A famous example is Terry Riley's In C which gives musicians fragments of music which they are to play at their own pace until they stop. Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school The resulting texture varies with the different choices that performers make.
This means that the "texture" of much minimalist music is based on canonic imitation, exact repetitions of the same material, offset in time. Famous pieces that use this technique are the number section of Glass' Einstein on the Beach and Adams' Shaker Loops. Einstein on the Beach is an Opera scored and written by Philip Glass and designed and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson. Written in 1978 by the American Composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet
Over time minimalist composers adopted more and more chromatic material for repetition, for example Philip Glass's Symphony No. 2, and the operas of John Adams. John Coolidge Adams (born February 15 1947 is an American Composer with strong roots in minimalism. There was also an increasing movement to incorporate found sounds, tape, electric or electronic sources of music. Minimalism in classical music often cross-fertilizes with popular experimental music, such as the work of Brian Eno and Mike Oldfield, as well as electronica and house, where DJs layer different recordings on top of each other without regard for their source. Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948 commonly known as Brian Eno (ˈiːnoʊ is an English Musician, producer Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino
The development of minimalist music proceeds as a movement which was consciously aware of its being a post-serialist movement in music, drawing from the use of silence and layering in Cage, but seeking a more melodic basis for its materials.
These traits were also the feature of composers who rejected 20th-century chromatic harmony for other reasons, often liturgical or religious. These composers often went back to Medieval and early Renaissance harmony and practice more deliberately, producing works which had more formally worked-out canonic imitation in a modal rather than tonal context. In Music, a scale is an ordered series of Musical intervals which along with the key or tonic, define the pitches However mode An early exponent here was the American Alan Hovhaness (in his works of the 1940s and 1950s), and more recently Arvo Pärt has done similar things in his work. Alan Hovhaness (Ալան Հովհանես ( March 8, 1911 &ndash June 21, 2000) was an American Composer of Armenian WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ
Minimalism is sometimes associated with an ideology that justifies the moving away from the greater complexity of modernism by arguing from the point of view of postmodernism. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Specifically, postmodernism states that progress in music is illusory, and therefore there is no need to have ever more advanced and complex systems of composing, that the purpose of minimalist music is repose, rather than "western" style development, and that minimalism embodies more "eastern" values of meditation, trance and concentration. Philip Glass specifically argues that there has been a disintegration of the concept of "high" and "low" music, and that music of this movement is important because it allows incorporation of, and dialog with, popular styles in a way that previous music did not. These arguments are far from universal among listeners, composers and performers of minimalist music, but are commonly cited in the struggles for performance, attention and acceptance of minimalist music.
Minimalist music is frequently used in movie scores and other media to provide a backdrop or mood for a particular scene or opening, or as an episode in a score. It has been adopted for sections of work by composers from other styles, including the late work of Lukas Foss. Lukas Foss (born Lukas Fuchs, August 15, 1922 in Berlin, Germany) is an American Composer, conductor
There is a branch of British minimalism called systems music in which the note-to-note procedure is determined numerically or through a specific physical process like systematically changing the phase of electronically produced sine waves. Systems music is a type of Minimalist music particular to British Experimental music, in which 'the note-to-note procedure' is determined numerically (as defined by The term was used informally as a term for all minimalism in the 1980s (due to Michael Nyman's popularity).
Critical reception of minimalism
Ian MacDonald sums up a common, classical-music traditionalist view that minimalism is the passionless, sexless and emotionally blank soundtrack of the Machine Age, its utopian selfishness no more than an expression of human passivity in the face of mass-production and The Bomb. Ian MacCormick ( October 3, 1948 – August 20, 2003) who wrote under the Pseudonym Ian MacDonald, was a British Machine Age is a term associated with the early 20th Century. Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of [4] A pulse-rhythm is an artificial substitute for the energy of conviction and its 'effects' due not to any effort from artist or audience, but to a negative process of deliberate self-denial. As a music without focus or hierarchy, it is also without goal or struggle, as inert as the pre-planned corporate lifestyle for which it is the perfect accompaniment. @@@ main@@@ - title Hierarchy@@@ keywords structure; sociology; information@@@ review@@@ -
On the other hand, Kyle Gann has argued that minimalism represented a predictable return to simplicity after the development of an earlier style had run its course to an extreme and unsurpassable complexity. [5] Parallels include the advent of the simple Baroque continuo style following elaborate Renaissance polyphony and the simple early classical symphony following Bach’s monumental advances in Baroque counterpoint. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony In addition, critics have often overstated the simplicity of even early minimalism. Michael Nyman has pointed out that much of the charm of Steve Reich’s early music had to do with perceptual phenomena that were not actually played, but resulted from subtleties in the phase-shifting process. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 [6]
Gann has further argued that the development of music represented by serialism was a one-sided development that focused on analytical elements and structural innovations often easier to identify in the score than to hear. In Music, serialism is a technique for composition that uses sets to describe musical elements, and allows the manipulation of those In Gann's further analysis, during the 1980s minimalism evolved into less strict, more complex styles such as postminimalism and totalism, breaking out of the strongly framed repetition and stasis of early minimalism, and enriching it with a confluence of other rhythmic and structural influences. Postminimalism is a term utilized in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by or attempts to develop and go beyond the aesthetic of Minimalism. [7]
Minimalist composers
Notable minimalist composers include:
- Louis Andriessen (born in the Netherlands)
- David Behrman (born in Austria)
- Barbara Benary (born in the United States of America)
- David Borden (born in the United States of America) (and his ensemble Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company)
- Gavin Bryars (born in the UK)
- Tony Conrad (born in the United States of America)
- Julius Eastman (born and died in the United States of America)
- Brian Eno (born in the UK)
- Frans Geysen (born in Belgium)
- Jon Gibson (born in the United States of America)
- Philip Glass (born in the United States of America)
- Karel Goeyvaerts (born and died in Belgium)
- Christopher Hobbs (born in the UK)
- Terry Jennings (born in the United States of America)
- Douglas Leedy (born in the United States of America)
- Richard Maxfield (born and died in the United States of America)
- Angus MacLise (born in the United States of America, died in Kathmandu)
- Robert Moran (born in the United States of America)
- Phill Niblock (born in the United States of America)
- Michael Nyman (born in the UK)
- Pauline Oliveros (born in the United States of America)
- Mike Oldfield (born in the UK)
- Charlemagne Palestine (born in the United States of America)
- Steve Reich (born in the United States of America)
- Terry Riley (born in the United States of America)
- Hugh Shrapnel (born in the UK)
- Howard Skempton (born in the UK)
- Dave Smith (born in the UK)
- Ann Southam (born in Canada)
- Yoshi Wada (born in Japan)
- John White (born in the UK)
- La Monte Young (born in the United States of America)
Other more current minimalists include:
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Hlynur A. Louis Andriessen ( June 6, 1939) is a Dutch Composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. David Behrman (born Salzburg, Austria, August 16, 1937) is a US Composer and the producer of Columbia Records Barbara Benary (born April 6, 1946) is an American Composer and Ethnomusicologist specializing in Indonesian and Indian music David Borden (b December 25 1938 in Boston Massachusetts) is an American composer of Minimalist music. Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company, formed in 1969 by David Borden, was the world's first synthesizer ensemble predating groups like Tonto's Expanding Head Band Richard Gavin Bryars (born 16 January 1943) is an English Composer and Double bassist He has been active in or has produced works in a variety Tony Conrad (born Anthony S Conrad in 1940 in Concord New Hampshire is an American Avant-garde Video artist Experimental filmmaker, musician/composer Julius Eastman ( October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an African-American Composer, pianist vocalist and dancer of Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948 commonly known as Brian Eno (ˈiːnoʊ is an English Musician, producer Frans Geysen (born 29 July 1936) is a Belgian Composer and writer on music Jon Gibson (b March 11, 1940; Los Angeles California) is a flautist, saxophonist, and composer who uses other instruments from around WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 Karel Goeyvaerts ( Antwerp 8 June 1923 – February 3 1993, Antwerp was a Belgian Composer. Christopher Hobbs (September 1950 – Hillingdon, nr London is an English experimental Composer, best known as a pioneer of British Douglas Leedy (born March 3, 1938) is an American Composer, performer and music scholar Richard Maxfield ( February 2, 1927 – June 27, 1969) was a Composer of instrumental electro-acoustic and electronic music Angus MacLise ( March 4, 1938 - June 21, 1979) was a percussionist Composer, Poet, Occultist and Robert Moran (born January 8, 1937) is a renowned American Composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral vocal chamber and Phill Niblock (born 2 October 1933, in Anderson Indiana) is a Composer, Filmmaker, Videographer WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Pauline Oliveros (born May 30, 1932 in Houston Texas) is an Accordionist and Composer who currently resides in Kingston New Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician Charlemagne Palestine (born Charles Martin or Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine August 15, 1945, or 1947 in Brooklyn, New York WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school Howard Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is a British Composer and Accordionist Since the late 1960s when he helped organize the Dave Smith is the name of Dave Smith (American football, former Texas A&M quarterback and SMU coach Ann Southam (born in Winnipeg on 4 February 1937) is a Canadian Composer. Yoshi Wada (surname Wada; born Yoshimasa Wada, Japan) is a sound installation artist and musician living in the United States. John White may refer to Sportsmen Jock White, Scottish footballer (1897-1986 born John White John White (footballer, La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician Nigel Westlake (born 6 September 1958 is an Australian composer performer and conductor Robert Davidson (born 17 December 1965) is an Australian composer Wim Mertens (b Neerpelt, Belgium, May 14, 1953) is a Flemish Belgian Composer, Countertenor vocalist For the American producer writer and singer-songwriter see Peter Hannan. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ Erkki Salmenhaara (b Helsinki, Finland, March 12, 1941; d Helsinki March 19[[ 002]] was a Finnish composer and musicologist Guillaume Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French musician and composer known internationally for composing the score to the Jean-Pierre Asmus Tietchens (born 1947 Hamburg) who also records under the Monikers Hematic Sunsets and Club of Rome, is a German composer of Peter Michael Hamel (born in Munich, 15 July 1947) is a German composer Hauke Harder (born 1963 in Heide ( Holstein) Germany) is a German Composer and experimental Physicist. Matthias Maute (born 1963 is a virtuoso Recorder player and Composer. Hans Otte born Hans Günther Franz Otte in Plauen, Germany ( December 3, 1926 &ndash December 25 2007) was a Norbert Walter Peters (* March 17, 1954) in Stolberg (Rhld /district of Aachen is a German Composer, sound artist and Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (b March 29, 1934 in Berlin is a German Composer of mostly chamber, choral piano and organ works ( Harald Weiss (surname also spelled "Weiß" (b Salzgitter, Germany, May 26, 1949) is a German Composer, director Zoltán Jeney (b Szolnok, Hungary, March 4, 1943) is a Hungarian Composer. László Melis (b Budapest, Hungary, August 14, 1953) is a Hungarian composer and Violinist He writes primarily in the minimal László Sáry (b Győrasszonyfa, Hungary, January 1, 1940) is a Hungarian composer and pianist László Vidovszky (b Békéscsaba, Hungary, February 25, 1944) is a Hungarian composer and pianist Vilmarsson
- Italy
- Fulvio Caldini
- Ludovico Einaudi
- Giovanni Sollima
- Gianmartino Durighello
- Japan
- Jo Kondo
- Yoshi Wada (based in the United States)
- Latvia
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- David Maranha
- Osso Exótico
- Ernesto Rodrigues
- Telectu
- Mossad Electronics
- Serbia and Montenegro
- Sweden
- Aleksander Baath
- United Kingdom
- United States
- John Adams
- John Luther Adams
- Glenn Branca
- Harold Budd
- Rhys Chatham (based in France)
- Philip Corner (based in Italy)
- Kurt Doles
- Arnold Dreyblatt (based in Germany)
- Daniel Goode
- Tom Johnson (based in France)
- Ingram Marshall
- Meredith Monk
- Tim Risher
- Frederic Rzewski
- Wayne Siegel (based in Denmark)
A number of composers showing a distinctly religious influence have been labeled the "mystic minimalists", or "holy minimalists":
- Henryk Górecki
- Alan Hovhaness (the earliest mystic minimalist)
- Hans Otte
- Arvo Pärt
- John Tavener
- Peteris Vasks
- Giya Kancheli
Other composers whose works have been described as precedents to minimalism include:
- Jakob van Domselaer, whose early-20th century experiments in translating the theories of Piet Mondrian's De Stijl movement into music represent an early precedent to minimalist music. Fulvio Caldini (born 1959 is an Italian Composer, Pianist, and musicologist. Ludovico Einaudi (born 23 November 1955) is an Italian Contemporary classical music Composer and Pianist. Giovanni Sollima (b Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 1962) is an Italian Composer and cellist. Jō Kondō ( 近[[wiktionary 藤|藤]] 譲; surname Kondō; b Yoshi Wada (surname Wada; born Yoshimasa Wada, Japan) is a sound installation artist and musician living in the United States. Armands Strazds (born March 10, 1970 in Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian Composer, producer and Software Simeon ten Holt (born in Bergen, Netherlands, 24 January 1923) is a Dutch composer Ernesto Rodrigues (born in Lisbon, August 29, 1959) is a Portuguese Composer, Violinist, Violist and Vladimir Tošić (also spelled Vladimir Tosic (b Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1949) is a Serbian Composer and visual artist Joe Cutler (born 1968 is a British composer who studied Music at the Universities of Huddersfield and Durham before a scholarship at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw Bob Dickinson (born 1955 is an English composer and writer He studied music at Sheffield University and Keele University (1973-77 Graham Fitkin (born 19 April, 1963) is a British Composer. Fitkin was born in West Cornwall, where he lives today Steve Martland (born Liverpool, England, October 10, 1959) is an English Composer. Andrew Poppy (b Kent, England, May 29, 1954) is a British composer pianist and music producer Daniel Patrick Quinn (born February 26th, 1981, Ipswich, England) is a British musician composer producer and performer rhythmology - aka Malcolm Rycraft - is a composer of rhythmic keyboard-based electronic music John Coolidge Adams (born February 15 1947 is an American Composer with strong roots in minimalism. John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953 in Meridian Mississippi) is a Composer whose music is inspired by nature especially the Glenn Branca (born October 6 1948 in Harrisburg Pennsylvania) is a highly-influential Avant-garde composer and Guitarist known for Harold Budd ( May 24 1936) is an American ambient / Avant-garde composer Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952, New York City) is an American Composer, Guitarist and Trumpet Philip (Lionel Corner (born April 10, 1933; name sometimes given as Phil Corner) is an American Composer, Trombonist, Vocalist Kurt Doles (born August 2, 1973) is an American Composer and Bass clarinetist He is best known for his slow quiet instrumental pieces Arnold Dreyblatt (b New York City, 1953 is an American Composer and visual artist Daniel Goode (b New York, January 24, 1936) is an American composer and Clarinetist He studied philosophy and then music with Henry Cowell American Composer and critic Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939 in Greeley Colorado) is one of the few composers to self-identify as Ingram Marshall (born May 10, 1942 in Mount Vernon New York) is an American Composer and a former student of Vladimir Ussachevsky Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942, in New York) is an American Composer, performer director vocalist film-maker Tim Risher (born 1957) is an American composer trombonist and pianist Frederic Anthony Rzewski (born April 13 1938 in Westfield Massachusetts) is an American Composer and virtuoso Pianist. Wayne Siegel (b Los Angeles, California, 1953) is an American Composer living in Århus, Denmark. Holy minimalism, mystic minimalism, spiritual minimalism, or sacred minimalism are terms used to refer to a number of late twentieth century Composers Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (ˈxɛnrɨk mʲiˈkɔwaj guˈrɛ͡tski (born December 6 1933 in Czernica, Silesia, Poland) is a Polish Composer Alan Hovhaness (Ալան Հովհանես ( March 8, 1911 &ndash June 21, 2000) was an American Composer of Armenian Hans Otte born Hans Günther Franz Otte in Plauen, Germany ( December 3, 1926 &ndash December 25 2007) was a WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Not to be confused with John Taverner Pēteris Vasks (born April 16, 1946) is a Latvian Composer. Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia to a family of a Giya Kancheli (გია ყანჩელი born August 10 1935 in Tbilisi, is a Georgian composer resident in Belgium. Jakob van Domselaer (b Nijkerk, Netherlands, 15 April 1890 d Bergen, Netherlands, 5 January 1960 was a Dutch composer Pieter Cornelis (Piet Mondriaan, after 1912 Mondrian, (pronounced Dutch pit 'mɔndrian later pit 'mɔndɹiɔn ( March 7, 1872 &ndash February For the album by The White Stripes see De Stijl (album. De Stijl (in English, generally də ˈstaɪl after style; from the
- Alexander Mosolov, whose orchestral composition Iron Foundry (1923) is made up of mechanical and repetitive patterns
- George Antheil, whose 1924 Ballet Mecanique is characterized by much use of motoric and repetitive patterns, as well as an instrumentation made up of multiple player pianos and mallet percussion
- Erik Satie, seen as a precursor of minimalism as in much of his music, for example his score for Francis Picabia's 1924 film Entr'acte which consists of phrases, many borrowed from bawdy popular songs, ordered seemingly arbitrarily and repetitiously, providing a rhythmic counterpoint to the film. Alexander Vasilievich Mosolov (Russian Александр Васильевич Мосолов 29 July/ 11 August 1900, Kiev — 11 July George Antheil ( July 8, 1900, Trenton New Jersey – February 12, 1959, New York City) was an American Alfred Éric Leslie Satie ( Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French Composer and Francis-Marie Martinez Picabia ( January 22, 1879 - November 30, 1953) was a well-known painter and poet born of a French mother and
- Colin McPhee, whose Tabuh-Tabuhan for two pianos and orchestra (1936) features the use of motoric, repetitive, pentatonic patterns drawn from the music of Bali (and featuring a large section of tuned percussion)
- Carl Orff, who, particularly in his later theater works Antigone (1940-49) and Oedipus der Tyrann (1957-58), utilized instrumentations (six pianos and multiple xylophones, in imitation of gamelan music) and musical patterns (motoric, repetitive, triadic) reminiscent of the later music of Steve Reich and Philip Glass
- Yves Klein, whose 1947 Monotone Symphony consisted of a single sustained chord, predating similar works by La Monte Young by several years. Colin McPhee ( February 15, 1900, in Montreal or Toronto – January 7, 1964, in Los Angeles) was a Carl Orff ( &ndash) was a 20th-century German Composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 Yves Klein ( 28 April 1928 - 6 June 1962) was a French artist and is considered an important figure in post-war European Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
- Morton Feldman, whose works prominently feature some sort of repetition as well as a sparseness
- Alvin Lucier, whose acoustical experiments demand a stripped-down musical surface to bring out details in the phenomena
- Anton Webern whose economy of materials and sparse textures led many of the minimalists who were educated in serialism to turn to a reduction of means. Morton Feldman (January 12 1926 – September 3 1987 was an American Composer, born in New York City. Alvin Lucier (born May 14, 1931) is an American Composer of Experimental music and Sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Anton Webern (December 3 1883 &ndash September 15 1945 was an Austrian Composer
Notes
See also
Sources
- Bernard, Jonathan W. John Adams American Berserk China Gates Phrygian Gates Philip Glass Music for The Postminimalism is a term utilized in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by or attempts to develop and go beyond the aesthetic of Minimalism. Process music or systems music is music that arises from a Process, and more specifically music that makes that process audible Repetitive music is Music which features a relatively high degree of Repetition in its creation or Reception. 1993. "The Minimalist Aesthetic in the Plastic Arts and in Music". Perspectives of New Music 31, no. 1 (Winter): 86–132.
- Bernard, Jonathan W. 2003. "Minimalism, Postminimalism, and the Resurgence of Tonality in Recent American Music". American Music 21, no. 1 (Spring): 112–33.
- Cope, David. 1997. Techniques of the Contemporary Composer. New York, New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0028647378.
- Fink, Robert. 2005. Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520240367 (cloth). ISBN 0520245504 (pbk).
- Gann, Kyle. 1997. American Music in the Twentieth Century. Schirmer. ISBN 002864655X.
- Gann, Kyle. 1987. "Let X = X: Minimalism vs. Serialism. " Village Voice (24 February): 76.
- Gann, Kyle. 2001. "Minimal Music, Maximal Impact: Minimalism's Immediate Legacy: Postminimalism". New Music Box: The Web Magazine from the American Music Center (November 1).
- Gann, Kyle. 2006. Music Downtown: Writings from the Village Voice. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520229827.
- Gotte, Ulli. 2000. Minimal Music: Geschichte, Asthetik, Umfeld. Taschenbucher zur Musikwissenschaft, 138. Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel. ISBN 3795907772.
- Johnson, Timothy A. 1994. "Minimalism: Aesthetic, Style, or Technique? " Musical Quarterly 78, no. 4 (Winter): 742–73.
- Johnson, Tom. 1989. The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972-1982 – A Collection of Articles Originally Published by the Village Voice. This article is about a New York newspaper For the Ottawa Hills Ohio magazine see The Village Voice of Ottawa Hills. Eindhoven, Netherlands: Het Apollohuis. ISBN 90-71638-09-X.
- Linke, Ulrich. 1997. Minimal Music: Dimensionen eines Begriffs. Folkwang-Texte Bd. 13. Essen: Die blaue Eule. ISBN 3892068119.
- Lovisa, Fabian R. 1996. Minimal-music: Entwicklung, Komponisten, Werke. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
- MacDonald, Ian. 2003. "The People's Music". London: Pimlico Publishing. ISBN 1844130932.
- Mertens, Wim. 1983. American Minimal Music: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. Translated by J. Hautekiet; preface by Michael Nyman. London: Kahn & Averill; New York: Alexander Broude. ISBN 0900707763
- Nyman, Michael. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes 1974. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. London: Studio Vista ISBN 0289701821; reprinted 1999,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521653835.
- Potter, Keith. 2000. Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. Music in the Twentieth Century series. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052148250X.
- Schwarz, K. Robert. 1996. Minimalists. 20th Century Composers Series. London: Phaidon. ISBN 0714833819.
- Strickland, Edward. 2000. Minimalism: Origins. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Corrected and somewhat revised version of the original 1993 hardback edition. ISBN 0253213886.
- Sweeney-Turner, Steve. 1995. "Weariness and Slackening in the Miserably Proliferating Field of Posts. " Musical Times 136, no. 1833 (November): 599–601.
Further reading
- Mertens, Wim. 1983. American Minimal Music, trans. J. Hautekiet. London: Kahn & Averill; White Plains, NY: Pro/Am Music Resources. ISBN 1871082005 (Kahn & Averill pbk. ) ISBN 0-912483-15-6 (Pro/Am Music Resources pbk). "Still stands as the single extended culture-critical treatment of American minimalism". [1]
External links
- Art of the States: minimalist minimalist works by American composers, including audio samples.
- Art and Music Since 1945: Introduction to Minimal Music, from Ohio State University's Department of Art Education. The Ohio State University ( OSU) is a Coeducational public Research university in the state of Ohio. For general education in the broad range of Arts see Arts education, for education in the Performing arts see Performing arts education
- Minimal Music, Maximal Impact, by Kyle Gann, with a more comprehensive list of early minimalists. Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955) is an American Composer and music critic born in Dallas, Texas.
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