No Documents, No Escape: The Construction and Triumph of a Musical StyleRising out of the American art music movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, minimalism shook the foundations of the traditional constructs of classical music, becoming one of the most important and influential trends of the twentieth century. The emergence of minimalism sparked an active writing culture around the controversies, philosophies, and forms represented in the music’s style and performance, and its defenders faced a relentless struggle within the music establishment and beyond. Focusing on how facts about music are constructed, negotiated, and continually remodeled, We Have Always Been Minimalist retraces the story of these battles that—from pure fiction to proven truth—led to the triumph of minimalism. Christophe Levaux’s critical analysis of literature surrounding the origins and transformations of the stylistic movement offers radical insights and a unique new history. |
Contents
Music with Roots | 11 |
New Music | 19 |
New York AvantGardists | 32 |
The Theatre of Mixed Means | 43 |
Electronic Music | 51 |
Founding a Movement | 58 |
Minimal Music | 67 |
Systems | 98 |
American Minimal Music | 118 |
Jameson and Lyotard | 135 |
Popular Music | 141 |
New Sounds | 174 |
In Conquest of the TwentyFirst Century | 186 |
Epilogue | 198 |
References | 221 |
| 255 | |
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aesthetic American composers American music Ashley asserted associated audience authors avant avant-garde Boulez British Cage Cage’s Cageian Cardew Caux century music chapter composer's Composition 1960 connection contemporary music critic cultural Davies Dennis edition electronic music Experimental Music Fluxus four composers genre Henry Flynt Hitchcock Hypnotic School improvisation indeterminacy interest jazz John Johnson journal Kostelanetz La Monte Young Lyotard Mellers mentioned Mertens Michael Nyman minimal music minimalist Mixed Means Modern Music Monte Young movement music establishment music of Young musical landscape musicologist musicology musique nonetheless Nyman Palmer Parsons performance Perspectives Philip Glass piece popular music posers postmodern published Reich and Glass Reich's music repetitive music repr Review Riley's Rockwell Sabbe Salzman Scratch Orchestra serialism serious music Smalley sound Steve Reich Stockhausen Stoïanova Strickland style Tempo Terry Riley Theatre of Mixed theory tion tradition twentieth century Village Voice visual arts writings wrote York Young's music