MinimalistsMinimalism is arguably the most popular style of concert music that the late-twentieth century has produced, appealing to the widest possible audience - fans of rock, jazz and classical music. But the minimalist aesthetic has not been lacking in controversy. To its detractors, it is maddeningly repetitive and single-minded, no better than pop music masquerading as art. To its adherents, it is ecstatic and vibrant, combining classical, popular and non-Western elements to create a style that restores the severed link between composer and audience. The two best-known minimalist composers, Americans Philip Glass and Steve Reich, are world-famous figures. But they can only properly be understood in the context of their predecessors (La Mome Young and Terry Riley) and their successors (John Adams, Meredith Monk, and Europeans such as Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen, and Arvo Part). This book, the first overview of minimalism aimed at a general public, traces the lives of the minimalist composers, discusses their most significant works, and examines the artistic milieu from which they emerged. |
Contents
Philip Glass Minimalist | 107 |
Chapter 5 | 129 |
Chapter 6 | 169 |
Copyright | |
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18 Musicians Adams's Akhnaten artist Arvo Pärt audience band bebop began Berio Cage California Cave cello chord chorus clarinet classical music concert counterpoint Desert Music Different Trains drones Drumming ECM NEW SERIES Einstein electric organs film four fp London fp New York fp San Francisco going harmonic jazz John Cage Juilliard La Monte Young libretto listening live loops Louis Andriessen melody Meredith Monk Michael Nyman minimalist music module Monte Young Music for 18 music-theatre musical process Nixon in China non-Western music NONESUCH 9 opera orchestra Orphée Pärt Pärt's percussion Peter Greenaway Philip Glass Ensemble Piano Phase piece pitches played première pulse recording Reich and Glass Reich and Musicians repetition rhythmic Riley's Satyagraha saxophone score serialism Shaker Loops solo songs soprano sound Steve Reich String Quartet structure style Symphony tape technique Tehillim Terry Riley timbre tonal traditional Trio turned twelve-note violin vocal voices Webern Western music writing wrote