A few months after the classical-music world celebrated the 75th birthday of composer Steve Reich (Oct. 3, 2011), another major New York Minimalist composer took the spotlight on Tuesday. Philip Glass's 75th is being marked by premieres, album releases and tribute concerts.
Of course, most composers commonly called Minimalists have rejected the label at one point or another, suggesting that it pigeonholes music that is far more complex and embracing. They certainly don't see themselves as part of a school, despite some shared roots that began with a backlash against post-War modernism (there's also an international component to Minimalism, which extends to names like Arvo Pärt and Michael Nyman -- a whole other kettle of fish).
Nevertheless, there are some aesthetic similarities worth considering. So we want to know what you think: which of the following composers is your favorite? Take our poll and leave a comment below.
Music of Constant Change: A Philip Glass Festival on Q2 Music (September 4-9, 2012)
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Comments [12]
Agreed! Perhaps "trance-inducing sounds," or something else more accurate-but that would offend all the fans. Although, in fairness, other cultures don't have the same intellectual expectations of their musics.
I don't like "minimalist" because I think it implies that at least the bare essentials are all there, and I don't think they are. "Almost-music" or "Quasi-music", to be fancier, would be more truthful. Maybe, "Q-music."
At best, listening to Adams and Reich is like listening to the old Lexington Avenue subway with its ancient open-ended cars. You could heard every wheel hitting every break between rails. If you used your imagination it sounded sometimes like Louis Bellson playing drums.
When I buy a ticket to a concert, I expect more than listening to the IRT.
Why is it a stupid word, MM? What's a better word for repetitive, harmonically impoverished, rhythmically simple music?
At least Part understands what a beautiful sound is. But, even he writes endless introductions to pieces that never actually begin.
David Lang. Also Julia Wolf and Michael Gordon. Their compositions are the most brilliant, funny and moving being performed today. Nothing 'formulaic' and they continue to surprise us.
Arvo Pärt
I voted for Phillip Glass from the list, but prefer British composer John Taverner; although minimalist composition seems to be labeled "an American trait".
Wish Ann Southam were on the list.
Glass' music seems to have staying power. It also has a quality of freshness: it can be listened to several times and still be enjoyed and be surprising. Much of the so called 'minimalist' music is formulaic--you know what's coming and it just seems to keep on coming and coming and---
Steve Reich desert music
John Adams does for minimalism what Alban Berg does for serialism:he gives it a human quality that leaps beyond form.
Being a "minimalist" (stupid word) doesn't stop Terry Riley from writing a beautiful melody once in a while.
I would think a true minimalist would get everything they had to say into three minutes or less. That's not what usually happens.
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