Minimal Music 1 Minimal Music
Minimal music 1 Minimal music Minimal music Stylistic origins Experimental music, twelve-tone music, serialism, process music, Indian classical music Cultural origins United States Typical instruments Piano, orchestra, tuned percussion, electronic musical instruments, electronic postproduction equipment Mainstream popularity Low, except in the Experimental field Derivative forms Postminimalism, totalism Subgenres [1] Drone music Fusion genres Repetitive music Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass.[2] [3] [4] It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School.[5] Prominent features of the style include consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis or gradual transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. It may include features such as additive process and phase shifting. Minimal compositions that rely heavily on process techniques that follow strict rules are usually described using the term process music. 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 five (Young, Riley, Reich, Glass, and later John Adams) emerged to become publicly associated with American minimal music. In Europe, the music of Louis Andriessen, Karel Goeyvaerts, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Steve Martland, Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener exhibits minimalist traits.
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