Music Presentation

Minimalism

Introduction and Composers

Minimal music is a style, or a technique of music associated with the work of
American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. 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. Prominent
features of the technique 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 (Development of idea) and phase shifting which
leads to what has been termed phase music. Minimal compositions that rely
heavily on process techniques that follow strict rules are usually described using
the term process music.
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.
It is unclear where the term minimal music originates. Steve Reich has suggested
that it is attributable to Michael Nyman, a claim two scholars, Jonathan Bernard
and Dan Warburton, have also made in writing. Philip Glass believes Tom Johnson
coined the phrase.

Characteristics
Using static tone throughout a song is one of the basic features of minimalist
music. The shift from one scale to another is slow and unrealizable.
Harmonies used in this music are usually simple and repetitive. Static harmony
could be explained as staying on just one chord or even moving back and forth
using a set of a few chords.
In minimalist music style, same beats are followed throughout the song, or even
drones can be used in a similar fashion. This can be explained in plain words, as
less variation of rhythm in music.
Many minimalist pieces use the same rhythm and the same pulse throughout the
song. Use of polyrhythms is also a common feature of minimalist music, in which
a composer uses two or more rhythms simultaneously.
Minimalist composers often use a particular ensemble, with all the instruments
playing continuously.
The variations in the music are derived by using different dynamics and timbre,
i.e. using different instruments to play the same chord and changing the loudness
and the softness of the song. It makes the music interesting preventing it from
sounding monotonous.

Texture
 a complex contrapuntal texture
 broken chords (where the notes of a chord are played singly rather than
together)
 slow harmonic changes
 melodic cells (the use of fragmentary ideas)
 note addition (where notes are added to a repeated phrase)
 melodic transformation (where a melody gradually changes shape)
 rhythmic transformation (where a rhythm gradually changes shape)
 gradual changes in texture and dynamics
 resultant melody, where a melody emerges as the same notes occur at the
same time in the phase, giving them emphasis
 tonal ambiguity where the key is not clear or different harmonisations are
possible
The texture of a song determines the quality of the sound. It is basically the way
in which the harmonies, rhythms, and melodies are used together as a
composition. The texture used in minimalist songs are dense and it gives a sense
of seriousness in the music.

Famous Pieces
Piano Phase and Violin Phase - Steve Reich
Glasswork - Philip Glass
The Cusp of Magic - Terry Riley