minimalism

[itsstephenyo]

all right so i've started to become kinda intrigued with the works of steve reich, john cage, and philip glass. thing is, i have nothing by these composers. i've heard recordings here and there but not enough to really make my own decision on minimalism. so here goes a formal request for anything and everything minimalist except short ride on a fast machine.... i really really hate that piece. i'm mainly looking for violin phase by steve reich. anything else would be awesome though.

[Moose]

Check out 4'33" by John Cage.

[mbui]

Some of my favorites....

 

Grand Pianola Music - John Adams

Harmonium - John Adams

The Chairman Dances - John Adams

Heroes Symphony - Philip Glass

V2 Schneider from Heroes Symphony - Philip Glass

Metamorphosis 2 - Philip Glass

Mishima Soundtrack - Philip Glass

The Canyon - Philip Glass

The Truman Show Soundtrack - Philip Glass

 

I highly recommend them.

 

[Dynasty]

  Moose said:

Check out 4'33" by John Cage.

That's a good one.

[Lustra.exe]

  Dynasty said:

That's a good one.

Word.

 

4'33" is in 3rd place in my "most played" playlist on my ipod.

 

Can't get enough of it.

[itsstephenyo]

haha yea i've heard that piece. at first i thought something was wrong with it until i read up on it. very interesting indeed. does anyone have some recordings they could send me?

[Lustra.exe]

  itsstephenyo said:

haha yea i've heard that piece. at first i thought something was wrong with it until i read up on it. very interesting indeed. does anyone have some recordings they could send me?

I do. But I downloaded the music and recorded it myself. It was transcribed so I dont know how correct it is. And plus it's me, and I'm not very good so it might sound a little bad.

[BlinK Day 41]

"Music for 18 Musicians" by Steve Reich. The concert version is about as minamilist as it gets, and Plymouth-Canton used an arrangement of it for their opener, which thought sounded pretty BA

[Disappearer221]

First of all, John Cage is definitely not minimalism. Most of his works are described by the terms indeterminacy, or aleatory. I think his most amazing compositions are his early works for percussion, which show a heavy indonesian influence.

 

As far as minimalism goes, no one has mentioned Terry Riley yet. His "In C" is one of the truest examples of the genre. A constant motoric eighth note groove is one of the defining characteristics of minimalism, of which "In C" is a great example, with the piano pounding out a constant pulse on high octave C's.

 

The true beauty of minimalism to me is gradualism, or as Steve Reich put is "Music as a Gradual Process." Reich said "I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear the process happening throughout the sounding music." I believe this came about as a reaction against serialism, in which at times the process is only apparent if you happen to have the row and a babbit square in front of you. I find it so beautiful hearing an idea morph so gradually, that you dont even notice that it has changed until well after the fact. In Reich's own words again: "Performing and listening to a gradual musical process resembles: Pulling back a swing and observing it gradually come to rest; turning over an hourglass and watching the sand slowly run to the bottom, placing your feet in the sand by the oceans edge and listening to the waves gradually bury them."

 

Anyways, my favorite minimalist pieces are:

 

Eight Lines, Six Marimbas, Sextet, and Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich

 

Music in Fifths (such an amazing process he uses!) by Phillip Glass

 

 

Its hard to pigeonhole John Adams as minimalist. His rhythms sometimes are characteristic of the minimalist style, but his harmonies are so thick, almost romantic! John Adams is my favorite composer, partially because he cannot be pigeonholed. I reccomend by Adams:

 

Century Rolls

 

Grand Pianola Music

 

Nixon in China (opera)

 

Harmonlehre (one of the HARDEST pieces for orchestra ever written!)

 

Johns Book of Alleged Dances (string quartet with electronics)

 

Common tones in simple time

 

 

I would also like to reccomend all of Michael Torke's music to anyone who is a fan of the above composers, as well as Arvo Part.

 

Dang, that was a long post. I have too much free time these days.

 

 

STERN

[mindfulmusician]

I would try to check out "Glassworks." I'm also new to minimalism, but, I walked by a friend's room, and he was playing Philip Glass' "Glassworks", and I was drawn into his room as matter is drawn towards a black hole (I don't know if that metaphor is a good one or not, but, I'll use it anyway). I knew he was into Glass before I heard it, but, it the music was so intriguing - I couldn't get it out of my head for a while. Anyway, that's just a suggestion from a fellow "newbie" as far as minimalism goes.

 

- mindfulmusician

[BlinK Day 41]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but "Short Ride on a Fast Machine" by John Adams is another one of my favorites

[davidpowell]

http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/genresea...enre=minimalist

 

http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/genresea...genre=aleatoric

 

Minimalism is one of my favorite things. John Adams is a bit of a psuedo minimalist, not full fledged, whereas Reich, Glass, and pals are. Torke is also in the same kind of psuedo minimilast thing as Adams. Arvo Part is much like a meditation, not neccesarily minimalist.

 

Anyways. My favorites are:

 

Harmonlehre - 3rd Movement - "Meister Eckhardt and Quackie" - John Adams

Drumming Part 1 - Steve Reich

The Chairman Dances - John Adams

Fratres - Arvo Part

[Disappearer221]

I performed Drumming by Steve Reich at a summer festival I was in a few years ago. One of the most difficult, but one of the most rewarding musical experiences ive ever had. Phase shifting is incredibly difficult to pull off.