T. 46--Minimalist Project

This piece came as the result of another school-related project. For my first-year writing class (Honors English 150), I had to do a research paper and I decided to research the musical movement of the 60s and 70s known as Minimalism. I had only heard about it, and I was very curious and wanted to know what it was about. I checked out a lot of books and read about how minimalism developed in response to the complication of atonality and serialism. It also came about in part from the hippie and drug culture. 

The man credited for beginning minimalism was La Monte Young. He was fascinated by drawn-out sounds held in stasis. He wrote a string trio in which one whole note might last several minutes. After him came Terry Riley, who really got the movement going with his minimalist pieces, especially the piece he is famous for: In C. Steve Reich and Philip Glass would each continue with their new techniques and styles, including looping, additive process (adding notes like beads on a string), and slow changes made manifest in tremendous repetition. John Adams is considered a post-minimalist composer, and developed his own style heavily influenced by minimalism. I was fascinated with all of this. This movement is anything but minimal, considering that it also takes rhythmic, melodic, and stylistic elements from music from all over the world, from India to West Africa and elsewhere. 

This piece is an original tribute to most of these composers who defined minimalism. I didn’t know how to represent Terry Riley’s music so unfortunately he’s not represented in this piece. You may notice that I used my Mist Lullaby melody to showcase John Adam’s style at the very end. This research project has largely expanded my understanding and appreciation of music. I still listen to some minimalism, especially music by Reich, Glass, and Adams. New classical music is fascinating to me, as has been ever since I started working on this project. I’ll admit some of the music I end up liking is unusual, but I like those unusual pieces because of the fascinating techniques involved or because I appreciate the message and the unique expression of that message. 

The sections of this piece are as follows: Atonality, La Monte Young's idea of stasis, Steve Reich's rhythmic looping ideas, Philip Glass' additive process, and John Adam's post-minimalist style.