Minimalism

American music of repetition and phase, where small changes become the main event.

Related

ContemporaryOstinatoMarimbaPiano

Minimalism is an American current of the 1960s that uses a few ideas, repeated, layered and shifted, so that small changes become the main event.

Origins and dating

In 1960s New York, La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass worked in the experimental scene. Riley's In C of 1964, with its 53 short patterns, is often treated as the starting point. In the 1970s Glass and Reich brought repetition into opera, film music and large ensembles.

Listening features

Listen for repetition, as a short figure returns to the same shape. Then listen for phase, where two identical figures drift slightly apart and create a rolling rhythm. Harmony changes slowly, often resting on one chord before moving to a neighbour. Forces may be tiny or very large. Follow density and layering rather than waiting for melodic events.

Figures

Riley wrote In C, Reich wrote Six Marimbas and Music for 18 Musicians, Glass wrote Einstein on the Beach and the score for The Hours, and John Adams wrote Shaker Loops.

Lineage

It draws on experimental music, Indian music and gamelan and leads to post-minimalism, ambient music and film scoring.

Misconceptions

Minimalism is not simple, since phase and orchestration demand exact control. Nor is it unemotional, because long repetition can create a strong sense of immersion.

Sources

• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry Minimalism — definitions and chronology checked, not quoted
• The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry Minimalism — American scene checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.