Minimalist Musical Culture, Techniques, and Composers
Minimalist music has its roots in the experimental decade of the 1960's. The musical culture of that time was a relatively avant-garde one. Artistic experimentation and exploring new methods of composition were encouraged, and fashionable. Popular music included much Rock 'n Roll (this was the decade of the "British Invasion", and the heyday of the Beatles; the Rolling Stones, and others). Classical minimalist composers, during the 1960's, included La Monte Young; Steve Reich; Philip Glass; Terry Riley; John Cage, and others. Young first pioneered minimalist composition. The first American minimalist composers were mostly "born between 1935 and 1937" ("Minimalism in Mus
Minimalist composers' styles vary. Works by Philip Glass and Steve Reich are characteristically simple, focusing on just one theme and containing few, if any, embellishments of that theme. Both compose for small ensembles. However, Glass uses "organs, winds--particularly saxophones--and vocalists" ("Minimalist Music"), while Reich uses "mallet and percussion instruments" ("Minimalist Music"). Terry Riley, on the other hand, typically uses "repetitive patterns" with "improvisational elements" ("Minimalism"). An example is his In C, "which can be performed by any combination of instruments along with an instrument that provides a steady pulse of 16th notes" ("Minimalism"
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