An introduction to minimal music
Minimal music encompasses several musical styles within New Music that developed in the USA from the 1960s and were shaped by Michael Nyman. The term Minimal Art comes from the visual arts. It is also described as postmodern music. It can be the perfect music for man and van birmingham while driving.
Minimalism and modernity
The genesis
In the 1960s, post-minimalism developed into minimal music. An exact starting point for this movement cannot be defined. This genre describes the ‘idea of metamorphosis’ and turns away from European classical music. A mass movement developed. Taboos were broken and the genres of pop and classical music were combined. Nowadays, minimal music is assigned to the genres of trance and techno, because rhythmic basses, memorable tone sequences and frequent repetitions also dominate these genres. Conventional ways of composing are ignored, especially those of the avant-garde of the 1950s and early 1060s and also that of serial music. There are interactions with contemporary pop music.
Characteristics of minimal music
Compared to art music, minimal music is simple because it has a modal tonality with few dissonances. Instrumentation and notes are also kept simple. Stylistic diversity characterizes minimal music and is characterized by repetitive structures. Patterns arise and are of a melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic nature. This genre is also characterized by stable harmony and tonal musical language with many consonances. In addition, it has additive and subtractive processes. So individual notes and motivic cells are added or removed. This changes the rhythmic structure.
Composers and their works
Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Terry Jennings, and Terry Riley are among the founders of minimal music. With the advent of tape recorders, La Monte Young was able to change frequencies and modulate sounds. He put his focus on the composition of pieces in pure tuning, i.e. the chord combinations of pure intervals of the third, fifth, and octave. Just like Terry Riley, he tried to combine Indian and Western musical cultures. Steve Reich, however, dealt with the African drum elements as a drum student. In search of his own musical identity, Phillip Glass broke his conventions and dealt with a complex Indian way of composing.
