Tuesday 10th February
Ron Mitchell
Minimalism
“Minimalism in music emphasises simplicity and repetition, often using limited musical materials. It originated in the 1960s with composers like Reich, Glass and Riley, focusing in repetitive patterns and steady drones to create a hypnotic effect…” This dictionary definition of an extraordinarily important genre in 20th century music is very limited. Minimalism has a far broader in appeal than one might expect, featuring in films, concert music and in the pop world too.
Appreciation by David Saunders
MINIMALISM – A GENRE EXPLAINED & DOCUMENTED
I wish to convey the Society’s thanks to Ron Mitchell for taking us on a fast ride through the genre of Minimalism in music, selectively exposing us to some of the music of the major American composers powering this movement that started in the 1960s and came to prominence in the 1970s.
Alongside comprehensive projections of live music extracts we heard examples of pieces by Steve Reich, La Monte Young and Terry Riley; unfortunately running out of time to move onto Philip Glass.
Ron’s talk was peppered with quotations from the major players and also from critics—some quite caustic in their reactions.
The presentation was great fun and by the end we had all heard a tantalising selection of Minimalist music and learnt so much more.
Notes
Here is a link to the notes to Ron's talk. In it you will find links to some of the audio and video that he presented.
Resources
CDs
| Composer | Title | Label | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Reich | Collected Works | Nonesuch | 7559790418 |
| Terry Riley | A Rainbow In Curved Air | Esoteric | ECLEC2306 |
| Brian Eno | AMBIENT 1 - Music for Airports | EMI | 5099968452322 |
| Arvo Pãrt | Tabula Rasa | ECM | ECM1275 |
| Philip Glass | glassworks | Sony Classical | SMK87968 |
| John Adams | Harmonielehre &c | EMI | CDC 5 55051 2 |
| Henryk Górecki | Symphony No. 3 | Nonesuch | 7559-79282-2 |
Books
| Author | Title | Publisher | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wim Mertens | American Minimal Music | Kahn & Averill | 1983 |
| Michael Nyman | Experimental Music Cage and Beyond | Cambridge University Press | 1999 |
| Kerry O'Brien and William Robin | On Minimalism | University of California Press | 2023 |
| Keith Potter | Four Musical Minimalists | Cambridge University Press | 2000 |
| Steve Reich | Writings On Music 1965–2000 | Oxford University Press | 2002 |
| Alex Ross | The Rest Is Noise | Fourth Estate | 2008 |
| K. Robert Schwartz | Minimalists | Phaidon Press Limited | 1996 |
| Edward Strickland | Minimalism: Origins | Indiana University Press | 1993 |
Images
