Minimalism and Process Counterpoint
The term minimalism refers to a movement in art and music to simplify and reduce the complex elements used in creation. Minimalistic music is often influenced by non-Western styles, particularly Indian and African. Independent lines that are repeated in layers is a contrapuntal feature of many minimalist compositions. Some of the characteristics listed below may be found in minimalistic music.
- Uses a limited set of materials or musical elements
- Employs repetition, typically without variation, and is often pattern-based
- Usually created by a process, which may be the composition itself
- Has a steady pulse; subdivisions may vary
- Is relatively consonant, with diatonic or tonal pitch materials
- Exhibits a slow rate of change, with no conclusive goal
- It is static, with steady states or drones
There were four major pioneers of American minimalist music, all of whom were born between 1935 and 1937. A brief description of their styles and a few major works are list below. These are linked in the Materials section.
La Monte Young (1935) studied at UCLA, UC Berkeley, Darmstadt, New York, and in India with Pran Nath. He was interested in drones and steady state sounds, among other things. His radical way of thinking about how music might be considered an extension of John Cage’s philosophies. Counterpoint is not a primary texture in most of his works. An early piece from 1960 is the Trio for Strings, based on drones.
Terry Riley (1935) studied at UC Berkeley, Paris ORTF, and taught at Mills College. He was interested in exploring and creating what he called pattern fields. Riley was a classmate and a friend of La Monte Young. He developed a style consisting of short motivic patterns that are repeated in performance, and players are allowed to determine various parameters of the music. Two of his famous early works are In C and A Rainbow in Curved Air. His later works for string quartet are recorded by the Kronos Quartet.
Steve Reich (1936) studied music at Cornell University, Julliard, Mills College CA, and African drumming in Ghana. His early music was predicated on phase shifting. An example of phase shifting using two tape recorders is It’s Gonna Rain, and an example in which performers offset the pulse is Drumming. In his later works, he developed layers of counterpoint based on repeated segments. Two long-form examples are Music for 18 Musicians and The Desert Music.
Philip Glass (1937) studied at the University of Chicago, Julliard, and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. He was interested in repetitive, reductive music, and in opera. Written in 1979, Mad Rush is a representative example of his piano music.
Glassworks, released in 1982, is a very popular collection of compositions that consists of six movements for a small chamber ensemble of woodwinds, strings, and keyboards. Listen to the various movements for a good sampling of the techniques and timbres used by Glass.
Glass also wrote a number of Hero Operas that centered around the life of a prominent or powerful historical figure. One of the most popular, written in 1976, is Einstein on the Beach. The Dance 2 movement demonstrates his signature polyphonic texture, created with layered short tonal/modal sequences repeated incessantly to build a dense polyrhythmic effect.
Numerous composers continued the tradition of writing what has been referred to as “minimalist” music, and by around 1980 the original precepts upon which the movement was founded were firmly established. The early works of the four pioneers mentioned above, along with that of their contemporaries, were solidified into what might be considered the initial period of minimalism. The music that followed in related styles has been labeled Post-Minimalist, as it built on the original concepts and expanded the forms in which it was delivered. Many major composers joined the movement, and a few of the more notable ones are identified below, with a list of their works.
John C. Adams (1947) is one of the most widely performed composers of his era. He began writing minimalist music in the 1970s. In the 1980s he was writing post-minimalist music using gradually shifting harmonies, which culminated in the opera Nixon in China. From the 1990s to the present his music has been primarily contrapuntal. Shaker Loops, written in 1978 for string septet, shows his early minimalistic style. An especially popular orchestral work written in 1986 is the orchestral fanfare Short Ride in a Fast Machine. One of his later works in the century, Naïve and Sentimental Music, was written in 1999. These later works show his use of a wide variety of textures, but a consistent use of polyrhythmic layers, particularly 3 against 4. Adams won a Pulitzer Prize in music for On the Transmigration of Souls for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir, and prerecorded soundtrack, first performed September 19, 2002.
Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) is regarded by many as the most important European minimalist composer. He wrote in a wide range of styles and successfully incorporated American Jazz elements in his works, most of which were for non-standard ensembles. De Staat, written in 1976, gained international recognition. In 1985 Andriessen wrote De Stijl, a very eclectic piece written for a large jazz band with guitars and synthesizer. He won the Grawemeyer Award for music composition for La Commedia, written in 2008.
William Duckworth (1943-2012) has been credited with writing some of the first post-minimalist pieces of music, The Time Curve Preludes for piano.
While they did not rely on counterpoint as a primary texture, there were a number of other important composers labeled as minimalists. They include Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016), Michael Nyman (1944), and Gavin Bryars (1943). Others worth mentioning here are Daniel Lentz, David Behrman, Kyle Gann, Ludovico Einaudi, and Michael Torke. Almost all minimalist music with multiple parts that rely on repetition, patterns, and processes is contrapuntal.
Popular music and dance music styles were influencing composers in all styles in the 1970s and 1980s. A great deal of analog electronic music was created and distributed on vinyl, just prior to the sweeping changes brought about by digital audio tools and distribution platforms. Two notable minimalist composers who worked in the electronica genre were Klaus Schulze and Vangelis.
Klaus Schulze (1947-2022) was a pioneer using the earliest synthesis and recording devices. He favored long-form works, often lasting an hour or more, and incorporated elements of techno and trance Electronic Dance Music (EDM). His music was often based on tape loops or sequences layered under a bed of improvised melodies. The result was a meditative, transcendental experience. Two examples from 1975 are Timewind and Into the Blue. Sense is from 1980.
Vangelis (1943-2022) usually created music rooted in rich orchestral timbres, and improvised sweeping melodies over rhythmic sequences. The technology was beginning to give minimalist composers the capacity to create loops of sampled instruments that could be manipulated and layered by computers. The digital sequencer provided an automated process to create counterpoint. An excellent example of early music by Vangelis is Soil Festivities, Mvt. 1. He scored many films, one of the most popular being Chariots of Fire.