1. Chapter 39 Minimalism

2. Minimalism is a style in art as well as music
Strips subject matter to minimal amounts of material, or basic fundamentals of shape, color, and sound
Use of repetition and subtle variation
Minimal music: short bits of melody or sounds repeated over and over with slight variations
Steady beat, not necessarily with constant metric pattern
Drones sometimes used
Systematic music: another term for minimalistic music
ideas at beginning of work set up a system for rest of work
Composers cite influence of :
Indian ragas (drones and variations)
African tribal drumming (repetition of rhythm patterns)

3. Philip Glass
New style fit well in avant-garde theater works by Samuel Becket, Bertold Brecht, and others
Born in Baltimore, 1937
Father owned record store
1976, produced opera Einstein on the Beach
Glass became acquainted with modern music and jazz
1982, Netherlands Opera Company commissioned portrait of Ghandi, Satyagraha
Played violin and flute
1984, commissioned by Stuttgart Opera Company to compose portrait of Egyptian pharaoh, Akhnaten
At University of Chicago, studied Schoenberg’s twelve-tone composition techniques
Glass’s music has had influence on many art rock groups; King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads
Degrees in mathematics and philosophy
Composed 21 film scores
Studied composition at Julliard
Soundtracks for Kundun (1997) and The Hours (2002) nominated for Academy Awards and won Golden Globe awards
1960, studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris
Hired to notate music by Ravi Shankar, sitarist
Won Golden Globe for The Truman Show (1999)
Composed score for Academy Award-winning documentary “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”
Also studied music from North Africa

4. Featured Listening: Company, second movement, by Philip Glass
Composed 1983
String Orchestra
160 Beats per minute
Two sections alternate (AB)
Homophonic texture
Meter changes between duple and triple; additive meter
Originally composed for a theater piece
Listen to the A and B sections at the end of this selection:
Listening excerpt from CD 2, tracks 43-44, pp

5. Steve Reich Born in New York City in 1936
1988, composed Different Trains for Kronos Quartet
Studied philosophy at Cornell University
Attended Julliard to pursue career as composer
1990, won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition for Different Trains
1963, completed masters degree at Mills College in northern California
Darius Milhaud and Luciano Berio- faculty at Mills College
1993, The Cave composed in collaboration with Beryl Korot
Interested in music from Indonesia and Africa
Musique concrete: sounds that have been recorded and manipulated
1970, grant from Institute for International Education allowed him to study drumming at the University of Ghana
1995, used musique concrete in City Life, using sounds recorded around New York City
1971, composed Drumming
Attended American Society for Eastern Arts in Berkeley, California; studied Balinese gamelan music
Fire and police sirens recorded on February 25, 1993 during commotion after car bomb exploded under the World Trade Center
1976, composed Music for Eighteen Musicians

6. Listening Guide: Electric Counterpoint, third movement by Steve Reich
Composed in 1987
Guitar ensemble
Fast tempo
Continuous repeated patterns
Amplified solo guitar, classical guitars, electric bass guitars
Mostly triple meter
Music specifies that players sit so that audience will hear call-and-response effects from one side of stage to the other
Listen to the opening of this selection:
Listening excerpt from CD 6, track 19, pp

7. John Adams Born in new England in 1947
2003, won Pulitzer Prize for Music for On the Transmigration of Souls, 2002
Music rooted in minimalism, but is bored with it
Large-scale work for chorus, children’s choir , orchestra, and prerecorded sounds
Uses repeated motives, but varies textures and instrumentation
Composed to commemorate victims of September 11, 2001, terrorist attack
Both parents musicians
Father taught him to play clarinet
Much of text taken from real missing persons posters, telephone messages, and other attempts to contact possible victims of the attack
Was composing music at age 10
Earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Harvard University
Has won numerous awards; continues to compose and conduct all over the United States and England
Moved to California to teach at San Francisco Conservatory and compose for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
1980’s, composed music for 2 operas based on real-life events: Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer
Is currently an Artist in Association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

8. Listening Guide: “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” by John Adams
Composed in 1986
Minimalism for orchestra
Delirando (frenzied)
Beginning sounds repeat at end, but otherwise not sectional
Large orchestra and 2 synthesizers
Quadruple meter
Listen to the opening of this selection:
Listening excerpt from CD 6, track 20, pp