Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass (review)

One of the most striking features in the music of the British composer Michael Nyman (born 1944) is the emphatic presence of musical quotations. This may be all the more remarkable because the main influence on Nyman's compositional style is minimal music. Generally, American minimal music is characterized by a large degree of abstraction, focussing on absolute music, clear abstract structures and the gradual unfolding of systematic musical processes. The almost provocatively objective appearance of the titles of works by Steve Reich (Violin Phase, Four Organs, Music for 18 Musicians) may be seen as emblematic for a music in which the transparent, process-like transformation of limited musical material calls for an equally objective type of material. Although American minimalists such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Philip Glass take recourse to diatonic material and tonal or modal harmonies, any reference to specific historical models is almost unconceivable in their early work, as the associations that come with the quoted material would only distract the listener from the systematic processes that the material is being subjected to, which forms the essence of this style. In that respect, Michael Nyman's fusion of minimalist strictness with openly acknowledged borrowings of pre-existing music sets him apart from his American contemporaries. This article investigates how Nyman applies different aspects of his quotation technique, how he incorporates the musical and extra-musical characteristics and associations that come with the quoted material into a solid musical statement, and how all this is combined with the strictness of his minimalism-related composition technique.

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QUOTATION AS A STRUCTURAL ELEMENT IN MUSIC BY MICHAEL NYMAN

Tempo ◽

10.1017/s0040298207000289 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 61 (242) ◽

pp. 25-38

Author(s):

Maarten Beirens

Keyword(s):

Large Degree ◽

Compositional Style ◽

Structural Element ◽

Steve Reich ◽

Philip Glass ◽

Absolute Music ◽

Musical Characteristics ◽

Minimal Music ◽

Terry Riley ◽

Main Influence

One of the most striking features in the music of the British composer Michael Nyman (born 1944) is the emphatic presence of musical quotations. This may be all the more remarkable because the main influence on Nyman's compositional style is minimal music. Generally, American minimal music is characterized by a large degree of abstraction, focussing on absolute music, clear abstract structures and the gradual unfolding of systematic musical processes. The almost provocatively objective appearance of the titles of works by Steve Reich (Violin Phase, Four Organs, Music for 18 Musicians) may be seen as emblematic for a music in which the transparent, process-like transformation of limited musical material calls for an equally objective type of material. Although American minimalists such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Philip Glass take recourse to diatonic material and tonal or modal harmonies, any reference to specific historical models is almost unconceivable in their early work, as the associations that come with the quoted material would only distract the listener from the systematic processes that the material is being subjected to, which forms the essence of this style. In that respect, Michael Nyman's fusion of minimalist strictness with openly acknowledged borrowings of pre-existing music sets him apart from his American contemporaries. This article investigates how Nyman applies different aspects of his quotation technique, how he incorporates the musical and extra-musical characteristics and associations that come with the quoted material into a solid musical statement, and how all this is combined with the strictness of his minimalism-related composition technique.

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Review of books. Singing Archaeology: Philip Glass's 'Akhnaten'. J Richardson\Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Rile, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. K Potter\Jonathan Harvey. A Whittall

Music and Letters ◽

10.1093/ml/82.3.487 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 82 (3) ◽

pp. 487-491

Author(s):

R Adlington

Keyword(s):

Steve Reich ◽

Philip Glass ◽

La Monte Young

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Music for Airports and the Avant-Garde

10.1093/oso/9780190497293.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

John T. Lysaker

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

American Music ◽

Avant Garde ◽

La Monte Young ◽

Terry Riley ◽

Musique Concrete

Chapter 2 places Music for Airports within the context of a “sonic turn” that occurs among various avant-garde trends in twentieth-century Euro-American music. A brief history begins with Debussy, accelerates with musique concrète and John Cage’s regard for the activity of sounds, and closes with consideration of La Monte Young and Terry Riley. The chapter insists that this history, in its technological and compositional advances, makes the experiments on Music for Airports possible. Ongoing references to chapter 1’s observations concretize the album’s relation to the Euro-American avant-garde.

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From Cage to Glass: Lessons for the Late Twentieth Century

British Journal of Music Education ◽

10.1017/s0265051700007488 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 15-24

Author(s):

Patricia Shehan Campbell

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Art Music ◽

Pop Music ◽

Music Classroom ◽

Steve Reich ◽

Historical View ◽

School Music ◽

Late Twentieth ◽

Terry Riley ◽

Late Twentieth Century

Because art music of the late twentieth century has received little attention in North American school music settings, this paper proposes a rationale as well as procedures for the teaching of one of its emerging styles: minimalism. A brief historical view of the development of minimalism is offered, the influence of Cage's concepts of music as an ongoing [if indeterminate] process is recognised, and the relationship of minimalism to other musical sytles and genres is noted. Listening lessons for works by composers Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Phillip Glass are devised, along with suggestions for performance and composition experiences in the music classroom. Due to its eclectic nature, including the influence of rock and pop music, instruction in the music of the minimalist composers is viewed as a gateway to other art music styles and techniques of the late twentieth century.

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