Minimal compositions that rely heavily on process techniques that follow strict rules are usually described using the term process music. It may include features such as additive process and phase shifting which leads to what has been termed phase music. Minimal music is an aesthetic, a style, or a technique of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass.В It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School.В As an aesthetic, it is marked by a non-narrative, non-teleological, and non-representational conception of a work in progress, and represents a new approach to the activity of listening to music by focusing on the internal processes of the music, which lack goals or motion toward those goals.В Prominent features of the technique includeconsonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis or gradual transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. Nevertheless, there is valuable information here on what is arguably the most significant musical movement of the late 20th century. In even simpler terms it means the music can seem to wander around without a clear sense of direction. In a musical context that means that the music is not progressing toward a clear conclusion. вЂњNon-teleologicalвЂќ for example вЂ“ gimme a break. The author(s) sometimes get a little heavy-handed in their use of fancy terms.

This article will provide an explanation of the musical style known as minimalism as well as a brief history of the techniques involved in minimalist composition.

It is safe to say that all who compose in this style are striving for greater simplicity in the music.

As youвЂ™ll see when you start reading, the aesthetic of minimalism means different things to different composers. Minimalism arose later in the 20th century as a reaction to the complexity, structure, and perception of twelve-tone serialism as it developed at the hands of SchoenbergвЂ™s disciples.

Steve reich minimalism