Minimalism
On the eve of a second pandemic lockdown in November 2020 I composed a number of pieces in a sub-post-minimalist style, mostly for multiple pianos [a movement for string quintet can be accessed here]. I do not feel constrained by any such minimalist ‘rules’, especially with my use of non-diatonic melodies. Each of these pieces is constructed with only one melodic strand the nature of which dictates the subsequent metamorphosis. In several respects I do not heed some of the normal minimalist processes (ie use of chromaticism, separate dynamic for each part, transpositions). But they all share the tell-tale hypnotic monotony that characterises much minimalist music. Listening to all, one after another, is absorbing, meditative even.
Given that each piece is ‘assembled’ from multiple repetitions of just the single melody, they take little time to compose.
Given that each piece is ‘assembled’ from multiple repetitions of just the single melody, they take little time to compose.
Chasing Tails
Coruscation
Murmuration
Echo & Narcissus
Version (i) is for 4 pianos - Version (ii) has added Marimba, Celeste & Xylophone - Version (iii) has new parts for solo Violin & Cor Anglais (as well as the Marimba, Celeste & Xylophone).
Echo & Narcissus (i)
Echo & Narcissus (ii)
Echo & Narcissus (iii)
Undercurrents
The comparative ease with which anyone can process a simple melody into a satisfying composition, using copy-and-paste with displaced repetition to create a very basic form of counterpoint, offers opportunities to just about anybody. And in our digital age there are many electronic devices, many very inexpensive, which make the application of many composing techniques quick and easy to use.
A brief search for some basic information about the origins and nature of Minimalism provided the following:
A brief search for some basic information about the origins and nature of Minimalism provided the following:
Minimalism is a style of music which originated on the west coast of America in the 1960s with composers such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass and John Adams. It was a reaction to the complexity, structure, and perception of twelve-tone serialism as it developed at the hands of Schoenberg's disciples.
It is a reductive style or school of modern music utilizing only simple sonorities, rhythms, and patterns, with minimal embellishment or orchestrational complexity, and characterized by protracted repetition of figurations, obsessive structural rigor, and often a pulsing, hypnotic effect.
Features of minimalist music
‘How to make’ minimalist music:
It is a reductive style or school of modern music utilizing only simple sonorities, rhythms, and patterns, with minimal embellishment or orchestrational complexity, and characterized by protracted repetition of figurations, obsessive structural rigor, and often a pulsing, hypnotic effect.
Features of minimalist music
- a complex contrapuntal texture.
- broken chords (where the notes of a chord are played singly rather than together)
- slow harmonic changes.
- melodic cells (the use of fragmentary ideas)
- note addition (where notes are added to a repeated phrase)
- melodic transformation (where a melody gradually changes shape
‘How to make’ minimalist music:
- Make up a rhythm. The first step is to make a simple rhythm. ...
- Add more rhythms. Add another rhythm to fit with your first one. ...
- Add some notes. Once you have your rhythms, you can start to create minimalist music. ...
- Put your patterns together. ...
- Change the length of the notes. ...
- Bring it together