Minimal Music
Repetitive musical style since the 1960s.
What it means
Minimal Music designates a direction that arose in the United States in the 1960s and works with few musical elements, which are repeated many times while being gradually changed. Characteristic are an even pulse, simple tonal or modal harmony, short figures, and long time spans in which changes take place so slowly that they become conscious to the listener only in retrospect.
Musical use
Procedures used include, among others, the stepwise shifting of two identical voices against each other, the gradual adding or omitting of notes of a figure, and the layering of patterns of different lengths that meet again only after many cycles. Attention is thereby directed less toward themes and development than toward listening to processes and to details of sound that emerge through repetition. The effect on popular music and film music was considerable. The name stresses the restriction of the material, not the brevity of the pieces, which are often long.
Minimal Music arose in the 1960s in the USA with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. Its hallmarks are repeated patterns, an even pulse, slow change, and tonal harmony. Riley's In C of 1964 counts as an early key work.
Performance practice
Count without fail and do not rely on your ear; with many repetitions one easily loses one's place. Keep pulse and attack absolutely even — any personal shaping disturbs the process. Mark the number of repetitions and the change points in the part. Practise shifting procedures in pairs, slowly, until the transitions sit securely. Plan your strength and concentration, because such works are long and can be physically demanding.
Bear in mind that the works are often long and demand concentration as much as physical stamina: plan breaks into your practising and work on a relaxed posture, because tension builds up over long stretches. Clarify within the ensemble who signals changes and how they are made recognizable.
Check whether a performance needs amplification, because many works of this kind are set up for it.