Minimalism

Beginnings Minimalism began as ‘Systems Music’ in the 1960s Features of systems music were repetition, simple melody and slowly changing harmony Stockhausen’s ‘Stimmung’ is an extreme example of this

Terry Riley Minimalism basically started with the music of Terry Riley (b1936)

Riley’s In C In C consists of 53 repeating motifs which slowly oscillate making various chords Study In C with the score and maybe have a go at performing it! Terry Riley's website

Steve Reich Reich, who took part in the first performance of In C, was greatly influenced by Riley’s ideas. He developed a style based on the idea of gradual change – of texture, rhythm and harmony He also explored the concept of Phase Shifting

Clapping Music In this piece, written in 1972, Reich takes one rhythmic pattern and repeats it 156 times. Clap 1 never changes. Clap 2 moves the pattern one quaver forward after each 12 th repeat.

Reich’s influences Philip Glass Tomasz Sikorski John Tavener Mike Oldfield John Adams Michael Nyman Arvo Part Chris Martin

More information Steve Reich website Philip Glass website John Adams website Favourite minimalist music