I recently attended a concert where a string quartet played a Philip Glass composition. I hadn’t listened to any Glass for quite a while, and I really enjoyed it.
I’d like to explore more minimalist music, but Steve Reich is the only other composer I’m familiar with. There’s a Wikipedia page of minimalist composers, but there are so many listed that I don’t know where to start.
Where should I start? Who are the Bachs and Beethovens of minimalism?
Vasks, Gorecki, Pärt are well known, as is John Adams (I like his Harmonielehre). From Vasks I recently heard Castillo Interior (a Duo for violin and cello). Gorecki’s Third symphony is probably his best known work. Pärt has many beautiful works, like Fratres and Tabula Rasa.
Simeon Ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato is beautiful if you allow yourself the time to listen to the entirety; the beauty is in the development over time.
Edited to add: there are also older classical composers who have work that can be seen as precursor to minimalist music:
That list also contains several who are less regarded as ‘classical’ composers and better known as ‘popular music’ composers: Yann Tiersen (shot to fame for the soundtrack to Amelie), Enaudi, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield. These also are worth a listen, for instance Enaudi I Giorni, or Oldfields Tubular Bells
I’d say check out Arvo Pärt and Meredith Monk. (only cuz I like them…I admit I am not an aficionado of minimalist composers)
I’m not a big fan of minimalism, but I agree that Pärt is worth a listen, and the pieces mentioned by @Tusculan are good starting points. Actually, while his music has some minimalist elements, it is quite different from American minimalism, much more mystical. Actually, there were many composers from the Eastern Bloc who turned to religion as a protest against the communist authorities. Pärt is the most famous one, but Gorecki, Vasks and Kancheli belong here like Tavener, who was British but shared with them a profound need for spirituality.
American composers seem more interested in experimenting with slow rhythmic and harmonic changes where voices start in unison, then gradually get out of sync before uniting again, or moving in a completely different direction. It seems to me that their music is more formal, more concerned with procedures and effects.
John Adams - China Gates
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
If it’s foundational works you’re after, check out what’s widely considered the first true minimalist composition: Terry Riley’s In C.
I don’t know much about classical music, but I do love to listen to Erik Satie every once in a while. It’s pretty minimalistic.
Satie is definitely a pioneer in that regard. He referred to some of his pieces as “furniture music”.
What amazes me about the Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes that you’ve linked to is how ahead of their time they were. Both sets were composed in the late 1880s, at a time when Brahms, Tchaïkovsky and Dvořák were still alive and active. Saying that these are two different soundworlds is quite the understatement.
Speaking of Glass, I recently saw his opera Akhnaten and was blown away.
I got hooked on Glass after watching Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. This was back in the late 1980s. I went to the library and checked out every Philip Glass record they had. The librarian suggested John Adams which promptly ended any desired to explore any other minimalist composers.
I saw him do a duet concert with Laurie Anderson. It wasn’t what I expected from either artist.
Symphony of sorrowful songs … with HUGE bonus: Sung by Beth Gibbons (Portishead), who prepared for 9 years for this performance (sung in an old polish dialect)
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YlGYxCSDJU
Hugely emotional in the right setting (dark room, glass of wine, fine stereo set)
IN-JOY!
and of course my personal favourite: Glass’ - Koyaanisqatsi
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWp8D5s6Sc0
How about John Cage’s “4’33”?
I perform this myself every morning while I drink my coffee. Very relaxing.
I quite like the work Harold Budd did with the Cocteau Twins (The Moon and the Melodies), as well as just with Robin Guthrie (like the Mysterious Skin soundtrack). Also his work with Eno, like The Pearl.
Of course, his own stuff is great, too.