# Minimalist Composers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 15, 2025, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607 "2025-03-15T08:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/1 "2025-03-15T08:12:43Z")
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_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? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/2 "2025-03-15T08:28:04Z")
Vasks, Gorecki, Pärt are well known, as is John Adams (I like his [Harmonielehre](https://youtu.be/a74Cg0jdR0c?si=Bkbq9vojXkBFoJE8)). From Vasks I recently heard [Castillo Interior](https://youtu.be/yoChB7dGyuM?si=YDVQxR6VmURZqsDk) (a Duo for violin and cello). Gorecki’s [Third symphony](https://youtu.be/DoaEEVMrL-g?si=3-CzielAXOU2y61s) is probably his best known work. Pärt has many beautiful works, like [Fratres](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ZhKBTZR1s) and [Tabula Rasa](https://youtu.be/SMN9h85DrFM?si=elymgZna35rpXex_). Simeon Ten Holt’s [Canto Ostinato](https://youtu.be/JDCsOL2vBJc?si=__SiUq8CyUrDMFex) 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: - Couperin [Barricades Mysterieuses](https://youtu.be/NY2TNJiOG00?si=J-GDJpNtyH_Pq9SV) - Soler [Fandango](https://youtu.be/lr8KXlzwPgU?si=WwgjBBjU_IihcHqt) - and of course Ravel’s [Bolero](https://youtu.be/cmNEvSFWftc?si=DHc3OJ0kSESgOhWU). ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/3 "2025-03-15T08:34:29Z")
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](https://youtu.be/a74Cg0jdR0c?si=Bkbq9vojXkBFoJE8), or Oldfields [Tubular Bells](https://youtu.be/a74Cg0jdR0c?si=Bkbq9vojXkBFoJE8) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/4 "2025-03-15T08:35:38Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/5 "2025-03-15T09:38:56Z")
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYN_sG5y58) [Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71A_sm71_BI) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/6 "2025-03-15T11:01:53Z")
If it’s foundational works you’re after, check out what’s widely considered the first true minimalist composition: Terry Riley’s **In C**. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/7 "2025-03-15T12:05:06Z")
I don’t know much about classical music, but I do love to listen to [Erik Satie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnacdOIoTBQ) every once in a while. It’s pretty minimalistic. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/8 "2025-03-16T09:06:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/9 "2025-03-16T19:05:28Z")
Speaking of Glass, I recently saw his opera Akhnaten and was blown away. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/10 "2025-03-16T19:09:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/11 "2025-03-16T19:12:04Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Speaking of Glass, I recently saw his opera Akhnaten and was blown away. I saw him do a duet concert with Laurie Anderson. It wasn’t what I expected from either artist. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/12 "2025-03-16T21:37:39Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > Gorecki **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](http://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](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWp8D5s6Sc0) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/13 "2025-03-17T05:05:51Z")
How about John Cage’s “4’33”? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/14 "2025-03-17T05:13:18Z")
I perform this myself every morning while I drink my coffee. Very relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimalist-composers/1015607/15 "2025-03-17T20:40:03Z")
I quite like the work [Harold Budd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Budd) did with the Cocteau Twins (_[The Moon and the Melodies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hxm5DphtOE&list=PLI6kLIhBBwmSrQPWiCnCTQDOPItdAWdBs&index=7)_), as well as just with Robin Guthrie (like [the _Mysterious Skin_ soundtrack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf6bar21tCo)). Also his work with Eno, like _[The Pearl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WGx5z9wVNY&list=PLfimnwaZdumgM7qHD0Xtk1QzVZv1JSql5)_. Of course, [his own stuff is great, too](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etJLgznkuyw&list=PLiN-7mukU_RFv8d__5ZzccOzN6soJA2Sq).