Quote:
|
Originally Posted by finding nobody
i thought minimalist meant that the music is simple and they're very many (if any) over dubs and stuff. am i wrong?
|
Sort of yes, sort of no. Minimalism is more a genre than a description, but that doesn't stop people getting confused and using the term to describe Morton Feldman, John Cage and Arvo Part as minimalist because their music is sparse - which would probably make Debussy minimalist as well. Sparse is not quite the same as minimal/ist - sparse is more a reflection on the use of space in the music. By contrast, the likes of Glass, Riley and Reich are thought of as 'properly' minimalist composers because the music uses a minimum of notes, dotes on repitition and is often systems based. I think, though I'm sure Noumenal will correct me if I'm wrong, minimalism is more defined by its systems-procedure than by the number of notes used.
Gah. That's not very clear. I'll try again later.