Minimalist Music and Social Platforms – Part I of Part IV

As recorded in many aspects throughout history, art reflects an anticipated response of a cultural shift. Forerunners of cultural shifts, artists generally have a pioneering spirit that, for good or bad, exemplify the road to be taken by a culture in the forthcoming years or generations. The musical response of Minimalism and its composers foreshadowed, as well as provided a entry point, for many of the changes brought forth in American music during the late 1960s and 1970s. Beyond “merely a pop music for intellectuals,” (1) as stated by music academician Keith Potter, the spirit behind Minimalism provides listeners, both present and future, with a foundation to explore the development of individualism, sonic independence, and platforms for social statements.
Listening to works by Minimalist composer Steve Reich, such as “Piano Phase” or “Drumming,” one can observe the music from many vantage points. On a surface level, the music sound is repetitive and simple in form. Many listeners may hear the music for the first time and possibly judge it to be a type of white noise. On a deeper aesthetic level, if the listener is willing to explore music with all of the senses engaged, the music can cause the listener to raise questions and answers regarding individuality.
To authenticate the underlying theme of individualism, consider the development of Reich’s “Piano Phases.” This work begins with one pianist and then adds a second pianist in tandem: the two pianists performing the same notes in unison. Progressing through the unison work, one pianist accelerates by a subtle tempo so that unity between the players is broken. As the note delay begins to be perceived by the listener, individualism has subtly emerged from the previous unison harmony. Eventually, as the work progresses, the one player has accelerated until the players are heard with a sixteenth note in delay. Musically, this method, known as phasing, explores the sense of time and rhythms through subtle change. Taken from a broad cultural standpoint, this music exemplifies the shifting of focus on unity within a culture to a strong development of the individual as its own entity.
When discussing the development of his drum works, Reich qualifies the development of individualism as a human approach to the idea of phasing; “I wanted to think Balinese or African which meant that I would sound like myself while expanding my ideas about how to rhythmically structure my pieces.” (2) Stressing the idea that he used other music cultures for starting points, or unison, Reich then created his own individual musical interpretation. The musical expression of “Piano Phase” was not only a composition to Reich, it was part of his development as a person and composer.

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1. Keith Potter, Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 10.
2. Jonathan W. Bernard “Theory, Analysis and the “Problem” of Minimal Music” Concert Music, Rock, and Jazz since 1945: Essays and Analytical Studies (New York: University of Rochester Press, 1995), 263.