OPPapers.com

Minimalism

The Broad Appeal of Minimalism

Experimental approaches to composition by American composers in the 20th century became the foundation for works of art that made increasingly more demands upon the listener. Atonality, bitonality, serialism, chromaticism, and chance operation, were all techniques that composers applied to their sonic experiments. These techniques resulted in music with characteristics that challenged the average music enthusiast. Melodic line was often marked by an angular contour, rhythmic content was irregular, harmonic progression replete with insistent dissonance were lacking in tonal center, and unusual timbres accompanied an expanding range of sound. The academic world intellectualized and patronized experimental efforts while concert audiences, puzzled by the approach of the experimentalists, turned to swing, jazz, blues and rock and roll. Minimalism is a compositional technique that has been received by audiences with enthusiasm and sustained interest. One way to understand the broad appeal of this largely American creative style is to examine the infusion of identifiable elements typical of the commercial music culture, and the influence of minimalism on successful commercial artists.
Popular music “stars” are idolized and paid handsomely for their creative efforts. Many forms of popular music provoke a visceral response from its audience, consequently making successful performance the apex of the art. The foundational compositional technique that serves to interest listeners is the persistent backbeat, often organized within the framework of common time. Tuneful diatonic melodies are usually stated over familiar harmonic patterns and reiterated throughout a standard strophic song form. Jazz, blues and rock idioms use amplified instruments, synthesizers, multi-cultural influences, and improvisation. Artists seek to employ the latest technological advances both in the act of recording and in the practice of performance. The...