Minimalist music, or minimal music, is a style that is associated with the works of such American composers as Le Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass. The style was born out of New York’s thriving downtown scene during the 1960s. At first, it was thought to be a form of experimental music known as the New York Hypnotic School.

Glassworks by Philip Glass:

Minimalist music’s main features were consonant harmony, a steady pulse, gradual transformation and the frequent reiteration of musical phrases or other elements such as figures and cells. Further, minimalist music may include features such as phrase shifting. When a minimalist composition relies heavily on techniques that follow strict rules are typically referred to with the term “process music,” because the rely on techniques known as “process techniques.”

The early 1960s saw the infusion of minimalism in music to both alternative spaces in California’s hip San Francisco neighbourhoods and the trendy lofts of New York City. By the end of the 20th century, minimalist music had become the most popular type of experimental music in those areas. As the style’s popularity grew and became more widespread, five composers, Young, Riley, Reich, John Adams and Glass became known as the style’s foremost composers. Across the pond in Europe, composers were emerging in the style as well. These included Louis Andriessen, Karel Goeyvaerts, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, and Arvo Part, among others.

The origin of the term “minimalist music” isn’t clear. Some believe that the term can be traced back to attributable to Michael Nyman, although others claim that the term was first coined by Philip Glass. The first use of the word “minimal” to describe music can reliably be traced to 1968, when Michael Nyman claimed he had “deduced a recipe for the successful minimal-music” that was being presented by Charlotte Moorman and Nam June pail. This included a performance of Springen by Henning Christiansen and some other unidentified performance-art pieces. Nyman’s definition was later expanded in 1974. It was in this year Nyman wrote a book called “Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond.”

Minimalism isn’t in itself a genre of music. It’s a style that, by definition, encompasses any piece of music that works with a limited number of elements. This can include pieces that use only a small collection of notes, pieces with only a sparse number of lyrics, or pieces that are only suited for play on a select few instruments, This last type of minimalist music doesn’t necessarily refer to instruments such as a violin or a guitar; minimalist music can be designed for play on anything from drinking glasses to bike wheels. Minimalist music also includes compositions that include one sustained basic electronic rumble and those that are comprised solely of recordings of natural elements such as a rolling river or stream. It also includes pieces that move very slowly and gradually from one kind of music another, and those that include all pitches that fall between C and D.

The early composition of early minimalist composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass are very austere, featuring very little in the way of extraneous embellishment on the central theme. These compositions are designed for play by small, intimate ensembles – of which they composers were often themselves members. In Glass’s case, the pieces were designed to be played by ensembles that included organs, saxopones and vocalists, while the works of other composers at the time were more tailored toward being played on percussion instruments. John Adams’ work was written for more traditional classical instrumentation in mind, including full orchestras and string quartets.

The early days of Glass’ music, for example, were met with support in the form of sponsorship from some art galleries and museums. His works were presented alongside the works of artists working in the minimalist art tradition, such as Robert Morris, Richard Serra and Bruce Nauman.

Minimalist music doesn’t follow the traditional form of what most of us thing a piece is. There is no sense of motion, the kind of motion that moves a more mainstream piece from the beginning through the middle and toward the end. In a minimalist pieces, the segments of the piece may not necessarily relate to each other in an easily discernible way. In 1997, David Cope outlined the following as characteristics of minimalist music:

Silence
Brevity
Continuities
Consonant harmony
Phase and pattern, such as repetition

These characteristics are rooted in the history of European music. Composers such as Richard Wagner, for example, incorporated these characteristics into their compositions.