LDV87

While many of these composers contest the ‘minimalist’ label, which they see as reductive, their approach is similar in the way it experiments with new musical structures such as the use of repetitive motifs, in its recourse to a certain type of austerity, and in the use of certain specific processes (notably Reich’s ‘phasing’ technique, which employs two or more recordings simultaneously but with a slight delay between them). The minimalists have assimilated many influences in order to nourish their work: jazz and improvisation for Terry Riley, the experimental movement for La Monte Young, Indian music for Philip Glass, African cultures for Steve Reich. Their attachment to the American musical heritage is also a shared dimension, as is the output of the early twentieth-century iconoclast Erik Satie. Initially rejected by classical institutions, the minimalist movement saw its influence grow in the 1970s and 1980s, popularised, among other things, by the success of some of Philip Glass’s film scores. Little by little, minimalism attracted a growing number of followers, among them other Americans like John Adams, but also European composers, many of whom, such as Michael Nyman, John Tavener, Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki, have been linked to the movement. While the minimalists have found an echo with wider audiences beyond that of classical music alone, their output has often been criticised by commentators who have judged their musical aims to be simplistic or superficial. A misunderstanding that Vanessa Wagne and Wilhem Latchoumia are keen to clear up. VANESSA WAGNER & WILHEM LATCHOUMIA 21