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Minimalism in a Glass Cage
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Minimalism in a Glass Cage Minimalism, as used in the context of a musical term, incorporates many different elements that when applied to compositional works, can make their overall classification difficult to define. Within the term itself there exists alternate views and definitions regarding the concepts surrounding it and what it actually is. Is it a style, or a technique--as I believe, or is it simply a term that can be applied however one wishes? Within this paper I seek to answer this very question, presenting some conclusions regarding the meaning of minimalism, and to define it for myself. I plan to accomplish this by discussing minimalism through my own analysis of select compositions and through the discussion of the compositional techniques of the following composers: Philip Glass (“Opening” from “Glassworks” and “Spaceship” from “Einstein on the Beach”); John Cage (“Constructions Nos. 1 & 3”); and myself (“Glass-Cage Experiment”). The definition of minimalism from the Oxford Dictionary of Music states that it is a “term applied to [a] group of composers, in whose music there is the minimum of material which is repeated to maximum effect”(468). The definition in the Thames and Hudson Encyclopedia of 20th Century Music states that it is a “term normally applied not to music in which the material actually is minimal but rather to works based on the repetition of short figures”(121). These two definitions contradict each other and fail to define minimalism as anything other than a “term.” A source that defines minimalism as a distinct style is Bryan R. Simms’, “Music of the Twentieth Century Style and Structure.” Simms states minimalism is a “distinctive style; A style that contains repetition and ostinato elements that is minimal in compositional materials” (Simms 404). So, along with these three definitions and my original view—that minimalism is a technique—there are still uncertainties surrounding it. Even though the definition changes, the view that it incorporates repetition and ostinato elements is static. These two minimalist elements are incorporated to a significant extent within in the first composer’s compositions I am going to discuss, Philip Glass. “Opening,” from Glass’s album “Glassworks,” is a solo piano work that contains an enormous amount of repetition. In fact, the entire piece contains an identical rhythmic pulse: a two against three feel. This syncopated feel is created by a steady progression of eighth notes in the left hand along with eighth note triplets with various accents with the right hand.
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