Terry Riley’s In C is a
composition that was a part of the phenomenon of minimalism. This type of music is based on repetitions of
small units that are varied extremely slightly, over large periods of
time. Contrary to its title, minimalist
works are actually rather long, and the changes that take place in the music
unfold slowly. In Riley’s work, there are
53 themes that are to be played by any combination of instruments. Riley leaves an extremely large amount of
freedom for the performers of the piece; the themes may be repeated any number
of times, on any instrument. The result
is a very different kind of music, unlike anything that we’ve studied so far in
class. I don’t much care for minimalist
music; while I find the concept to be very interesting and I admire the
performers for interpreting the score in a unique and appealing fashion, I
wouldn’t listen to it on a regular basis for a number of reasons. I enjoy
classical music because it always goes somewhere. Whether from tonic to dominant in a Bach, or
a surprising I to VI in a Beethoven, much classical music before the 20th
century has a distinct direction. It
other words, it harmonically moves. I
also don’t really like the texture of Riley’s In C, either. I would much rather hear the sounds of violins,
violas, cellos, and standard orchestral instrumentation. I appreciate minimalist music for its
innovativeness—though the unrestricted instrumentation and freedom given to performers
is reminiscent of the Baroque era—it is contemporary in that it has a very
modern sound. I think the fact that it doesn’t
have standard orchestral instrumentation contributes to
this sound; it sounds as if the entire thing could be produced entirely
digitally.
Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain is another example of minimalist music, and
represents contemporary Western culture in that it was produced by running two
copies of the same tape on machines playing at slightly different speeds. This is called phase music, and again has a
very gradual rate of change. This piece
somewhat disturbs me, especially toward the end. The words “It’s Gonna Rain” have become more and
more apart, and by this time it has been repeated innumerable times. It puts me in a very pessimistic mood,
because the same downcast words have been said over and over again. It really forces the listener to think about
the meaning of the words, and focus on the intent of the song. I would much rather listen to any symphony in
a minor key than hear the words “it’s gonna rain” being repeated for almost
eight minutes.
Thea Musgrave’s Orfeo II is an example of postmodernism. I’m not an advocate of
this type of music, either. I admire
Musgrave for bringing back a classical work such as Orfeo, but the way in which
is does it was again somewhat disturbing to me. I would rather watch the opera,
where there isn’t so much dissonance and chaos. This piece is contemporary in
that the distortion might be representative of the unsettlement and sometimes
disturbing society that we live in; with 9/11, terrorist threats, disease,
poverty, and murder that goes on, the musical representation of a tragic event
such as Orfeo’s adventure may seem fitting.
But the original arias of Monteverdi were pleasing to the ear and at the
same time conveyed a sense of Orfeo’s lament.
The flute sound is very eerie.
In general, I do not care for most
of the classical works post 1960, such as Reich, Riley, Leon, and Larsen. I
much prefer the antiquated styles of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. The “pleasing” variety of the Classical Era
is exactly what I strive for in my music selections, and most of minimalism,
postmodernism, atonalism, and Serialism is not pleasing to my ear.
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