Minimalism is arguably the most popular style of concert music that the late twentieth century produced, revered by the widest possible audience, including fans of rock, jazz and classical music. It is an ecstatic and vibrant movement that interweaves classical, popular and non-Western elements to create a highly distinctive style that restores the severed link between composer and audience.

The movement is surveyed here from its earliest beginnings, through a study of its principal American exponents – La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass – and on to the 'post-minimalism' of John Adams, Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen and Arvo Pärt.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Format: Paperback
Size: 220 x 156 mm (8 5/8 x 6 1/8 in)
Pages: 240 pp
Illustrations: 80 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714847733

K Robert Schwarz taught at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and wrote for the New York Times, Opera News and Rolling Stone.

"Attractively produced, easily readable."—Musical Times

On the 20th Century Composers Series

"As a series, Phaidon's 20th Century Composers has brought remarkable variety and a welter of information, both necessary and delightfully trivial. Intended both for the general reader and for the more enthusiastically musical."—The Scotsman