Search - Adams, Glass, Reich :: Minimalists

Excellent intro to minimalism

Jonathan J. Casey | the twin cities | 07/21/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I know people get all upset about this sort of thing, but petty politics aside: 'Minimalist' is a great record. There is much more than simple repetition going on in this music and most of these compositions stand up as significant additions to the 20th century repertoire. Steve Reich's "Eight Lines" in particular is a must-have. The only mistake here is the Dave Heath work, which misses the boat entirely. Billed in the liner notes as England's answer to this largely American movement, Heath ends up writing a soundtrack to a rather silly, unidentified action movie rather than a minimalist composition. Otherwise, John Adams' "Shaker Loops" is sometimes chilling, sometimes exhilarating, and Philip Glass' "Facades" and "Company" are a nice introduction to his work...which has often become a parody of itself and been drowned in silly synthesizer sounds. Here it is perfect and clean, without becoming detatched and inhuman. In fact, despite claims to that effect, this music is often far more moving than your average late 19th century work of romantic drivel. Dive in- and at this price, you really can't go wrong."