Post Minimalism

Aaahhh. Now this is more like it.

I think by now it’s not a secret that my favorite kind of Avant-Garde is Minimalism. There doesn't even need to be any rhyme or reason behind it, but it has somewhat of an euphoric feeling in it. There’s something about it that speaks so much while saying so little. There is a pleasantness present that takes me to another simpler time. It’s like...well, I can’t put it in words, so I can I express it visually…

That’ll work.

Maybe I should’ve been more clear from the beginning: my favorite kind of music is music that is audibly appealing. What that means, of course, varies from person to person, so I’ll display my personal interpretations of what is appealing to me. For example, this is audibly appealing:

While this isn’t:

Appealing:

Unappealing:

Minimalism is appealing to me because its kind of Avant-Garde is more subdued than other types I’ve heard. Though it was admittedly redundant at times, it’s something I can live with. I honestly didn’t think it could get much more subdued than this.  

I think I may have found something.

Post-Minimalism is what I would like to call “Minimalist Music after it graduated from college”. I mentioned in my last blog that change is a good thing if it was done well. And this is an example of it being done well: it’s a combination of minimalist elements and dramatic fluctuations that elevates the genre into something truly heart-soaring.

Of course, the line between “Minimalist” and “Post-Minimalist” is incredibly blurred. Once again, I turn to Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.

This piece is somewhat of a mixed bag. On one hand, the minimalism found here is undeniable. It’s like a pulsing drone that seems to know no end. On the other hand, though, there is so much flavor in this oatmeal (what? I’m not good at metaphors), with variations of rhythm, dynamics, and even tonic, that one can make an argument that it’s not minimalist at the same time.

And I think that’s what Post-Minimalism is: subdued minimalism. Minimalism isn’t used as a separate technique here. Rather, it is combined with other forms of music making to, in a sense, create its own style of music.

And the results are breathtaking. Take, for example, William Duckford’s Southern Harmony.

A work for unaccompanied choir, this piece harkens back to the days of Colonial America and to Sacred Heart Singing. Sacred Heart Singing is a form of singing, primarily in the Southern US, that uses notation based entirely on a set of shaped notes. It’s a form of movable solfege and there’s hardly any dissonance or chromaticism anywhere. Here’s the system in C Major:

This is done to make singing church hymns easier for people without any prior experience. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Duckford grew up with this music and pursued it in college. While there, he noticed trace amounts of minimalist features. And so, Southern Harmony was born.

Now to be clear, this piece is NOT Sacred Heart (in that it can’t be sightread, that is). It is an intricate emulation meant for professional choir. However, to the untrained ear, it is not hard to imagine this piece being lifted directly out of the Sacred Heart Book. And that’s not just because they actually were lifted directly out of the Sacred Heart Books.

Yes, all of the movements here are based directly on hymns from the Sacred Heart book. For example, here’s the tenor line from the hymn “Consolation”:

The numbers above indicate the notes transformed in Harmony. To be fair, I can’t understand the notation myself, so I can’t figure out how it’s transformed. And neither can the untrained ear. This movement demonstrates how well the piece is constructed.

Now, this brings up the obvious question: what does this piece have to do with Minimalism? Well, honestly, not much of anything. In fact, I’d say the best candidate for the most minimal movement would be “Rock of Ages”, and that is the movement most unlike the Sacred Heart. So what does this leave us? It’s a minimalist piece that’s not really minimalist and a Sacred Heart piece that’s by no means Sacred Heart. What is it then? It is its own type of music.

All the elements needed from Minimalism and all the elements needed from Sacred Heart come together to form something that transcends both. It’s not Minimalist. It’s not Sacred Heart. It’s not anything. It’s its own music.

And that’s the appeal of Post-Minimalist music. So many styles and genres come together that it becomes something new, something daring, something (dare I even say it) Avant-Garde. To me, it’s some of the most pleasing music I have heard in a while. Though, like its parent, a little droning sometimes, Post-Minimalism is still a true gem.

Forgive me for sounding schmaltzy, but: Post-Minimalism is Music to my Ears.