We Have Always Been Minimalist

The Construction and Triumph of a Musical Style

Christophe Levaux, Rose Vekony

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English

University of California Press
01 September 2020

Music; Theory of music & musicology; Music reviews & criticism

Rising out of the American art music movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, minimalism shook the foundations of the traditional constructs of classical music, becoming one of the most important and influential trends of the twentieth century. The emergence of minimalism sparked an active writing culture around the controversies, philosophies, and forms represented in the music’s style and performance, and its defenders faced a relentless struggle within the music establishment and beyond. Focusing on how facts about music are constructed, negotiated, and continually remodeled, We Have Always Been Minimalist retraces the story of these battles that—from pure fiction to proven truth—led to the triumph of minimalism. Christophe Levaux’s critical analysis of literature surrounding the origins and transformations of the stylistic movement offers radical insights and a unique new history.

By: Christophe Levaux
Translated by: Rose Vekony
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9780520295278
ISBN 10: 0520295277
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 September 2020
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. 1960: Before Minimalism 2. Taking Root in Modernity: New Music 3. Transcribing Music: New York Avant-Gardists and Monotonality 4. 1967: Giants? 5. Creating Genres: The Theatre of Mixed Means and Dream Music 6. Taking Sides over a New Medium: Electronic Music 7. The New York Hypnotic School: Founding a Movement 8. Untying the Bonds: Process Music 9. Transfiguring Experimental Music: Minimal Music 10. 1975: The Emergence of Minimalism 11. Fighting or Laying Down Arms: Music with Roots in the Aether and Simplicity 12. Persevering: Systems 13. Giving Up Ground; Retaking It: Minimal Music 14. Subscribing to an Idea: A New Current and Modern Music 15. Disrupting the Status Quo: American Minimal Music 16. Going beyond Modernity: Jameson and Lyotard 17. Opening the Borders: Popular Music 18. 1984: The Spread of Minimalism 19. Confirming an Established Fact: Perspectives of New Music 20. Furthering the Fight: New Sounds 21. 1994: The Arrival of Minimalism 22. In Conquest of the Twenty-First Century Epilogue Notes References Index

Christophe Levaux is a researcher at Liège University, Belgium. He is the editor of Boucle et Répétition and Over and Over: Exploring Repetition in Popular Music, and the author of Rage Against the Machine as well as numerous articles published in Tacet, Volume !, Revue et Corrigée, Organised Sound, and Rock Music Studies.

Reviews for We Have Always Been Minimalist: The Construction and Triumph of a Musical Style

With his critical and thorough approach, Levaux manages to cast light on the historical contexts, stylistic nuances and elaborates thereby in a manner, that should resonate and be relevant for both the uninitiated as well as the fanatics. * Scene Point Blank * In his quest for 'Truth', Levaux provides deeply valuable new historical, disciplinary, and critical perspectives on the history of minimalism, offering novel insights into a topic that many have previously addressed. * Music & Letters *