The Aesthetics of Minimalist Music and a Schenkerian-Oriented Analysis of the First Movement "Opening" of Philip Glass' Glassworks Page: 14
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The traditional prescriptive codes of post-tonal music, such as "twelve-tone atonalism" and "total
serialism" of the Princeton School, are established by fully rejecting redundancy.42 Musical
minimalism departs from the traditional prescriptive codes of total serialism and twelve-tone
atonalism by embracing musical redundancy totally.43 Musical minimalism confronts the
traditional prescriptive codes of tonal music by total redundancy which tips the balance in tonal
music in favor of a continuum of coordinated sonorities.44 In this section, I shall investigate the
impacts of musical minimalism on the traditional prescriptive codes for listening to, and
perceiving form in tonal and post-tonal music.
Kivy applies American philosopher George Dickie's definition of the traditional
descriptive codes for listening to serious music (both tonal and post-tonal).45 Dickie claims that
when one "experiences a work of art he or she must pay close attention to the features relevant to
it."46 Kivy claims that the highly repetitive and lengthy features of minimal music make it more
difficult for listeners to retain undivided musical concentration.47 For example, the performance
of a raga from Southern India, which may last more than eight hours, reduces some listener's
ability to pay close attention during the performance.48 On the one hand, due to the limitation of
a listener's physical energy, one may feel exhausted after hours of concentrated listening. On the
other hand, the continuous repetitions of similar musical contents may have hypnotizing effects
on some audiences. Under these two circumstances, a performance exceeding eight hours may
become a challenge to the traditional prescriptive code of listening.
42 Kivy, 62. I believe Kivy uses the term "twelve-tone atonalism" to describe the atonal quality within
twelve-tone compositions.
43 Kivy, 62.
44 Kivy, 62.
45 Kivy, 55.
46 George Dickie, "The Myth of the Aesthetic Attitude," American Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 1, no. 1
(January, 1964): 56-65.
47 Kivy, 65.
48 Kivy, 65.14
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Wu, Chia-Ying (Charles). The Aesthetics of Minimalist Music and a Schenkerian-Oriented Analysis of the First Movement "Opening" of Philip Glass' Glassworks, thesis, May 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc10975/m1/21/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .