Minimalist intersections (2024) [pp. 158-176]
AUTHOR(S) / АУТОР(И): Tingting Yang 
DOI: 10.46793/MinInters.158Y
ABSTRACT / САЖЕТАК:
In the modernist symphonic form of the late 20th century, there is a conspicuous lack of reliance on segmented form for thematic elements. From this situation, Philip Glass (born 31 January 1937) departed from the inherent thinking of minimalism, finding roots in the expansive symphonic genre. To date, he has composed fourteen symphonic works, which showcase the collision between minimalist techniques and the traditional form and content of symphonies. This article selects his monumental mid-period trilogy of symphonies: Symphony No. 5 – Requiem, Bardo, Nirmanakaya, Symphony No. 6 – Plutonian Ode, and Symphony No. 7 – Toltec. It aims to explore how Glass endeavours to break through the established paradigm of minimalist music, actively expanding the diversity of twentieth-century structural compositions. This study seeks to offer partial insights into the analysis of minimalist structural compositions and structural analysis of the latter half of the twentieth century.
KEYWORDS / КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ:
Philip Glass; symphonies; minimalism and postminimalism; compositional structure
REFERENCES / ЛИТЕРАТУРА:
- Burggraff, Nathan Paul. 2015. Music and Religion in a Postmodern Culture: Conceptual Integration in Compositions by Glass, Golijov, and Reich. Rochester NY: University of Rochester Press.
- Fink, Robert. 2005. Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
- Glass, Philip. 2015. Words Without Music – A Memoir. New York: Liveright Publishing.
- Grimshaw, Jeremy. 2002. “High, ‘Low’, and Plastic Arts: Philip Glass and the Symphony in the Age of Postproduction.” The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 46 (3): 472–507.
- Horton, Julian. 2013. “Cyclical thematic processes in the nineteenth-century symphony.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Symphony, edited by Julian Horton. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 190–231.
- Taruskin, Richard. 2011. Music in the Late Twentieth Century. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Potter, Keith. 2000. Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Maycock, Robert. 2003. Glass: A Portrait. Sanctuary Publishers.
- Morgan, Robert P. 2014. Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America. W. W. Norton & Company.
- Han, Jiangxue. 2020. Glass’s Music Composition and Cultural Practice [《格拉斯的⾳乐创作与⽂化实践》]. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press.
- Yiping, Qian and Wang Dandan. 2017. Evolution of Western Musical Genres and Forms [《⻄⽅⾳乐体裁及形式的演进》]. Shanghai: Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press.