Totalism: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Jerome Kohl (talk | contribs) →Early 1980's: remove grocer's' apo's'trophe |
m corrected spelling |
||
| (15 intermediate revisions by 13 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Genre of art music}} |
|||
{{ |
{{for multi|the political system|Totalitarianism|the psychological concept|Robert Jay Lifton#Totalism|an ethical theory|Total utilitarianism}} |
||
'''Totalism''' is a style of [[art music]] that arose in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to [[minimalism]]. It paralleled [[postminimalism]] but involved a younger generation of creators, born in the 1950s.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D61E39F93BA25754C0A965958260 Edward Rothstein, "Minimalism Pumped Up to the Max," ''New York Times'', July 18, 1993]</ref> |
'''Totalism''' is a style of [[art music]] that arose in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to [[minimalism music|minimalism]]. It paralleled [[postminimalism]] but involved a younger generation of creators, born in the 1950s.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D61E39F93BA25754C0A965958260 Edward Rothstein, "Minimalism Pumped Up to the Max," ''New York Times'', July 18, 1993]</ref> This term, invented by writer and composer [[Kyle Gann]], has not been adopted by contemporary musicology and generally still refers only to Gann's use of it in his writings. It is also used to refer to a radically economically left and authoritarian political ideology in the fictional [[Hearts of Iron IV]] mod "[[Kaiserreich (mod)|Kaiserreich]]", although the two are unrelated.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserreich_(mod)#Setting]</ref> |
||
==Early 1980s== |
==Early 1980s== |
||
In the early 1980s, many young composers began writing music within the static confines of [[minimalism]], but using greater rhythmic complexity, often with two or more simultaneous tempos (or implied tempos) audible at once.<ref>Kyle Gann, ''American Music in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 355–56.</ref> The style acquired a name around 1990, when it became evident to composers working in New York City that a number of them, including [[John Luther Adams]], [[Glenn Branca]], [[Rhys Chatham]], [[Kyle Gann]], [[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]], [[Art Jarvinen|Arthur Jarvinen]], [[Bernadette Speach]], [[Ben Neill]], [[Larry Polansky]], [[Mikel Rouse]], [[Evan Ziporyn]], were employing similar types of global tempo structures in their music.<ref>Kyle Gann, ''Music Downtown'', pp. |
In the early 1980s, many young composers began writing music within the static confines of [[minimalism]], but using greater rhythmic complexity, often with two or more simultaneous tempos (or implied tempos) audible at once.<ref>Kyle Gann, ''American Music in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 355–56.</ref> The style acquired a name around 1990, when it became evident to composers working in New York City that a number of them, including [[John Luther Adams]], [[Glenn Branca]], [[Rhys Chatham]], [[Kyle Gann]], [[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]], [[Art Jarvinen|Arthur Jarvinen]], [[Bernadette Speach]], [[Ben Neill]], [[Larry Polansky]], [[Mikel Rouse]], and [[Evan Ziporyn]], were employing similar types of global tempo structures in their music.<ref>Kyle Gann, ''Music Downtown'', pp. 13–14; [http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=1538 Kyle Gann, "Minimal Music, Maximal Impact: Minimalism Gets Complex: Totalism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225095438/http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=1538 |date=2007-02-25 }}; Kyle Gann, "Tyrannize Me," ''Village Voice'', Vol. XXXIX No. 13 (March 29, 1994), p. 86).</ref> Others include [[Eve Beglarian]], [[Allison Cameron (composer)|Allison Cameron]], [[Nick Didkovsky]], [[David First]], [[Phil Kline]], and [[Lois V. Vierk]].<ref name="Discography">Gann, Kyle (2001). "[http://www.kylegann.com/postminimaldisc.html A Discography of Postminimal, Totalist, and Rare Minimalist Music]", ''KyleGann.com''. Accessed: July 6, 2017.</ref> |
||
The term ''totalist'' refers to the aims of the music, in trying to have enough surface rhythmic energy, but also to contain enough background complexity. There is also an echo in the term of [[serialism]]'s "total organization," here drawn not from the [[Tone row|12-tone row]], but from [[Henry Cowell]]'s theories about using the same structuring devices for rhythm that have been traditionally used for pitch. For instance, the traditional ratio between frequencies of a major second interval is 9:8, and 9-against-8 is an important tempo contrast in many totalist pieces, achieved by having some instruments play dotted eighth |
The term ''totalist'' refers to the aims of the music, in trying to have enough surface rhythmic energy, but also to contain enough background complexity. There is also an echo in the term of [[serialism]]'s "total organization," here drawn not from the [[Tone row|12-tone row]], but from [[Henry Cowell]]'s theories about using the same structuring devices for rhythm that have been traditionally used for pitch. For instance, the traditional ratio between frequencies of a major second interval is 9:8, and 9-against-8 is an important tempo contrast in many totalist pieces, achieved by having some instruments play dotted eighth notes while others play triplet half notes.<ref>Kyle Gann, "Totally Ismic," ''Village Voice'', Vol. XXXVIII No. 29 (July 20, 1993), p. 69, reprinted in [[Kyle Gann]], ''Music Downtown'', pp. 127–29.</ref> In practice, totalist music can be consonant, dissonant, or both, but generally restricts itself to a small number of sonorities within any given piece. |
||
==Examples== |
==Examples== |
||
Examples of works in the totalist idiom include<ref>Gann, Kyle; American Music in the Twentieth Century, 1997, Schirmer {{ISBN|0-02-864655-X}} pp. |
Examples of works in the totalist idiom include:<ref>Gann, Kyle; ''American Music in the Twentieth Century'', 1997, Schirmer {{ISBN|0-02-864655-X}} pp. 352–386</ref> |
||
*[[Mikel Rouse]]: ''Quick Thrust'', ''Failing Kansas'', ''Dennis Cleveland'' (a talk-show opera),<ref name="Discography"/> ''The End of Cinematics'' |
*[[Mikel Rouse]]: ''Quick Thrust'', ''Failing Kansas'', ''Dennis Cleveland'' (a talk-show opera),<ref name="Discography"/> ''The End of Cinematics'' |
||
*[[Glenn Branca]]: ''The Ascension'' |
|||
*[[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]]: ''Thou Shalt!/Thou Shalt Not!'', ''Acid Rain'', ''Four Kings Fight Five'', ''Van Gogh Video Opera'', ''Trance'' |
*[[Michael Gordon (composer)|Michael Gordon]]: ''Thou Shalt!/Thou Shalt Not!'', ''Acid Rain'', ''Four Kings Fight Five'', ''Van Gogh Video Opera'', ''Trance'' |
||
*[[Rhys Chatham]]: ''An Angel Moves Too Fast to See''<ref name="Discography"/> |
*[[Rhys Chatham]]: ''An Angel Moves Too Fast to See''<ref name="Discography"/> |
||
*[[John Luther Adams]]: ''Dream in White on White'', ''Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing'', ''The White Silence''<ref name="Discography"/> |
*[[John Luther Adams]]: ''Dream in White on White'', ''Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing'', ''In The White Silence''<ref name="Discography"/> |
||
*[[Kyle Gann]]: ''Long Night'', ''Custer and Sitting Bull'', ''Unquiet Night'' |
*[[Kyle Gann]]: ''Long Night'', ''Custer and Sitting Bull'', ''Unquiet Night'' |
||
*[[Ben Neill]]: ''678 Streams'', ''ITSOFOMO'' |
*[[Ben Neill]]: ''678 Streams'', ''ITSOFOMO'' |
||
*[[Bernadette Speach]]: ''Telepathy Suite'' |
*[[Bernadette Speach]]: ''Telepathy Suite'' |
||
*[[Larry Polansky]]: ''Lonesome Road'' |
*[[Larry Polansky]]: ''Lonesome Road'' |
||
== See also == |
|||
*[[Two hundred fifty-sixth note]] |
|||
== Notes == |
== Notes == |
||
Latest revision as of 03:03, 26 August 2024
Totalism is a style of art music that arose in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to minimalism. It paralleled postminimalism but involved a younger generation of creators, born in the 1950s.[1] This term, invented by writer and composer Kyle Gann, has not been adopted by contemporary musicology and generally still refers only to Gann's use of it in his writings. It is also used to refer to a radically economically left and authoritarian political ideology in the fictional Hearts of Iron IV mod "Kaiserreich", although the two are unrelated.[2]
Early 1980s
[edit]In the early 1980s, many young composers began writing music within the static confines of minimalism, but using greater rhythmic complexity, often with two or more simultaneous tempos (or implied tempos) audible at once.[3] The style acquired a name around 1990, when it became evident to composers working in New York City that a number of them, including John Luther Adams, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Kyle Gann, Michael Gordon, Arthur Jarvinen, Bernadette Speach, Ben Neill, Larry Polansky, Mikel Rouse, and Evan Ziporyn, were employing similar types of global tempo structures in their music.[4] Others include Eve Beglarian, Allison Cameron, Nick Didkovsky, David First, Phil Kline, and Lois V. Vierk.[5]
The term totalist refers to the aims of the music, in trying to have enough surface rhythmic energy, but also to contain enough background complexity. There is also an echo in the term of serialism's "total organization," here drawn not from the 12-tone row, but from Henry Cowell's theories about using the same structuring devices for rhythm that have been traditionally used for pitch. For instance, the traditional ratio between frequencies of a major second interval is 9:8, and 9-against-8 is an important tempo contrast in many totalist pieces, achieved by having some instruments play dotted eighth notes while others play triplet half notes.[6] In practice, totalist music can be consonant, dissonant, or both, but generally restricts itself to a small number of sonorities within any given piece.
Examples
[edit]Examples of works in the totalist idiom include:[7]
- Mikel Rouse: Quick Thrust, Failing Kansas, Dennis Cleveland (a talk-show opera),[5] The End of Cinematics
- Glenn Branca: The Ascension
- Michael Gordon: Thou Shalt!/Thou Shalt Not!, Acid Rain, Four Kings Fight Five, Van Gogh Video Opera, Trance
- Rhys Chatham: An Angel Moves Too Fast to See[5]
- John Luther Adams: Dream in White on White, Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing, In The White Silence[5]
- Kyle Gann: Long Night, Custer and Sitting Bull, Unquiet Night
- Ben Neill: 678 Streams, ITSOFOMO
- Bernadette Speach: Telepathy Suite
- Larry Polansky: Lonesome Road
Notes
[edit]- ^ Edward Rothstein, "Minimalism Pumped Up to the Max," New York Times, July 18, 1993
- ^ [1]
- ^ Kyle Gann, American Music in the Twentieth Century, pp. 355–56.
- ^ Kyle Gann, Music Downtown, pp. 13–14; Kyle Gann, "Minimal Music, Maximal Impact: Minimalism Gets Complex: Totalism Archived 2007-02-25 at the Wayback Machine; Kyle Gann, "Tyrannize Me," Village Voice, Vol. XXXIX No. 13 (March 29, 1994), p. 86).
- ^ a b c d Gann, Kyle (2001). "A Discography of Postminimal, Totalist, and Rare Minimalist Music", KyleGann.com. Accessed: July 6, 2017.
- ^ Kyle Gann, "Totally Ismic," Village Voice, Vol. XXXVIII No. 29 (July 20, 1993), p. 69, reprinted in Kyle Gann, Music Downtown, pp. 127–29.
- ^ Gann, Kyle; American Music in the Twentieth Century, 1997, Schirmer ISBN 0-02-864655-X pp. 352–386
References
[edit]- Gann, Kyle, American Music in the Twentieth Century, 1997, Schirmer ISBN 0-02-864655-X
- Gann, Kyle, Music Downtown: Writings from the Village Voice, 2006, University of California Press ISBN 0-520-22982-7
External links
[edit]- Minimal Music, Maximal Impact by Kyle Gann © 2001 NewMusicBox