Minimal Music is, as the name implies,
characterized by repetitive, chiefly consonant harmonic and melodic patterns
that, depending on the piece, can be repeated ad nauseam. One would think this
would render the genre rather boring and bland, but to me, it often has a
markedly soothing, almost meditative effect – as is definitely the case for
Philip Glass's Metamorphosis series.
The
pieces are all but void of sudden, hectic twists and turns, instead opting for
a more subtle dramatism (via the occasional alteration of pitch and volume) and
unobtrusive minor mode melancholy. This made them excellent to have on in the
background while writing this paper! Their repetitive composition and lack of
thematic disruptions also efficiently not only prevented disruptions of my
concentration, but seemingly slightly increased it. The music blended into the
background so well that it honestly felt as though it made me lose track of
time.
All
in all, listening to Glass's Metamorphosis felt to me like a pleasant
change of pace, especially since I tend to prefer listening to more energetic,
one might even say aggressive genres of music, such as Rock and Electronica,
which is not to say that these genres cannot also have a soothing and
meditative effects (one need only mention the more ambient strand of
Post-Rock), but there is something about the melancholy repetition of Glass's Metamorphosis
that seems to provide an extra layer of emotional security – perhaps the
genre of Minimal Music seeing its heyday after America was fresh out of the
paranoid and uncertain McCarthy era may have something to do with its frequent
embodying of consistency and relaxation; a clear countercultural response to
the hectic times.
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