Reconsidering the Roots of Minimalist Music : An Examination of Post-War Europe and its Minimalists

Abstract

This paper examines the styles, traditions, and aesthetics associated with various schools of minimalism in Europe, including New Simplicity, Neue Einfachkeit, The Hague School, and Mystic Minimalism. Through historical and sociological discussion, a breakdown of the cultural and political circumstances that fostered these movements are presented. It is the author's intention to show that different schools of minimalism appeared in Europe parallel to those in the United States, disrupting the often-accepted notion that minimalism as a musical style appeared first in U.S. metropolitan areas. The second part of this paper attempts to understand why the European contributions to minimalism have historically been placed in the periphery. To do so, it examines the post-WWII European music industry, specifically radio broadcast and new music festivals, to make the argument that these composers were overlooked due to the industries need to close the cultural gap (years 1930- 1946.) This paper finds that European minimalism had unique qualities that differed from American minimalism and that conservatism from cultural elites and the music industry obscured the visibility of European contribution to minimalism on a global scale.