Approaching minimalism in church music

Abstract

In the twentieth century, a new movement termed minimalism in both art and music emerged. A movement described as a response to the avant-garde music being composed in the twentieth century. This led to research and identifying what is minimalistic music and how it was developed, discussed in detail in the first chapters. This dissertation aims to identify different approaches and techniques commonly used in minimalist music and explore various possibilities in how such techniques can be employed in sacred music. Therefore, different characteristics such as steady beat, reduction, repetition, gradual process, drones and continuity, all of which are devices commonly employed in minimalistic music, were explored and studied. Music composed by Steve Reich, Terry Riley, La Monte Young and Philip Glass, among others, share such characteristics. The music presented in this dissertation demonstrates how such techniques can be adopted and employed in sacred music. Apart from that it also demonstrates how techniques commonly found in liturgical music can be combined together and serve as the foundation of music composed in minimalistic style.