The Minimalists

The Minimalists

The Minimalists

List Price: ~~$35.98~~
Our Price: $24.99
You Save: $10.99 (31%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album

Listen soundtracks from this album

Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Composer: Steve Reich
Composer: Kyle Gann
Composer: Louis Andriessen
Composer: Terry Riley
Composer: David Lang
Composer: John [Composer] Adams
Conductor: Jussi Jaatinen
Orchestra: Orkest de Volharding
Performer: Geoffrey Douglas Madge
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2009-10-27
Music Label: Mode
Soundtracks:

Music CD 1

City Life, for for chamber ensemble: Check it out
City Life, for for chamber ensemble: Pile driver / alarms
City Life, for for chamber ensemble: It's been a honeymoon - can't take no mo'
City Life, for for chamber ensemble: Heartbeats / boats and buoys
City Life, for for chamber ensemble: Heavy smoke
Sunken City, concerto for piano & winds in Memoriam New Orleans: Before
Sunken City, concerto for piano & winds in Memoriam New Orleans: After
Worker's Union, for chamber ensemble

Music CD 2

In C, for unspecified performers
Street, for ensemble
Short Ride in a Fast Machine, fanfare for orchestra

Music reviews of The Minimalists

Music Review: Expanding the Definition of Minimalism
Rating: 4 Stars

Here are an assortment of works from various composers with their own aesthetics and styles, collected under the rubric of minimalism. Perhaps one of the benefits of this recording, besides being full of some very fine music, is that it shows just how broad this musical category has become.

Certainly Terry Riley's "In C" could fit (and in many ways helped define) the label. It's steady pulse and slowly changing harmonic structure (and it's improvisatory nature) helped launch the movement away from serialistic abstractions, and had a major impact on a generation of composers and listeners. And it still maintains it freshness now, close to fifty years after it was written.

Perhaps the work here that most stretches the label is Kyle Gann's tribute to New Orleans and cry of anger over its destruction due to Hurricane Katrina and government ineptitude (how much to blame on each I'll leave up to the reader). "Sunken City (Concerto for Piano and Winds in Memorandum New Orleans)" is full of stylized jazz riffs, with echoes of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and the upbeat spirit of Mardi Gras before sinking into a sustained lament over the city's ruin. An effective piece, if a little too long in the tragic second part for me to maintain interest.

There is also Steve Reich's "City Life." This is one of my favorite Reich pieces, fully evocative of both the energy and loneliness of life in the Big City. This arrangement for winds suits the music well and adds a bit of jazziness to the proceedings, as well as a audile connection to Stravinsky's Symphonies of Winds Instruments," particularly in the opening chorale.

Louis Andriessen's hyper "Worker's Union" is accurately described as "a kind of `In C' for hooligans". It's raw and powerful, and I loved every minute of it. David Lang goes the other direction in his quiet and wonderfully evocative "Street." And things wrap up with John Adam's joyous outburst of energy, which sounds good in just about any arrangement that I've heard.

It only remains to be said that Orkest De Vohlarding, and pianist Geoffery Douglas Madge in Gann's work, plays this music with style and affection. I hope to hear more form this ensemble. Enjoy!

Description of The Minimalists

All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Classical CDs

Music > Styles

Music Genres

Bestsellers in Classical CDs

Winterscapes Image

Winterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: ~~$6.99~~

The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee Image

The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops: ~~$13.98~~

Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr Image

Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $24.98

Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) Image

Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99

Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops: ~~$9.99~~

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.89
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Winter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.91
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Similar CDs

WTC 9/11, Mallet Quartet, Dance Patterns Image

WTC 9/ 11, Mallet Quartet, Dance Patterns
Release date: 2011-09-20; Music CD
Best price: $13.68
Price in other shops: ~~$18.98~~

Son of Chamber Symphony / String Quartet Image

John Adams - Son of Chamber Symphony / String Quartet
Release date: 2011-05-31; Music CD
Best price: $11.18
Price in other shops: ~~$16.98~~