smokerblog

There's something undeniably intoxicating about a repeating sound. Think of how many old timey songs inspired by the rhythm of the railroad. I maintain that this mosquito-like attraction to the zapper-light of incessant repetition is found throughout history from the Baroque *Passacaglia to the uh-tka-uh-tka-uh-tka-uh-uh-uh-tka... of the dance music of the last couple decades.

However, one of the jobs of a composer is to shift aesthetically between the known and unknown, the unexpected and the expected, surprise and um.. not surprise. This is one of many ways a composer is able to shape tension... and..... release. When done in appropriate proportions the music is beautiful, engaging, and just sounds good.

So, can I conclude that the whole package of "repetition" music: from Sumer is acumen (check this one out), to Pachelbel, to Ravel's Bolero, to 12 bar blues, to Terry Riley to techno... is therefore "baby-ish" music? Not true music but simply cheap beer or bubble gum that sedates the mass of humanity?

*Passsacaglia- similar to a Chaconne

hehe, seriously, its just a piece in which the ostinato forms the bass line, just remember that Pachelbel actually wrote a Passacaglia

Whoa, "not true music?" I think I know what you're saying, but before we go disparaging whole categories of music let me state that yes, one of the things that makes good music good is a certain level of complexity. To my mind, some of the best works of art are the pieces you can return to time and again and continue finding new things. One of the ways to achieve this is to create variety, balance, and contrast within a piece.

But. But, for me, it doesn't follow that repetition fails to provide any of these things. It's something I've been thinking about as I listen to my new Reich recording. His Music for a Large Ensemble is interesting to me. It is repetitive, but, although it's similar, it's not nearly as interesting or repetitive as his Music for Eighteen Musicians.

Something about that piece draws me in. I'm constantly finding surprising and interesting things hidden in the phase changes. I admit, it's not the kind of thing that I can listen to with as much focus and attention as say Beethoven's 9th, but does that make it a lesser work of art? Yes? Maybe? I'm not so sure.

And that's where I think one can start to get into trouble: comparing one work or style of art to another. Are Rothko's paintings less beautiful than DaVinci's? You may think so, but I prefer not to make such an either/or comparison.

True, true.. and well stated as usual.

I have nothing to add except to reinforce the distinction that the value of minimalism is not in the repetition, but what is done with that repetition. I would hate to see someone try to justify some of the (music) that relies solely on its predictable "got a good beat to it" as artistic based on its resemblance to minimalism.

-Ted

one more thing to add...

According to Google, this page is one of only thirteen websites, and the only non-wordlist site that contains the following eleven letter words:

euphemistic, disparaging, and passacaglia.

dang word lists... I thought I had a googlewhack for sure

Just found this nice thread by Googling "passacaglia." Bill Gates has taken a fatal whack at my Britannica and I can't find the disks. I just wanted the classic (no pun) definition. Then, serendipity.

So I am thinking that this kind of structural repetition in the wrong musical hands can lead so quickly to annoyance or worse, boredom, that all of the works mentioned above sound to have come from the right hands. Among our greatest minimalists, Reich, Adams, Glass all have found and use quite effectively the enthralling quality of ostinati - you become mesmerized and by the third of fourth repetition you feel at home in the piece and relax, listening for the contrasts to come. (Have hip-hop makers learned that lesson?)

Ravel's Bolero and the famous Pachelbel Canon in D are two examples of strict ostinato construction from start to finish - in Ravel's case almost to finish with his one big modulation (is it to E-flat?) for the coda.

I remember a kindergarten teacher telling me recently that young children not only enjoy hearing repetitions of the same story again and again, they actually need it to reassure themselves that the world is rational, predictable and secure. They ask to hear it repeated and prefer each telling to be like the previous. That security we all felt in repeated stories could be one of the sources of our fascination with musical ostinati.

Thanks. Cheers.

Ed