Comments on: Wandering in the Wilderness Vol. 3: Totalism http://guidonianhand.com/2009/10/wandering-in-the-wilderness-vol-3-totalism/ Composers, musicians, and artists writing about the things they like, the things they do, and the things they think. Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:04:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Ty http://guidonianhand.com/2009/10/wandering-in-the-wilderness-vol-3-totalism/comment-page-1/#comment-3607 Ty Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:14:38 +0000 http://guidonianhand.com/?p=509#comment-3607 Matt - I think the Gann article is really interesting. I'm considering revising the post a little bit to give it a stronger recommendation. Phillip - Good thoughts. Here are a few responses/thoughts: I think the idea behind both post-minimalism and totalist movements is to take the populist appeal of minimalism and infuse it more sophisticated compositional ideas. Sure, it's not minimalist anymore (Gann argues pretty persuasively that minimalism was a dead end from the beginning), but it follows in the trail blazed by minimalism. I think the definition of totalism is vague by necessity. I think it's more of a philosophical distinction than any definable musical style. Even within minimalism, the approaches taken by Glass, Reich, and Adams are vastly different and an uninformed listener may not recognize these pieces as belonging to the same style (Does "Drumming" sound anything like "Glassworks"? How similar are "Einstein on the Beach" and "Dr. Atomic"?) I think many composers today exhibit totalist tenancies, whether or not they refer to it in those terms. Composers of our generation are coming to realize that the alienation of the casual listener that occurred in art music of the early/mid 20th century was harmful to our cause and are working to bridge the gap and invite these disillusioned listeners back in. I hope that all makes sense. Thanks for reading and commenting! Matt – I think the Gann article is really interesting. I’m considering revising the post a little bit to give it a stronger recommendation.

Phillip – Good thoughts. Here are a few responses/thoughts:

I think the idea behind both post-minimalism and totalist movements is to take the populist appeal of minimalism and infuse it more sophisticated compositional ideas. Sure, it’s not minimalist anymore (Gann argues pretty persuasively that minimalism was a dead end from the beginning), but it follows in the trail blazed by minimalism.

I think the definition of totalism is vague by necessity. I think it’s more of a philosophical distinction than any definable musical style. Even within minimalism, the approaches taken by Glass, Reich, and Adams are vastly different and an uninformed listener may not recognize these pieces as belonging to the same style (Does “Drumming” sound anything like “Glassworks”? How similar are “Einstein on the Beach” and “Dr. Atomic”?)
I think many composers today exhibit totalist tenancies, whether or not they refer to it in those terms. Composers of our generation are coming to realize that the alienation of the casual listener that occurred in art music of the early/mid 20th century was harmful to our cause and are working to bridge the gap and invite these disillusioned listeners back in.

I hope that all makes sense. Thanks for reading and commenting!

]]> By: Phillip http://guidonianhand.com/2009/10/wandering-in-the-wilderness-vol-3-totalism/comment-page-1/#comment-3606 Phillip Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:23:18 +0000 http://guidonianhand.com/?p=509#comment-3606 Great Post! I remember having a meeting with Dr. Falvo, the percussion God at Appalachian State, about this "ism" in 2004. He wanted to describe it as "the borrowing of everything" factor in order to appeal to all audiences. I didn't realize it was considered a "post-minimalism" movement, whatever that means. I'm perplexed by the thought of something being "kind of" minimalistic, but way more intricate and advanced and therefor not minimalistic, which negates the idea of minimalism. I guess the main factor is texture. By this "totalism" definition, I can definitely say that idea can be applied to a lot of my music. I'm sure it could be applied to a lot of us who draw from pop/rock/folk/etc. However, I find it to be vague... when you say "this piece is totalistic" what are you going to expect to hear? You know what you are going to get when you label the other "isms." Maybe it is too new to have a distinctive sound and characteristics. The idea is awesome and completely valid, and some of us should pick it up and run. Or maybe we should just write music and let some music theorist apply an ism to what we're doing. Fuckisms. Great Post! I remember having a meeting with Dr. Falvo, the percussion God at Appalachian State, about this “ism” in 2004. He wanted to describe it as “the borrowing of everything” factor in order to appeal to all audiences. I didn’t realize it was considered a “post-minimalism” movement, whatever that means. I’m perplexed by the thought of something being “kind of” minimalistic, but way more intricate and advanced and therefor not minimalistic, which negates the idea of minimalism. I guess the main factor is texture. By this “totalism” definition, I can definitely say that idea can be applied to a lot of my music. I’m sure it could be applied to a lot of us who draw from pop/rock/folk/etc. However, I find it to be vague… when you say “this piece is totalistic” what are you going to expect to hear? You know what you are going to get when you label the other “isms.” Maybe it is too new to have a distinctive sound and characteristics. The idea is awesome and completely valid, and some of us should pick it up and run. Or maybe we should just write music and let some music theorist apply an ism to what we’re doing. Fuckisms.

]]> By: Matt Schoendorff http://guidonianhand.com/2009/10/wandering-in-the-wilderness-vol-3-totalism/comment-page-1/#comment-3605 Matt Schoendorff Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:29:11 +0000 http://guidonianhand.com/?p=509#comment-3605 Good stuff, Ty! I checked out the links and read Gann's article and am really glad I did. I especially enjoyed the John Luther Adams piece; probably because I, too, have been interested in the Feldmanesque sound clouds (which seem ever more important these days in relation to what musicians are doing now with electronics). Good stuff, Ty! I checked out the links and read Gann’s article and am really glad I did. I especially enjoyed the John Luther Adams piece; probably because I, too, have been interested in the Feldmanesque sound clouds (which seem ever more important these days in relation to what musicians are doing now with electronics).

]]>