The good thing about the post-minimalist movement is that it takes certain characteristic aspects of the American school launched by Riley, Reich, Glass, and others (propulsive rhythms, resolutely tonal harmonies, repeated motifs sometimes inducing trance), and superimposes a musical modernity based on atonalism, noise or other avant-garde techniques. We can also add elements drawn from popular music, non-Western scholarly music, alternative rock, electro\/techno, and so on. In short, whereas the atonal avant-garde of the second half of the 20th century seemed to freeze into a haughty, purist posture, \u201cMinimalism\u201d remains entirely open to all possibilities of dialogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s exactly what this fine album by Montreal ensemble Paramirabo on the Atma label demonstrates. Assembling the five works on the program reveals the wide range of possibilities offered by post-minimalism, from a direct heritage of the original movement born in the 1960s to an almost abstract distillation of its codes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nico Muhly is the first composer to be invited here. He is also the one most directly linked to the original Minimalism, having worked with Philip Glass. The exciting pulse, bold colors, and tonal focus are immediately recognizable. That said, as a good post-minimalist, Muhly spices up his score here and there with rhythmic breaks and delicate, harmonically off-center digressions, making him a child of the 21st-century post <\/em>rather than a pure <\/em>minimalist. The result is a luminous and reasonably complex piece, as enjoyable to listen to as it is to play (we presume).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n