Repetitive Music
tagStarted 1960Peak 1965–1990Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Repetitive music is defined by groove-like recurrence of motives, ostinatos, and cells that accumulate duration and expectation through recurrence itself. The effect may be serene, ecstatic, or motoric, but the listener’s experience depends on repetition becoming form.
History
Though repetition is ancient, this late-20th-century concert lane arose when minimalist and allied composers placed recurrence at the center rather than the periphery of musical design; as the style spread, repetition moved from an avant-garde provocation into an accepted engine for chamber, orchestral, theatrical, and soundtrack-based classical composition.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- BBC Music Magazine
- Encyclopaedia Britannica on Minimalism. citeturn10view3turn10view1