Week 1
Uncovering Minimalism - that's the theme opening this quarter of the new year. I think it is important, before I discuss this week's work to establish a basic definition and understanding of the minimalist style. I hope my definition grows to become clearer throughout this journey. These principals which I'm outlining I hope will change and grow in clarity by the end of the 13 weeks.
It's repetitive
Central to the idea of minimalism, is the idea of making use of a minimal palette of ideas. The use of repetitive patterns or motifs can help to really to squeeze all of the milage out of a limited set of ideas as possible. The use of the ostinato forms a key foundation to achieving minimalism within music.
It's simple
Often, minimalist scores will feature simple ideas. Ideas such as a string of simple quavers, for example, may form the grounding for a minimalist work. Minimalist composers will often keep their use of harmony simple, by focusing on clear diatonic writing to maintain clarity throughout. This isn't to say dissonance isn't explored, in fact, some of the composers we will look at over the course of this series really enjoy immersing the listener with a wash of beautiful, dissonant chords.
It's gradual
Slow incremental changes in rhythm, harmony or dynamics are observed throughout. Minimalist compositions intentionally avoid abrupt shifts. We will look in greater depth later on in this journey at how minimalist composers pace their works in order to maintain a sense of gradual development.
Its voices are limited
The forces of minimalist works will often, despite potentially featuring an entire orchestra will often stick to four clear voices working to portray a bigger picture.
It's layered
You will find that many minimalist works will work in clear, distinguishable layers, again working together as part of a wider effect achieved through the music.
Caroline Shaw: Entr'acte
A vibrant, breath-taking work which I when I first discovered it had me so invested, it was up there on my Spotify wrapped for 2024. This is what sparked the interest in minimalism for me. Something was different about this work, and I wanted to know what it was, and why. This week's performance comes from Shaw's debut album 'Orange' performed by the Attacca Quartet.
According to the album liner note:
"Shaw describes the world she built for Orange as a garden that she and Attacca Quartet are tending."
The entire album can be found below:
Caroline Shaw, who is she?
Shaw is a pioneering figure in the field of contemporary music. She is a composer, a violinist and a singer - her instruments clearly form the grounds of her compositional output. She was born on 1st August, 1982 in Greenville, North Carolina. Growing up, she attended her local Episcopal church which introduced her to choral works and the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Aged 30, Shaw became the youngest winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition 'Partita for 8 Voices'. Her song cycle 'Narrow Sea' won her a Grammy Award for Best Composition in 2022.
I don't feel it is appropriate to label her as an outright minimalist composer, however minimalism certainly forms a significant aspect of her compositional style, particularly in terms of repetition, gradual transformation and simplicity. Her work 'Partita for 8 Voices' is certainly an influential work within the world of minimalism which we will return to later on in this series.
I was lucky enough to watch a concert of Shaw's work at Wigmore Hall (where she is Composer in Residence for 2024/25) performed by the Kamus String Quartet, where her 'Entr'acte' was performed amongst many of her other breath-taking works for string quartet, with solo soprano. (Check out the wonderful programme from that concert, here!) What stuck me from that concert in particular, is how Shaw includes herself within her works and performances as an intended performer. Her iconic vocal writing really shone through in that concert, because it was sung by her - you can tell she had explored the most colourful and interesting parts of her vocal range, which is an exciting element to add to a composition. The idea of composers performing their own works is something I want to return to later on in this series and is something that I feel inspired to do in my own writing!
What influenced this work?
Shaw speaks directly about her influences and her conceptual intentions for this work in her programme note:
Entr’acte was written in 2011 after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2 — with their spare and soulful shift to the D-flat major trio in the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.
A clear reference by Shaw to Haydn's String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 No. 2. In the second movement of the Haydn, we hear a minuet and trio which Shaw also says brought her to structure and extend her work around that traditional classical construct.
Have a listen to the Haydn, played by the Alban Berg Quartett:
This idea of the minuet and trio is so important to her that on the front cover it reads: "Entr'acte {a minute & trio}". I feel her perception of the Haydn quartet is so beautifully reflected within Entr'acte, this idea of looking through "Alice's looking glass" shines through. Elements of this work convey a sense of absurdity whilst maintaining a technicolour appearance through the vivid exploration of various string techniques which she is all too familiar with.
As described on the liner note for the album, you will discover that Shaw draws upon the influences of nature and intends to build a 'garden' with this work. I think this comes across clearly as we will discover in our musical analysis of this work.
The music
The structure of Entr'acte is both innovative yet accessible, an important feature I find is common within lots of Shaw's writing. It typically features a seamless flow of contrasting sections, including repeating motifs and gradual changes. The opening section introduces a delicate, almost fragile theme which is developed and transformed throughout the piece.
The opening described as 'sweeping' is formed by these beautiful parallel and contrary motion movement within the quartet, which creates this real internal ebb and flow. You'll notice that in bar 4, Shaw breaks away from beaming in groups of three into groups of twos, I feel further achieving this atmosphere. It cleverly manipulates the sense of time as the duration of the rhythm remains, yet change occurs more frequently. We hear these 4:6 cross-rhythms as this opening moves into the repeats later on, further skewing our perception of the time.
Another striking moment is when these 'air noises', specified by Shaw in her performance instruction reading: 'light finger pressure, to produce pitchless bow noise - staff placement of x notehead was arbitrary'. The cheeky way in which she toys with reverting to regular stopped notes creates real excitement here. This is a fantastic example of the way she exploits the sounds that can be achieved from the string quartet, and despite being a pitchless sound, it creates something rather spectacular.
Figure D within this work explores the use of pizzicato, combined with irregular time signatures which creates this energetic passage which has an improvisatory feel to it. An image which comes to my mind is the strumming of a guitar here, you may feel differently!
Continuing the theme of rhythmic discussion, Shaw toys with this idea of synchronicity and unity contrasting strongly to the cross-rhythmic material explored before figure H. Although on a smaller scale, this feels quite minimalist to me the way in which it gradually evolves into a moment of rhythmic unity around figure H - before moving into further chaos in the following bars.
Another moment within this work which grips me is the material around figure M. The use of artificial harmonics here creates a beautiful, glassy sound. The ensemble is divided into two forces here, the violins playing their harmonics whilst the lower strings play these descending glissandi/slides - reminding me of whale song. I find that this part of the work strikingly imitates whale song as you can find in the opening few seconds of this fascinating video:
Shaw leaves a little note within the score specifically outlining to the players what she intends to achieve, saying:
An interesting insight into her intentions behind this section - particularly her hinting at it portraying 'a little sigh', perhaps breathing life into this moment as previously imagined.
At the end of all of this is a beautiful recapitulation of the opening 'minuet' idea, reached at figure N, followed by a general pause. Silence within minimalist works can also play a key role, and this attribute creates real breathing space after rather a lot of unwavering momentum and drama from beforehand. This may be a feature I add to my definition if this is something we discover more of in other works.
This closing idea gradually transfers from this rising 'whispered arpeggio' idea into this recollection of 'an old tune or story'. An effect which comes across beautifully. You could argue it is the idea of tales being passed over multiple generations and how they evolve which makes this so effective - no two performances of this ending will be identical, like the telling of old tales. This is a part of the work which Shaw leaves almost entirely up to the performer, where she has removed the stems from the noteheads within the solo cello to the end as well as any indication of metre (lack of bar lines).
Fun fact
Whilst disappointingly I couldn't come up with any fun facts about Caroline Shaw this week, whilst doing a bit of reading I found an incredibly interesting interview with bozar which makes for a fascinating read - giving a real insight into Shaw's musical world.
Do check it out!
Concluding thoughts
Whilst Caroline Shaw isn't an outright minimalist composer, nor is her Entr'acte specifically labelled as a minimalist work, I thought it was a beautiful work to start off the series and thought it would be interesting to seek to identify minimalist features within it. There is repetition, layered ostinato, simplicity, gradual change and limited voicing present - all of which are elements I'd expect to find within a minimalist work. I am curious to see whether you, the reader, agree with my verdict and would love to hear your thoughts and comments below!
In the meantime...
Happy listening!
