Steve Reich e a estética minimalista

This paper investigates some aesthetic correspondences between the composer Steve Reich and Minimalism in plastic arts. Recognized as a minimalistic composer, Reich began his career frequenting and participating in the plastic arts movement, which was further acknowledged as Minimalism. By the use of repetitions and phasings, his output became a milestone for the twentieth century, presenting an appropriation of ancient compositional techniques in new technological contexts, such as the use of magnetic tape and the amplification of orchestral instruments. Our purpose is to study three characteristics of plastic arts which are, to some extent, broached by the composer: the reaction to Abstract Expressionism, the prominence of the surface, and the change of emphasis from composition to arrangement. By opposing Abstract Expressionism, the artists sought to escape from the spontaneous expression of arts; the emphasis on the surface shows the valorization of industrial art and the change from composition to arrangement culminating in pre-conceived works. Reich follows this aesthetic trend but in his own way. For this study, we used Reich's book Writings about music, the article of Jonathan Bernad, The Minimalist Aesthetic in the Plastic Arts and in Music, among others. The present work shows the composer in both the aesthetic approach to the plastic arts and also the search for a compositional individuality. Our conclusion highlights this aesthetic minimalist trend not only as a revolution in plastic art and music but also a reflection of changes that were occurring in U.S. society because the features discussed here are also, to some extent, a reflection of industrial production on a large scale, a repeated way of life and a devaluation of artistic individuality.