“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four,” the avant-garde composer John Cage once said. “If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it ...

On June 24, Terry Riley turned 90. It was a momentous occasion for American music that got little attention in the U.S. But Sunday night at the Ford, Bang on a Can All-Stars will pay tribute in a ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The Church publishes the Monitor ...

Philip Glass was a 39-year-old cabbie in 1976, when the New York premiere of his opera “Einstein on the Beach” turned him into an international sensation. Nearly a half-century later, he remains the ...

Minimalism. For non-musicians right now, the word calls to mind the gospel of decluttering, capsule wardrobes, or bland home designs involving beige color palettes and coffee table books no one ...

Curious about minimalism in music? Not every good song has to be an enormous, elaborate work of art. Sometimes, the real power of a song lies in its most stripped-down elements. Peter Gabriel isn’t ...

This fall’s classical music calendar teems with 21st century music inspired by today’s political and spiritual concerts, written by composers from far beyond the usual Central European haunts — ...

Today's episode is all about music history. First, musicologists Kerry O'Brien and William Robin tell NPR's Noah Caldwell about their new book, On Minimalism, and how the genre was born out of 1960s ...

Performances in N.Y.C. Advertisement Supported by Peter Gordon, who studied with Terry Riley, has always made music that is surprising but accessible. Now he’s starting his own record label. By Rob ...