"Many do not consider minimalism to be an entirely respectable field of academic pursuit," admits author K. Robert Schwartz in his "Acknowledgments" in The Minimalists, a volume in the Phaidon Press Limited 20th Century Composers series. Minimalism, with its emphasis on seemingly endless repetition, can be physically damaging to those who attempt to perform it either vocally or instrumentally, and is terminally boring to those unable to tune into its subtle charms. On the other hand, it's tremendously popular, and has won new audiences to the concert hall and opera house. Schwartz explores the lives and work of America's two leading minimalists, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, in depth, and looks at seven other practitioners--La Monte Young, Terry Riley, John Adams, Meredith Monk, Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen, and Arvo Part--more lightly. There are some amusing side trips here (Philip Glass refuses to acknowledge any intellectual debts to his predecessors; his predecessors object to his attitude), and a wealth of detail on these composers, their foibles, and what they're trying to achieve with their music.

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