What inspired the shift from traditional classical music to Minimalism?
TR: In 1960 I met La Monte Young, one of the big influences in my life. La Monte is one of the most important composers in America, but he’s not very well known because he’s reclusive. He doesn’t often let his music out in public; he holds onto it like jewels; he keeps it in a safe. But his ideas are the founding ideas of Minimalism. La Monte’s Trio for Strings (1957) isn’t like anything I write, but it had within it the seeds that inspired me. La Monte’s idea was that time is kind of vertical, standing there like a huge building. It doesn’t go anywhere. Things still happen, but within a concept of stasis. He expressed this by writing long pieces composed out of long tones. The experience was like you sometimes get in a great meditation you just feel happy where you are, you don’t want to go anywhere. I thought that was a major breakthrough. JS: Were you involved in meditation at all at that time? TR: No. There was only music. I think I had a spiritual life, but I couldn’t find a place
What inspired the shift from traditional classical music to Minimalism?