Anyone fearing that pure minimalism might be on the way out will be reassured by this 2022 release by composer
Michael Torke and his
Michael Torke Orchestra.
Time,
Torke writes in full, "uses a single musical idea that develops over 45 minutes at a constant 126 beats per minute." Two parameters are varied. The work is divided into five "Spans" with different tonal centers, and the texture thickens and becomes thinner, in the manner of
Steve Reich (surely
Torke's main influence), as members of the orchestra enter and depart. The orchestra is led by
Torke himself at the piano and consists of clarinets, saxophones, mallet percussion, a harpsichord, sopranos, altos, violins, viola, cello, and bass. All the multiples listed here are realized by a single player each. The voice parts of singer
Sarah Brailey are wordless. Listener reactions to this music will likely correspond to their general attitudes toward the first wave of minimalism in the 1960s and '70s; although the whole thing is based on a simple syncopated rhythm, something
Glass and
Reich avoided,
Torke makes few concessions to the general broadening of the minimalist aesthetic that has been evident in the music of
Glass and
John Adams. The players realize his idea with considerable precision, and those who value his take on the minimalist tradition will be intrigued here. ~ James Manheim
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