I was not, on the whole, much interested by the 20th century classical musical genre called minimalism; but I recognized that it was taking-up something that had been present in classical music from very early.
There were pre-Baroque forms such as the chaconne and the passacaglia, which were built around a recurring bass line - but later there are many parts of Vivaldi's concertos that seem to capture the spirit of 'minimalism' more exactly.
These are built around an interest in musical textures of different layers of instruments structured quite simply, using rhythmically-pulsing, chordal homophony, and without melody; harmonically built on several (not just one) segments of repeated harmony.
Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins RV 580 is a superbly enjoyable example where this 'minimalist' technique is used throughout - I regard it as one of Vivaldi's very best pieces of music:
My favourite piece of 20th century minimalism is Philip Glass's music for the 1985 movie Mishima; and, among these pieces, I think the best is Runaway Horses:
Glass returns to the Chaconne/ Passacaglia idea, but with a recurring sequence of chords instead of a bass line; a strong rhythmic pulse much like Vivaldi; and Glass uses a particularly appealing harmonic sequence.
As with Vivaldi's RV 580 - there is neither melody nor counterpoint (melody played against melody) - which is, pretty much, what negatively-'defines' minimalism.
Instead, sustained interest is effectively provided by adding-to, subtracting-from, and varying the layers of instruments (mirroring Vivaldi's use of textures) - and by deploying different kinds of arpeggio (broken-chords), with different divisions of notes.
Here it works very well for me! I find the result hypnotically gripping, and it packs an appealingly wistful emotionality.
