La Monte Young

La Monte Young is, I think, a decent candidate for the most important classical musician of the last fifty years (whether or not he's a "classical" musician).  Here he talks about what became known as "minimalism."  He's much more comfortable with the term than many of the other composers (Riley, Reich, Glass) who've been labeled with it.  I can't help feeling that, in terms of his public profile, Young has always been his own worst enemy.  There's the famous story about how he missed out on a chance to have his music released by Columbia Records in the 1960s because he wanted to record himself singing by the seashore and, when the initial recording didn't come out too well, he chose not to release anything at all rather than consent to the record company's suggestion that he overdub the singing over pre-recorded sea sounds.  I can't help but comment on his sartorial and tonsorial aesthetic...  He's a very down-to-earth conversationalist who's very good at explaining his music clearly and accessibly—completely at odds with his outlandish appearance.  And the world would probably be a much saner and more interesting place if more of us followed his example and didn't care about what anybody else thinks...

Anyway, check out The Second Dream of the High Tension Line Step and B flat Dorian Blues.