Irish Minimalism

With the title Irish Minimalism, composer Dave Flynn has laid down a marker. Minimalism is associated with America, and specifically with composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass (both of whom have spent a good portion of their careers disavowing the term) however, the hallmarks of the style (repetition, gradual incremental changes that accrue over time, steady rhythms which are often drawn from popular or traditional music, and a restrained sense of harmonic movement) are all compatible with Irish traditional music.

After years spent as both a composer and performer working in the dual worlds of contemporary classical music and traditional song, Flynn has fashioned a personal musical language by recognising that the differences between those two styles are not nearly as great, and certainly

not as useful, as the similarities.