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Terry Riley

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Terry Riley

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Also known as Terrence Mitchell Riley

American composer and musician (born 1935)

Person · Open Library

Works
18

Top works

  • Brothers of the Sun
  • The Incas (Ancient Civilizations) (Ancient Civilizations)
  • Allosaurus
  • Brachiosaurus
  • Hadrosaurus

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Sound

Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley, born June 24, 1935, is an American composer and performing musician associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music, of which he was a pioneer. His work is deeply influenced by both jazz and Indian classical music.

Known for

  • The Who: One Band's Explosive Story — Self (archive footage)2022
  • In Between The Notes: A Portrait of Pandit Pran Nath — Self2006
  • Musical Outsiders: An American Legacy — Self1994
  • Music with Roots in the Aether: Opera for Television — Self1976
  • Music with Roots in the Aether: Opera for Television by Robert Ashley — Self1974
  • Music With Balls — Self1969

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
Active from
1935
american composercomposerelectronicmicrotonal classicalminimalism

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
278,855
Total plays
2,155,240

Tags

minimalismcontemporary classicalAvant-GardeexperimentalClassical

Terry Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. Born in Colfax, California, United States, Riley studied at Shasta College, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Conservatory before earning an MA in composition at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Seymour Shifrin and Robert Erickson. He was involved in the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Center working with Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros,

via Last.fm · Terry Riley

Key facts

Born
Terrence Mitchell Riley , ( 1935-06-24 ) June 24, 1935 (age 90) , Colfax, California , US
Genres
Minimalism avant-garde tape electronic microtonal classical
Instruments
Electric organ tape machine saxophone keyboards synthesizer piano tambura
Years active
1950s–present
Formerly of
Theatre of Eternal Music
Website
terryriley .net

via Wikipedia infobox

Works in European collections

1 object attributed to Terry Riley, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~14 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Riley at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, 1985 Riley performing in 2018 Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notable for its innovative use of repetition, tape delay systems, and improvisation. His best known works are the 1964 composition In C and the 1969 album A Rainbow in Curved Air, both considered landmarks of minimalism and important influences on experimental music, rock, and contemporary electronic music.

Raised in Redding, California, Riley began studying composition and performing solo piano in the 1950s. He befriended and collaborated with composer La Monte Young, and later became involved with both the San Francisco Tape Music Center and Young's New York-based Theatre of Eternal Music. A three-record deal with CBS in the late 1960s brought his work to wider audiences. In 1970, he began intensive studies under Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath, whom he often accompanied in performance. Subsequent works such as Shri Camel (1980) explored just intonation. He has collaborated frequently throughout his career, most extensively with chamber ensemble the Kronos Quartet and his son, guitarist Gyan Riley.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Terry Riley” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.