Before minimalism was a movement, it was a decision — made in empty rooms, with very little money, by musicians who had stripped away everything that wasn’t essential and found, in what remained, something close to pure sound.

The Minimalists: From Glass to Moondog traces the arc of minimalist music from its contested origins through its most radical expressions — from Philip Glass’s hypnotic repetition and Steve Reich’s phasing studies to the singular street composer Moondog, who built an entire musical universe from a corner in Manhattan with instruments he invented himself.

This is a book about what happens when composers stop asking “what can I add?” and start asking “what can’t I remove?” It covers:

• The philosophical roots of minimalism in Satie, Cage, and Eastern musical traditions
• The New York Downtown scene that incubated Glass, Reich, and Terry Riley
• Moondog’s biography, instruments, and the unlikely influence he had on the European avant-garde
• How minimalism crossed from concert halls into electronic music, film scores, and pop production
• What minimalism actually sounds like — and how to hear what the composers intended

For musicians, music lovers, and anyone who has ever sat with a piece of music that seemed to be doing almost nothing — and felt everything.