Minimalist music

Minimalist music is a style of modern classical in which, as the name would suggest, less is more. It started, if I am not mistaken, during the 1950s and 60s and continues to this day, although it has lost some popularity.
You may ask, "What, in musical terms, is less?" Well, minimalist music usually has fewer chord changes, and certainly fewer key changes, than other styles. In addition, it may be quite repetitive. It is relatively static compared to other styles of classical music, and can almost be a little hypnotic because of its repetitiveness. Here are a few examples I would recommend:
Phillip Glass: Metamorphosis 2. Glass wrote 5 piano pieces called Metamorphoses, all good examples of minimalism. I enjoy listening to all of them, but if you don't want to do this, I would recommend the second as my favorite.
Arvo Part: Spiegel im Spiegel. This is a gorgeous piece for violin and piano. You will immediately detect the repetitiveness of the arpeggios played by the piano, while the violin plays a beautiful, slow, and very simple melody in which every phrase ends on the note A. It is hauntingly and ingeniously simple.
Henryck Gorecki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Movement 2. This may not be minimalism in its purest form, but if not it certainly is very closely related. This symphony features a solo soprano, who sings a long melody against a pretty static orchestral sound composed mostly of strings. The soprano part is very powerful because it is composed almost entirely of half and whole steps, which makes the rare leaps absolutely heart-rending.
James Newton Howard: The Village Motion Picture Soundtrack (The Gravel Road). This is a modern example of minimalism, particularly evident at the very beginning of this selection. The hypnotic effect of  the constantly repeated arpeggios so characteristic of minimalist music is very evident here.

Now, what do I think of all this? As far as pure listening enjoyment goes, I love it. The minimalist genre is one of my favorite to listen to because it is so relaxing. It tends to be fairly quiet and subdued as far as dynamics go. I also enjoy listening to it because it is so intellectually undemanding. This leads me to a problem, though. It is enjoyable, but is it intellectually rewarding? I would say yes, to a certain degree; however, it is undeniable that the blossoming counterpoint of Bach, the thundering orchestral statements of Beethoven, and the rugged rhythms and harmonies of Brahms are much more demanding to the mind and, therefore, more rewarding. Am I saying that we should not listen to minimalist music? Absolutely not. I have no plans of doing this any time soon. However, we must not let our ears get lazy. We must also listen to music that engages our mind. The same goes for composing. At least for me (the same may not be true for everyone) it is fairly easy to create music that sounds nice but does not go anywhere melodically or harmonically. In other words: minimalist music. Is writing this type of music fun and rewarding? Undeniably. Will an audience respond well to it? Quite possibly? But will it hone my skills to make me a better musician? Probably not.

Soli Deo Gloria