Composers La Monte Young and Terry Riley have long been associated with the beginnings of the minimalist movement in music. However, their musical oeuvres from the 1970s onwards fit awkwardly into minimalist paradigms. This shift away from the minimalist aesthetic can at least be partly attributed to the increasing influence of Hindustani vocal master Pandit Pran Nath (1918 – 1996), of whom both Young, Riley and subsequent other American composers became disciples from the 1970s onwards. Following the long-established guru-disciple tradition, the depth of musical and spiritual guidance given by Pran Nath created bonds which arguably surpass Western notions of the teacher-student dynamic. For Young and other composers, Pran Nath’s influence was the most lifechanging and enduringly important relationships in their lives, and has continued to exert a profound impact to the present day. Although Pran Nath’s influence has been touched upon in accounts on minimalist music, less explored are the origins of Pran Nath’s musical and spiritual lineages, into which Young, Riley, and other composers associated with minimalism, such as Michael Harrison and Rhys Chatham, were initiated.

This paper will examine Pran Nath’s influence on these composers by drawing primarily on interviews conducted with Young, Riley, Harrison and Chatham (and several of Pran Nath’s other American disciples) last year. Several themes emerged from these interviews, including how Pran Nath’s spiritual practice was his music; the many ways in which he nurtured and encouraged their own musical spirituality; how he taught them the ancient, sacred tradition of Hindustani raga whilst simultaneously encouraging them to develop their own work in just intonation tunings; and how just intonation fed into the creation of altered states in listeners and performers. By considering the transformative relationships forged between these composers and their profoundly spiritual and devout guru, one may perhaps better understand the motivations for their art and the importance of their work as a spiritual and musical union (yoga) as well as a blending of two traditions. simultaneously bridging the gap between ancient and new, East and West, and becoming a vehicle between the conscious and subconscious mind. This research therefore suggests a new term of ‘Spiritual Postminimalism’ for the work of Young, Riley, Chatham and Harrison. Part of this research was presented at the 2022 International Conference of the Society for Minimalist Music, in Ohio, U.S.A.