[2] This transition was seen variously as an aspect of musical post-modernism or as neo-romanticism, that is, a return to the lyricism of the nineteenth century.
In the 1970s and continuing in the 1980s and 1990s, several composers, many of whom had previously worked in serial or experimental milieux,[3] began working with similar aesthetic ideals[4] – radically simplified compositional materials, a strong foundation in tonality or modality, and the use of simple, repetitive melodies – but included with them an explicitly religious orientation.
Examples include Arvo Pärt (an Estonian Orthodox), John Tavener (a British composer who converted to Russian Orthodoxy), Henryk Górecki (a Polish Catholic), Alan Hovhaness (the earliest mystic minimalist), Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, Hans Otte, Pēteris Vasks and Vladimír Godár.
Despite being grouped together,[5] the composers tend to dislike the term, and are by no means a "school" of close-knit associates.
Recordings have played a major role in the popularization of the term, as all three of the best-known "holy minimalists" (Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki, Sir John Tavener) have had significant success with CD sales.