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New York-born flute and trumpet player Rhys Chatham (1952), a student of
Morton Subotnick and then La Monte Young,
and founder of the music program at the Kitchen Center (1971),
joined the avantgarde with compositions in just intonation and compositions incorporating the overtone series,
such as the mesmerizing Two Gongs (1971) and
Still Sound In Motion (1973),
but also bridged rock music and the avantgarde
with compositions such as Guitar Trio (1977),
collected with other works on
Factor X (Moers Music, 1983),
Drastic Classicism (1981),
Minerva (1988),
The Heart Cries with Many Voices (1990) for voice, guitars, bass and drums,
Die Donnergotter (Dossier, 1986 - Table Of The Elements, 2006) contained
the 22-minute Die Donnergotter (1985), Guitar Trio (1977) and
the tribal atonal infernal 19-minute Massacre On MacDougal Street (1982) for
four trumpets, three trombones and tuba,
perhaps his masterpiece.
He also worked on multimedia projects, notably
the opera XS (1986) in collaboration with visual artist Joseph Nechvatal.
The five-movement
An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (1989),
Warehouse of Saints - Songs for Spies (1991) and
Tauromaquia (1993) were all scored for 100 electric guitars, bass and drums.
A Rhys Chatham Compendium (Table of the Elements, 2002) and
the three-CD box-set An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (Table of Elements, 2003) are career-spanning anthologies.
Two Gongs (1971) was also released on Two Gongs (Table Of The Elements, 2006).
His interest for chamber music of a more conventional kind, already manifested
in For Brass (1982), collected with other works on
Factor X (Moers Music, 1983) and later renamed Massacre on MacDougal St,
blossomed with
Les Vespres de la Vierge (1992) for voice, trumpets, saxophones, trombone, tuba, percussion.
Chatham the trumpet player enjoyed polluting
jazz, avantgarde, techno, trip-hop and acid-rock in
the EP Neon (NTone, 1996) and Septile (NTone, 1998).
and recorded
Hardedge (Wire Editions, 1999), mixing his trumpet with a crew of
improvisors and drum machines.
He has also performed a Symphony No 4 (1994) for full orchestra.
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Rhys Chatham, allievo di LaMonte Young e di Morton Subotnick,
e' l'eminenza grigia del secondo minimalismo newyorkese. Nel 1971 fonda
il programma musicale del Kitchen Center, che diventera' il covo preferito
di un'intera generazione di compositori. Protagonista di diverse trovate
multimediali,
Chatham vara una versione del
minimalismo in cui le chitarre prendono il posto delle tastiere elettroniche
con lo scopo di far musica tramite i sovratoni. La prima opera di questo
genere e' Still Sound In Motion del 1973, ma il suo capolavoro e'
probabilmente il trascinante Guitar Trio quasi hard-rock del 1977 in cui
recupera sonorita' e cadenze della musica di consumo. Non
meno spaventosa e' la marziale suite Die Donnergotter
per sei chitarre e batteria, un flusso continuo di frasi melodiche
alternate a strimpellii minimali. Dal 1982 ha composto prevalentemente musica
iterativa per fiati (l'imponente For Brass, su Factor X)
e chitarre (Guitar Ring), impiegando spesso i marchingegni elettronici
di Behrman e sempre almeno un batterista. Guru dei sovratoni, ha
instancabilmente cercato la fusione con il rock.
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