Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

ist,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions. He has lived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

since 1987.

Early years

Chatham began his musical career as a piano tuner for avant-garde pioneer La Monte Young as well as harpsichord tuner for Gustav Leonhardt,

Rosalyn Tureck Rosalyn Tureck (December 14, 1913 – July 17, 2003) was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. However, she had a wide-ranging repertoire that included works by composers ...

and

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

. He studied flute under Sue Ann Kahn, with whom he first encountered contemporary music, and studied soon afterwards under electronic music pioneer

Morton Subotnick Morton Subotnick (born April 14, 1933) is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his 1967 composition '' Silver Apples of the Moon'', the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the foun ...

and minimalist icon La Monte Young and was a member of Young's group, ''The Theater of Eternal Music'', during the early seventies; Chatham also played with

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...

in an early version of Conrad's group, ''The Dream Syndicate''. In 1971, while still in his teens, Chatham became the first music director at the experimental art space

The Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was foun ...

in lower

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His early works, such as ''Two Gongs'' (1971) owed a significant debt to Young and other minimalists.

Compositions from the late 1970s and early 1980s

By 1977, Chatham's music was heavily influenced by punk rock, having seen an early Ramones concert. He was particularly intrigued and influenced by the group of artists music critics would label No Wave in 1978. That year, he began performing ''Guitar Trio'' around downtown Manhattan with an ensemble that included

Glenn Branca Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settleme ...

, as well as Nina Canal of Ut. During this period, he wrote several works for large guitar ensembles, including ''Drastic Classicism'', a collaboration with dancer

Karole Armitage Karole Armitage (born March 3, 1954) is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is artistic director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary dance company that performs several times annually in New York City as ...

. ''Drastic Classicism'' was first released in 1982 on the compilation ''New Music from Antarctica'', put together by Kit Fitzgerald, John Sanborn and Peter Laurence Gordon. It was also included on the 1987 album that also included his 1982 composition ''Die Donnergötter'' (German for "''The Thundergods''"). Members of the New York City

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

band

Band of Susans Band of Susans was an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1986 and active until 1996. It originally consisted of Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Su ...

began their careers in Chatham's ensembles; they later performed a cover of Chatham's "Guitar Trio" on their 1991 album, ''The Word And The Flesh''. (This parallels the way that members of fellow NYC noise rockers Sonic Youth began their careers in Branca's ensembles;

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

of Sonic Youth did play with Chatham as well.)Minimal Music, Maximal Impact by

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American professor of music, critic, analyst, and composer who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 to 2005) an ...

Chatham began playing trumpet in 1983, studying under Carmine Curuso and Andrew Crocker, and his more recent works explore an early minimalist vocabulary employing loop/delay

techniques; these are performed by Chatham himself. Examples of this work can be heard on the album ''Outdoor Spell'', released by Northern Spy Records (NS 004) in 2011, and a recent duo album with

Charlemagne Palestine Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine (born 1947), known professionally as Charlemagne Palestine, is an American visual artist and musician. He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school of minimalist music, first initiated by La M ...

, entitled ''Youuu + Mee = Weee'', released on the Belgium SubRosa Label (SR637) in 2014.

Recent activity

In 2002, he enjoyed a resurgence following the release of a limited-edition 3 CD retrospective box set on the record label

Table of the Elements Table of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many avant-garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries: such as John Cale, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, L ...

, ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See: Selected Works 1971-1989'', complete with 130-page booklet. The ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See'' part of the title comes from Chatham's 1989 composition for 100 guitars. He has been since touring with his 100-guitar orchestra in Europe. In 2005, he was commissioned by the city of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, in his adopted homeland, to write a composition for 400 electric guitars entitled ''A Crimson Grail'', as part of the

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...

Festival. Approximately 10,000 people were present at the performance, and 100,000 more watched it on live television. A CD of excerpts from this concert was released in January 2007 by Table Of The Elements. Rhys Chatham is currently touring the original 30 minute version of ''Guitar Trio'' in the USA and Europe, renamed ''G3'' because the instrumentation has been increased to between six and ten electric guitars, electric bass and drums. In February 2007 he completed a twelve-city tour called the ''Guitar Trio (G3) Is My Life North America Tour'', which was accompanied by the original film by

Robert Longo Robert Longo (born 1953) is an American artist, filmmaker, photographer and musician. Longo became first well known in the 1980s for his ''Men in the Cities'' drawing and print series, which depict sharply dressed men and women writhing in cont ...

that was projected behind the performance, entitled ''Pictures for Music'' (1979). The sets consisted of local musicians from each city of the performances, including members of Sonic Youth,

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also locate ...

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

, Brokeback,

90 Day Men 90 Day Men is an American progressive rock band formed in 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and later based in Chicago, Illinois. Their name is a slang term used by police officers to refer to prison inmates who are due to undergo ps ...

, Town & Country,

Die Kreuzen Die Kreuzen (/ˈdiːˈkɹɔɪtsn̩/) is an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin formed in 1981. The name, which was taken from a German Bible, is grammatically incorrect German for "the crosses."Larkin, Colin (1995) "Die Kreuzen", in ''T ...

, Bird Show and others. A three-CD box set of these performances was released by

in March 2008. Rhys Chatham made his first American presentation of a composition for a one-hundred guitar orchestra in Williamsport,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on May 23, 2008, with an orchestra composed of
local students and teachers
as well as many professional guitarists. This performance was the premiere of a new composition entitled ''Les 100 Guitares: G100''.
The American premiere of ''A Crimson Grail'' was on August 8, 2009
Two-hundred electric guitarists performed the piece at the Damrosch Park Bandshell in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The performance was part of a free concert series, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, that was being commissioned by the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

. Originally, the piece wa
supposed to be performed for 2008's Lincoln Center Out of Doors
but rain canceled the concert for safety reasons. For the 2009 premiere, precautions were taken so that the concert could go on even if it rained. Concurrent with his work for guitar orchestras and smaller ensembles, Chatham's trumpet style has evolved from its characteristic distorted sound of the 90s to its present more dreamy and laid back approach to playing the instrument, influenced by players such as

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

and

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various ...

. Examples of this style can be heard on Chatham's releases, ''The Bern Project'', released by Hinterzimmer Records in January 2010, and ''Outdoor Spell'', released in March 2011 by Northern Spy Records.

Discography

* ''Factor X'' (LP), Moers Music 1983 *: containing: ** ''For Brass'' (1982) ** ''Guitar Ring'' (1982) ** ''The Out Of Tune Guitar'' (1982) ** ''Cadenza'' (1981) * ''Die Donnergötter'' (LP), Dossier Records (Europe)/

Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. The label was known for not paying its artists and not spending any money on promotion. History The l ...

(USA) 1987 *: containing: ** ''Die Donnergötter'' (1984–86) ** ''Waterloo No. 2'' (1986) ** ''Guitar Trio'' (1977) ** ''Drastic Classicism'' (1982) * ''Neon'' (12", CDEP), Ntone 1997 *: All compositions in collaboration with Martin Wheeler. *: containing: ** ''Charm'' (1996) ** ''Ramatek'' (1994) ** ''Hornithology'' (1996) ** ''Neon'' (1993) * ''Septile'' (12", CD EP), Ntone 1997 *: All compositions in collaboration with Jonathan Kane & DJ Elated System. * ''Hardedge'', The Wire Editions 1999 *: Made in collaboration with Pat Thomas, Gary Smith, Gary Jeff, Lou Ciccotelli. * ''A Rhys Chatham Compendium'' (CD),

2002 *: Limited-edition CD featuring selections and edits from the ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See'' box-set. *: containing: ** ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See'' (1989) dit** ''Guitar Trio'' (1977) dit** ''Drastic Classicism'' (1982) dit** ''Two Gongs'' (1971) dit** ''Guitar Cetet'' (1977) onus track not contained in box set** ''Waterloo, No. 2'' (1986) dit** ''Die Donntergötter'' (1985) omplete version* ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (Selected Works 1971-1989)'' (3xCD box set),

2002 ** disc 1: *** ''Two Gongs'' (1971) ** disc 2: *** ''Die Donnergötter'' (1985) *** ''Waterloo, No. 2'' (1986) *** ''Drastic Classicism'' (1982) *** ''Guitar Trio'' (1977) *** ''Massacre on MacDougal Street'' (1982) ** disc 3: *** An Angel Moves Too Fast To See'' (1989) * ''Echo Solo'' (LP), Azoth Schallplatten Gesellschaft 2003 * ''Three Aspects Of The Name'' (12"),

2003 * ''An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (For 100 Electric Guitars, Electric Bass, And Drums)'' (LP, CD), Table of the Elements/Radium 2006 * ''Die Donnergötter'' (LP, CD), Table of the Elements/Radium 2006 *: containing: ** ''Die Donnergötter'' (1985/86) ** ''Waterloo, No. 2'' (1986) ** ''Drastic Classicism'' (1982) ** ''Guitar Trio'' (1977) ** ''Massacre on MacDougal Street'' (1982)

* ''Two Gongs (1971)'' (CD),

2006 * ''A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars)'' (CD), Paris Version / Indoor Version,

2007 * ''The Bern Project'' (CD), Hinterzimmer Records 2010 *: containing: ** ''War In Heaven'' (2009) ** ''A Rite for Samhain'' (2009) ** ''Scrying in Smoke'' (2009) ** ''My Lady of the Loire'' (2009) ** ''Is there Life After Guitar Trio'' (2009) ** ''Under the Petals of the Rose'' (2009) * ''A Crimson Grail (For 200 Electric Guitars)'' (CD), New York Version / Outdoor Version,

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...

2010

* ''Outdoor Spell'' (LP, CD), Northern-Spy 2011 *: containing: ** ''Outdoor Spell'' ** ''Crossing the Sword Bridge'' ** ''Corn Maiden's Rite'' ** ''The Magician'' * ''Rêve Parisien'' (LP), Primary Information 2011 * ''Harmonie Du Soir'' (LP, CD), Northern-Spy 2013 *: containing: ** ''Harmonie Du Soir'' ** ''Harmonie De Pontarlier: The Dream Of Rhonabwy'' ** ''Drastic Classicism Revisited'' * ''Youuu + Mee = Weee'' (LP, CD),

Sub Rosa ''Sub rosa'' (New Latin for "under the rose") denotes secrecy or confidentiality. The rose has an ancient history as a symbol of secrecy. History In Hellenistic and later Roman mythology, roses were associated with secrecy because Cupid ga ...

2014 *: All compositions in collaboration with Charlemagne Palestine. * ''Pythagorean Dream'' (LP, CD), Foom 2016 * ''What's Your Sign?'' (LP, CD), Northern Spy 2016 *: All compositions in collaboration with Oneida. *: containing: ** ''You Get Brighter'' ** ''Bad Brains'' ** ''Well Tuned Guitar'' ** ''The Mabinogian'' ** ''A. Philip Randlop at Back Bay Station'' ** ''Civil Weather''

References

External links

The official Rhys Chatham web site

* * *
Trouser Press entry ( not comprehensive)

Reve Parisien excerpt from Primary Information

Review of ''Guitar Trio Is My Life''
on

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

* (includes video)
''New York Times'' article about the American premiere of ''A Crimson Grail''
published on the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' website, July 22, 2009 * Golden, Barbara. "Conversation with Rhys Chatham.
''eContact! 12.2 — Interviews (2)''
(April 2010). Montréal: CEC. * Rhys Chatham and

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Ne ...

in discussion at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...