Rhys Chatham
Encyclopedia
Rhys Chatham is an American
composer
, guitar
ist, and trumpet
player, primarily active in avant-garde
and minimalist
music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions. He has lived in France
since 1987.
as well as harpsichord tuner for Gustav Leonhard, Rosalyn Turek and Glenn Gould
. He soon studied under electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick
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
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
in lower Manhattan
. His early works, such as Two Gongs (1971) owed a significant debt to Young and other minimalists.
His concert productions included experimenters Maryanne Amacher
, Robert Ashley
, Philip Glass
, Meredith Monk
, Pauline Oliveros
, Steve Reich
, and early alternative rockers such as Fred Frith
, Robert Fripp
, Arto Lindsay
, and John Lurie
. He has worked closely with visual artist/musician Robert Longo
, particularly in the 1980s, and on an experimental opera called XS: The Opera Opus
(1984-6) with the visual artist Joseph Nechvatal
.
, having seen an early Ramones
concert. He was particularly intrigued by and influential upon 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
, 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
. 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
band Band of Susans
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
of Sonic Youth
did play with Chatham as well.)
Chatham began playing trumpet in 1983, and his more recent works explore improvisatory trumpet
solos; these are performed by Chatham himself, employing much of the same amplification and effects that he acquired with the guitar, over synthesized dance rhythms by the composer Martin Wheeler. His 1990s recordings in this style saw release on Ninja Tune
Records as the compilation Neon.
, 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
, in his adopted homeland, to write a composition for 400 electric guitars entitled A Crimson Grail, as part of the Nuit Blanche
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
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
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
, Hüsker Dü
, Brokeback
, 90 Day Men
, Town & Country
, Die Kreuzen
, Bird Show and others. A three-CD box set of these performances was released by Table of the Elements
in March 2008.
Chatham has continued to tour the original version of Guitar Trio in Europe throughout 2007 and 2008, including performances at:
Rhys Chatham made his first American
presentation of a composition for a one-hundred guitar orchestra in Williamsport
, Pennsylvania
, 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
. The performance was part of a free concert series, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, that was being commissioned by the Lincoln Center
. Originally, the piece was 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
and Jon Hassell
. An example of this style can be heard on Chatham's latest release, The Bern Project, released by Hinterzimmer Records in January 2010.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, and trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player, primarily active in avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions. He has lived in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1987.
Early years
Chatham began his musical career as a piano tuner for avant-garde pioneer La Monte YoungLa Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
as well as harpsichord tuner for Gustav Leonhard, Rosalyn Turek and Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
. He soon studied under electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
and minimalist icon La Monte Young
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
and was a member of Young's group, The Theater of Eternal Music, during the early seventies; Chatham also played with Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
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
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in lower Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. His early works, such as Two Gongs (1971) owed a significant debt to Young and other minimalists.
His concert productions included experimenters Maryanne Amacher
Maryanne Amacher
Maryanne Amacher was an American composer and installation artist.-Biography:Amacher was born in Kane, Pennsylvania, to an American nurse and a Swiss freight train worker. As the only child, she grew up playing the piano. Amacher left Kane to attend the University of Pennsylvania on a full...
, Robert Ashley
Robert Ashley
Robert Ashley , is a contemporary American composer, best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. Along with Gordon Mumma, Ashley was also a major pioneer of audio synthesis.Ashley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
, Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, and early alternative rockers such as Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, Arto Lindsay
Arto Lindsay
Arthur Morgan Lindsay is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He is a 1974 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida....
, and John Lurie
John Lurie
John Lurie is an American actor, musician, painter and producer. He is co-founder of The Lounge Lizards, a jazz ensemble. Lurie has acted in 19 films including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and he produced and starred in...
. He has worked closely with visual artist/musician Robert Longo
Robert Longo
Robert Longo is an American painter and sculptor. Longo became famous in the 1980s for his "Men in the Cities" series, which depicted sharply dressed businessmen writhing in contorted emotion.-Early life and education:...
, particularly in the 1980s, and on an experimental opera called XS: The Opera Opus
XS: The Opera Opus
XS: The Opera Opus was a no wave avant-garde music and art performance created by Rhys Chatham and Joseph Nechvatal in the mid 1980s. Jane Lawrence Smith sang the lead role in the Boston performance and Yves Musard danced the main role...
(1984-6) with the visual artist Joseph Nechvatal
Joseph Nechvatal
Joseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual art digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses.-Life and work:Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago...
.
Compositions from the late 1970s and early 1980s
By 1977, Chatham's music was heavily influenced by punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, having seen an early Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
concert. He was particularly intrigued by and influential upon the group of artists music critics would label No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
in 1978. That year, he began performing Guitar Trio around downtown Manhattan with an ensemble that included Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
, as well as Nina Canal of Ut
Ut (band)
Ut originated from New York City's downtown No Wave scene in December 1978. The inheritors of the fertile collision between rock, free jazz and the avant garde that first manifested itself in the Velvet Underground, Ut soon became a serious force within the New York music scene.- History :Ut's...
. During this period, he wrote several works for large guitar ensembles, including Drastic Classicism, a collaboration with dancer Karole Armitage
Karole Armitage
Karole Armitage is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is Artistic Director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary ballet company that performs several times annually in New York City as well as touring internationally...
. 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
Peter Laurence Gordon
Peter Gordon is an American experimental composer and musician, whose music draws from influences as diverse as jazz, opera, rock and world music...
. 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
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band Band of Susans
Band of Susans
Band of Susans was a noise rock band formed in New York City in 1986. It originally consisted of Robert Poss , Susan Stenger , Ron Spitzer , with Susan Lyall , Susan Tallman , and Alva Rogers . However, the band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving guitarists...
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
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
began their careers in Branca's ensembles; Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
did play with Chatham as well.)
Chatham began playing trumpet in 1983, and his more recent works explore improvisatory trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
solos; these are performed by Chatham himself, employing much of the same amplification and effects that he acquired with the guitar, over synthesized dance rhythms by the composer Martin Wheeler. His 1990s recordings in this style saw release on Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
Records as the compilation Neon.
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 ElementsTable of the Elements
Table of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
, 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
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in his adopted homeland, to write a composition for 400 electric guitars entitled A Crimson Grail, as part of the Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...
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
Robert Longo is an American painter and sculptor. Longo became famous in the 1980s for his "Men in the Cities" series, which depicted sharply dressed businessmen writhing in contorted emotion.-Early life and education:...
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
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
, Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, Brokeback
Brokeback (band)
Brokeback is a project of Doug McCombs, bassist of Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day.- Featured artists :* Rob Mazurek* Noel Kupersmith* Mary Hansen * James McNew * Chad Taylor...
, 90 Day Men
90 Day Men
90 Day Men is a progressive rock band formed in 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri and later based out of Chicago, Illinois. Their name is a slang term used by corrections officers to refer to prison inmates who are slated to undergo psychiatric examination.-History:...
, Town & Country
Town & Country (band)
Town & Country was an American minimalist quartet based in Chicago.Members were:*Ben Vida: Guitar/Trumpet...
, Die Kreuzen
Die Kreuzen
Die Kreuzen was a rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin which was formed in 1981. The name is broken German for "the crosses", and was picked up by the band from a German Bible...
, Bird Show and others. A three-CD box set of these performances was released by Table of the Elements
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 of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
in March 2008.
Chatham has continued to tour the original version of Guitar Trio in Europe throughout 2007 and 2008, including performances at:
- Festival Desgressions - 7 March 2007, Barcelona, Spain
- L'Ecole Régionale de Beaux Arts - 25, 26 April 2007, Valence, France
- Kosmische Club - 10 August 2007, Oslo, Norway
- ZXZW Independent Culture Festival - 22, 23 September 2007, Tilburg, the Netherlands
- Festival Soy - 29 October 2007, Nantes, France
- Galleria Toledo - 26 March 2008, Naples, Italy
- State-XState-XState-X New Forms is an independent festival for independent music culture such as avant garde music, noise rock, indie rock, IDM, held in The Hague, in The Netherlands, since 2004. The festival is a fusion of the two festivals State-X and New Forms both of which were held for 6 years...
Festival - 12 December 2008, The Hague, the Netherlands
Rhys Chatham made his first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
presentation of a composition for a one-hundred guitar orchestra in Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, 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 City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. 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
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
. Originally, the piece was 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
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
and Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.-Life and career:...
. An example of this style can be heard on Chatham's latest release, The Bern Project, released by Hinterzimmer Records in January 2010.
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 RecordsHomestead RecordsHomestead Records was a Long Island, NY based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading. It was founded in 1984 by Sam Berger, who was the American Independent buyer for Dutch East India Trading. Berger was finding that many bands who had perhaps released their own first 45 were...
(USA) 1987- containing:
- Die Donnergötter (1984–86)
- Waterloo No. 2 (1986)
- Guitar Trio (1977)
- Drastic Classicism (1982)
- Neon (12", CDEP), NtoneNToneNTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...
1997- All compositions in collaboration with Martin Wheeler.
- containing:
- Charm (1996)
- Ramatek (1994)
- Hornithology (1996)
- Neon (1993)
- Septile (12", CD EP), NtoneNToneNTone is a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint is based in London, United Kingdom and specialises in experimental electronic music...
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), Table of the ElementsTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
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) [edit]
- Guitar Trio (1977) [edit]
- Drastic Classicism (1982) [edit]
- Two Gongs (1971) [edit]
- Guitar Cetet (1977) [bonus track not contained in box set]
- Waterloo, No. 2 (1986) [edit]
- Die Donntergötter (1985) [complete version]
- An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (Selected Works 1971-1989) (3xCD box set), Table of the ElementsTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
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)
- disc 1:
- Echo Solo (LP), Azoth Schallplatten Gesellschaft 2003
- Three Aspects Of The Name (12"), Table of the ElementsTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
2003
- An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (For 100 Electric Guitars, Electric Bass, And Drums) (LP, CD), Table of the Elements/RadiumTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
2006
- Die Donnergötter (LP, CD), Table of the Elements/RadiumTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
2006- containing:
- Die Donnergötter (1985/86)
- Waterloo, No. 2 (1986)
- Drastic Classicism (1982)
- Guitar Trio (1977)
- Massacre on MacDougal Street (1982)
- A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars) (CD), Paris Version / Indoor Version, Table of the ElementsTable of the ElementsTable of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many of the great avant garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries — John Cale, Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, for instance — as well as...
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 RecordsNonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
2010
- Outdoor Spell (LP, CD), Northern-Spy 2011
- containing:
- Outdoor Spell
- Crossing the Sword Bridge
- Corn Maiden's Rite
- The Magician
External links
- Rhys Chatham's Table of the Elements site
- The official "Guitar Trio Is My Life" USA 2007 tour site
- "Composer's Notebook" section of personal site
- Trouser Press entry ( not comprehensive)
- http://www.ubu.com/sound/tellus_13.htmlaudio excerpt from XS: The Opera OpusXS: The Opera OpusXS: The Opera Opus was a no wave avant-garde music and art performance created by Rhys Chatham and Joseph Nechvatal in the mid 1980s. Jane Lawrence Smith sang the lead role in the Boston performance and Yves Musard danced the main role...
] published at Tellus Audio Cassette MagazineTellus Audio Cassette MagazineLaunched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan, in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting-edge downtown music, documenting the New York scene and advancing experimental composers of the time... - Review of Guitar Trio Is My Life on Pitchfork MediaPitchfork MediaPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
- NewMusicBox cover: Rhys Chatham in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, August 14, 2008 (includes video)
- New York Times article about the American premiere of A Crimson Grail, published on the New York Times website, July 22, 2009
- Golden, Barbara. “Conversation with Rhys Chatham.” eContact! 12.2 — Interviews (2) (April 2010). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - Rhys Chatham and Joseph NechvatalJoseph NechvatalJoseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual art digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses.-Life and work:Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago...
in discussion at the School of Visual ArtsSchool of Visual ArtsThe School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4zR0C_J1TI