1. For Bob, In Memory

Premiered at the Kitchen in New York city in 1971, this recording was made by Phill Niblock at his Experimental Intermedia Foundation on December 16th, 1988. The performers were Yoshimasa Wada and myself.  The occasion was the 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Experimental Intermedia Foundation.

The recording was released on The Table of the Elements Records (TOE 073) in 2006.  I believe that it is now out of print, so I’m posting the piece in its entirety on SoundCloud. The duration of the piece is about an hour.

Here are the somewhat hyperbolic record notes, written by TOTE founder Jeff Hunt:

“The hour-long Two Gongs fills the entirety of this disc with its ethereal, droning psychedelia. While written in 1971, the '89 recording documented here features Chatham, along with fellow composer Yoshimase Wada coaxing heavy, overlapping tones out of a pair of Chinese gongs. The instruments buzz and hum, moving in waves from deafening rattles to soft, muted drones. The monstrous noise that Chatham concocts is far more akin to the seismic crashes of monstrously distorted guitar feedback than that of two unprocessed slabs of metal, and it proves the composer's interest in creating a similar world of sound out of whatever instrument currently proved his muse. On disc, the performance is jaw-droppingly powerful, a monumental chunk of glorious noise.”

Two Gongs (1971)

I made this piece in 1984-86. It's for 6 electric guitars in special tunings. Also electric bass and drums. On this recording the guitarists are Karen Haglof, Robert Poss, Bill Brovold,Tim Schellenbaum, Mitch Salmen,   and Ben Neill. Konrad Kinard is on electric bass. J.p. Thunderbolt Patterson is on drums. Cover art by Robert Longo.

Die Donnergötter (The Thundergods)

This is the Allegro movement of my first piece for 100 electric guitars, electric bass and drums.  It was made in 1989.

16 March 1996 - Teatro Smeraldo
Milan, Italy
Producer & Guitar Coordinator:
Provincio di Milano - Assessorato alla Cultura

Conductor: Rhys Chatham with Ernest Brooks III on electric bass and Jonathan Kane on drums.

Claude Alvarez-Péreyre (FR) - el. guitar: soprano 1
Kent Condon (FR, USA) - el. guitar: soprano 2
Dominique Pichon (FR)- el. guitar: alto 1 & 2
Jean-François Pauvros (FR)- el. guitar: tenor 1 & 2
Pascal Bence (FR) - technical director
Fabio Lannino (IT) - road manager
Renzo Pognant (IT) - booking agent

Guitarists from the region of Milan (in alphabetical order):
This was a really great band. 

Lorenzo Alberti, Riccardo Ampollini, Flavio Ancora, Marco Agazzi, Pietro Bagnoli, Roberto Bertoni, Stefano Bobbio, Jean-Philippe Bordoni, Roberto Brambilla, Stefano Brembilla, Paolo Broggi, Andrea Brusadelli, Carmine Buoninconti, Alessandro Capozzo, Fabio Cardoni, Carole Gabriele, Elia Carrara, Giogio Casadei, Michele Catarisano, Rocco Cavallard, Luca Cavalli, Martino Cavanna, Lisa Cerri, Nicola Cesared, Davide Cherobini, Marco Colli, Giancarlo Collora, Andrea Crawford, Alberto Cutolo, Andrea Daloiso, Pasquale de Fina, Mario della Peruta, Giuseppe Dieni, Domenico di Francesco, Giuseppe di Muro, Fabrizio Esegio, Lorenzo Ferrario, Tobia Fossati, Pierangelo Frugnoli, Guido Genovesi, Carlo Gerosa, Nicola Gibertini, Marco Giustetto, Ben Noubi Hamida, Antonello Iannello, Giuseppe Ielasi, Frederico Janni, Giuseppe Lanni, Stefano La Tragna, Ivano Maggi, Carlo Maggioni, Graziano Marcis, Luciano Margorani, Carlo Matichecchia, Menafra Aniello, Fabio Mileto, Rosario Moschitta, Marco Morgioni, Danilo Nassaro, Paolo Noseda, Lelio Padovani, Tommaso Pedriali, Carlo Peroli, Maurizio Plate, Giovanni Pollizzi, Francesco Pomati, Andrea Quartarone, Matteo Roberti, Luciano Rollo, Lorenzo Sacco, Achille Scipilliti, Antonio Sechi, Attilio Songia, Alberto Sozzi, Roberto Stasi, Oliver Steffan, Martino Tansini, Diego Tribuzio, Marco Valugani, Giacomo Zadro, Rossano Zinico, Alvise Zuppani.

Allegro-An Angel Moves Too Fast to See

Waterloo No. 2 (1986) for three trumpets, two trombones and percussion.  With dance by Yves Musard.  

Trumpets:  Ben Neill, James O'Conner, Rhys Chatham
Trombones: Rob Bethea, Pat McCartey
Percussion: Don Yellech
Choreographer and dance: Yves Musard 

In photo, from left to right: Ben Neill, Rhys, Stephen Haynes, Yves Musard.

Waterloo, No. 2

Rhys Chatham is a composer from Manhattan who currently lives in Paris, France.  

I've decided to upload work tapes of pieces I'm working on for those who might be interested.

Rhys Chatham

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