* En anglais uniquement
Post-minimalist composer and New York downtown music figure
Rhys Chatham was involved in music at an early age. He studied classical flute, and was already playing works by contemporary composers such as
Luciano Berio and
Pierre Boulez by the time he began studying composition (including serialism) in his early teens.
Chatham started writing electronic works after meeting
Morton Subotnick in college, and came into contact with
Eliane Radigue,
Maryanne Amacher, and
Ingram Marshall, among others, at NYU's Studio for Electronic Music. Starting in the '70s,
Chatham began composing in just intonation, and made a living tuning instruments, sometimes in trade for lessons, as he did with
LaMonte Young. He played in Young's Dream House band and in a group with
Tony Conrad during this time. Later in the '70s,
Chatham began incorporating rock elements into his music and explored non-notated forms. The rock part of his work mainly focused on electric guitars which he was inspired to love after seeing
the Ramones play at CBGB's.
Chatham's guitar works -- the first of which, "Guitar Trio," was premiered by a trio including
Glenn Branca -- were played at high volumes, revealing the overtones, which can sound like voices, but also resulted in tinnitus for him by the early '80s.
Chatham's better-known guitar works include "Drastic Classicism" (1982) for four guitars with alternate tunings, and the symphony "An Angel Moves Too Fast to See" (1989) for 100 electric guitars (with bass and drums). Performances of his large-scale works utilized guitarists including
Bill Brovold (who went on to form Larval) and
Robert Poss (
Band of Susans).
Chatham began composing for brass (such as "Factor X") in addition to guitar, and resumed notating his works. After years of living in NYC, he relocated to Paris.
Chatham also began incorporating his trumpeting (often electrified, with effects) after about a decade of studying the instrument. You can hear his trumpet on Hard Edge (1999, Wire Editions) and
Neon (1996, NTone), an album by
Chatham and
Martin Wheeler. In the late '90s,
Chatham co-founded the group Septile with a Bronx DJ and ex-
Swans drummer
Jonathan Kane. ~ Joslyn Layne