Rhys Chatham - Harmonie du Soir (Northern Spy)

Having begun his musical career as a piano and harpsichord tuner for the likes of La Monte Young and Glenn Gould, Rhys Chatham went on to create his own style of avant-garde composition, blending minimalism, punk rock and his studies under electronic composer Morton Subotnick into a single unique vision. Harmonie du Soir sees Chatham revisiting his past without nostalgic rehashing.

Composed for an instrument configuration Chatham hadn’t used for 28 years (six electric guitars, electric bass and drums), the title track begins as droning guitar that quickly develops into a driving force reminiscent of Glenn Branca‘s “Movement 1” from his Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus) and John Cale and Terry Riley‘s Church of Anthrax. The piece builds in a hypnotic cycle of repetition until a series of dissonant crashes lead to a heavy funk groove centerpiece akin to Branca composing for Goblin. Ultimately, it circles back into the minimalism from whence it came, a successful statement of all the composer has achieved so far in his lifetime.

“Harmonie de Pontarlier: The Dream of Rhonabwy” derives from Chatham’s other mode of composition, his trumpet. Inspired by Welsh Arthurian romances, the piece alternates between majesty and turmoil via a 70-piece brass band with percussion. Serene turns sinister in a air of exotic mystery as the slumberous journey of Sir Rhonabwy unfolds through sustained notes and militaristic drums.

Rounding out the digital versions of the album is “Drastic Classicism Revisited,” an updated take on Chatham’s offering to the 1982 Antarctica: New Music From Antarctica, Volume 1 compilation that captures all the frenetic energy of the original recording with a sneer of wisdom.

For anyone not already familiar with Chatham’s works, Harmonie du Soir serves as an excellent introduction as it perfectly captures his various moods and textures, summarizing them in a single collection of music. Ready for something new? This is it.