Manuel Göttsching & Rhys Chatham: 800 Years of Minimalism in Damrosch Park
German Composer and Guitarist Manuel Göttsching will be prominently featured as part of the illustrous line-up of a genre-spanning multimedia event organised by New York's Lincoln Center („the world's leading performing arts centre“ according to their modest self-estimation). In a show entitled „800 Years of Minimalism - The Spiritual Transcendent“, three works from three different eras will highlight a connected underlying, wordless method of composing and grasping the world. On Friday, August 15, 2008, Damrosch Park Bandshell will be turned into a place of intense listening thanks to a mediaeval piece by Perotin, a special commission from Rhys Chatham and the American live premiere of Göttsching's seminal „E2-E4“. For Manuel Göttsching, the program must come as a strong personal satisfaction. While the press in his native Germany have lazily filed him in the techno cabinet (a description which ignores the technicality of his performance as well as the compositional aspect of his work) or into the Krautrock drawer (which roughly ignores the last twenty years of his career), „800 Years of Minimalism - The Spiritual Transcendent“ now presents him in an inspiring context: Amidst the top of American minimalism, a movement which he has felt close ties to since its earliest days and which he himself already contributed to on his 1975-classic „Inventions for Electric Guitar“.
Göttsching's show will be accompanied by the signature „display of psychedelic visual effects“ courtesy of Joshua Light Show. Led by multimedia artist Joshua White, this audiovisual presentation will mark the first collaboration between Göttsching and White, both applauded for their unforced, creative live performances. The collaboration has gradually shaped without any kind of external pressure and, from what we gathered behind the scenes, it has infused both parties with a great deal of anticipation.
While this will effectively represent the first time "E2-E4" will be perfomed live in its entirety in the USA, the work has already firmly established itself as a modern classic on both sides of the Atlantic: Several remixes have demonstrated its strong influence on electronic music culture and live performances by contemporary music ensemles such as Zeitkratzer proven its inspiration on a open-minded generation of interpretors. Now cherished in the most diverse camps, it really attains its strength thanks to the fact that it doesn't fit into any camp at all, its influences extending well beyond the narrowing definitions of "minimal music".
As if one great Guitarist weren't enough, Rhys Chatham is set to unleash a complete army of instrumentalists in his outdoor version of „A Crimson Grail“. Originally written for 400 Guitarists and with Paris' Sacre-Coeur in mind (see picture), the fresh edit will still feature a massive 200 Guitarists and come „extensively revised to suit the dynamics of the Park’s outdoor acoustic“. In order to make full use of the piece's polyphonic effects, this particular part of the program will take place along the sides of the audience at Damrosch Park. Visitors should already prepare themselves for a heavy psychological impact. As Chatham remembers from the world premiere of the work: „It was often quite an emotional experience for people, I had full grown men come up to me afterwards with tears in their eyes.“
„800 Years of Minimalism - The Spiritual Transcendent“ is completely free of any charge.
Homepage: Manuel Göttsching
Homepage: Rhys Chatham
Homepage: Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts
DVD Feature/ Manuel Göttsching & Kinga: "Wroclaw Live"
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