Downtown beats for the 1990s: Rhys Chatham, Mikel Rouse, Michael Gordon, Larry Polansky, Ben Neill
Title:
Downtown beats for the 1990s: Rhys Chatham, Mikel Rouse, Michael Gordon, Larry Polansky, Ben Neill
Author:
Gann, Kyle
Appeared in:
Contemporary music review
Paging:
Volume 10 (1994) nr. 1 pages 33-49
Year:
1994
Contents:
Influenced by the rhythmic structures of John Cage and the continuously articulated beat of rock, many of Manhattan's Downtown composers are turning toward rhythmic structures based on or implying a simultaneous multiplicity of tempos. Among those born in the 1950s, Rhys Chatham has created melodies from repeated notes with different durations; Mikel Rouse bases his music on Schillinger's “interference of monomial periodicities”; Michael Gordon pits varying tempos in conflict with each other; and, like Conlon Nancarrow before them, Larry Polansky and Ben Neill have written tempo canons. Many aspects of this new music were foreshadowed in Henry Cowell's New Musical Resources, and constitute an undercurrent of the American experimental tradition.
Journal description