MUSICAL WORKS

COLEMAN Christopher

1992

Rite

Birth Y: 1958 Birth C: UNITED STATES Gender: Male

Dest: Concert

Media Specification: Mixed music

Commission: Hong Kong Composers' Guild

Performer(s): Yau Ning, Meredith Leung, synthesizers; Leung Hung Wing, percussion; Christopher Coleman, conductor.

Duration: 11:10

Instruments: Percussion (one player), tape and optional dance (also available for percussion and DAT tape)

Perf media: Korg 01W, Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, TX802 tone generator

Publisher: Theodore Presser, Inc. (144-40454), 2004

Prog. notes: "The nature of ritual is as an abstract re-enactment of significant events with a fundamental purpose of catharsis as an ultimate goal. Religious rituals, in particular, share a common theme of transformation through sacrifice. My inspiration for Rite was the concept of a religious ritual in which the transformation of the celebrants became unexpectedly real and complete--that the ritual was no longer abstract, but something which changes the celebrants' completely in unknowable and dramatic ways.

The piece is in four sections. The static, repetitious material of the opening represents the initial call to worship. The ritual itself, with the preparation of the sacrifice, is presented though rapidly moving figures. The third section, in which musical motion almost ceases completely, represents the sacrifice of one of the celebrants. The final orgiastic section portrays the transformation through sacrifice into a new state of being."

Editor: Ka Lun CHEUNG

Comment: See: http://www.reocities.com/Vienna/5634/electronic.html