1994–ongoing
For voice and solo snare drum; amplification optional
No sticks
Featured image: Jan Williams rehearsing Williams Tells of Rights for the Pittsburgh Festival of New Music, 2018. Photograph by Gustavo Matamoros.
Williams Tells of Rights began when percussionist Jan Williams invited me to write a work for an all-percussion program of pieces dedicated to him. I began imagining a composition involving several instruments. Jan then called to add one condition: the piece had to be for solo snare drum. A few days later I accepted his restriction with one of my own: I would write him a piece for snare drum—without sticks.
The first score, titled Piece for Amplified Snare Drum, instructed the performer to speak words beginning with “trans” while exaggerating the rolled Spanish rr. With the mouth positioned close enough to the drumhead, the vocal vibration caused the snares beneath it to resonate. The performer never struck the instrument. Amplification helped reveal subtle responses but eventually proved optional: the drum could be placed on a stand or held in the performer’s hands and brought toward the face whenever the defining sound was spoken.
When Jan asked me to provide the words rather than leave their selection to the performer, I began collecting phrases organized around the sound of right: right, write, rite and other phonetic equivalents. The phrases came from conversations, things I read, familiar expressions and memory. On the page, every iteration of the word-sound occupies the center of its line, with the surrounding words extending to either side. Variations in the number and placement of syllables produce a changing rhythm from one right to the next.
As the collection grew, its title followed its own chain of verbal associations. A gathering of “rights” suggested a Bill of Rights. Since the piece was written for Jan Williams, a “bill” became the more formal “William,” leading first to William Tell of Rights. Later, following a performance of the piece and a conversation with a visiting sound poet, the title arrived at Williams Tells of Rights.
The text has never remained entirely fixed. Phrases have been added, removed, rearranged and adapted, sometimes with suggestions from Jan. The language surrounding right continually changes its meaning, while the drum responds physically to the recurring sound. Meaning shifts; the snare answers. A later score distilled the work into a single musical expression, although that version has not yet been digitized.
COMPLETE PERFORMANCE
Jan Williams performs Williams Tells of Rights
New Music on the Point, 2018 | 16′17″
Recording engineer unknown
INSTALLATION VERSION
For its installation realization, I recorded the piece in stereo. The surrounding words occupied the left channel and were reproduced through a conventional speaker. Every rolled rrrrright occupied the right channel and was sent to a bare loudspeaker placed directly on top of a snare drum. Each utterance activated the physical snares, completing the spoken phrase acoustically within the exhibition space.
The recording played continuously as a loop. Installation versions were presented at Gallery 400 in Chicago in 1997 and at the Miami-Dade Public Library Main Library in 2004.
Performance History
2019-10-20
Art Space as Art Form
A conversation with the former director of the Center of Contemporary Art (now MoCA NoMi) Lou Anne Colodny, former Dade-County Art Librarian Barbara Young, and Miami-based sound artist Gustavo Matamoros.
Immediately following the discussion, in a similar artist-led spirit to the work produced at CoCA, Matamoros will perform his original work “Williams Tells of Rights” (1994)
Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida
2019-03-13
//BuffFluxus Spring Tour 2019//
featuring Jan Williams and Michael Basinski
Program:
Det’s Me – Don Metz | Ribble Bobble Pimlico – Kurt Schwitters/arr. John Smigielski | Sa Tu Lu Be Cha – Don Metz | Williams Tells of Rights – Gustavo Matamoros | Fungini – Michael Basinski and Don Metz.
The Players: Don Metz, Michael Basinski, Jan Williams, John Smigielski, Kristen Smigielski, David Adamczyk, Sonny Baker, Kevin Thurston.
Buffalo University Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, New York
2018-09-09
Pittsburgh Festival of New Music
2:30pm Program
Six Harps Around The Audience
plus Festival composer Marilyn Shrude and
percussion legend Jan Williams
Surround by Federico Garcia-De Castro | Drifting over a Red Place by Marilyn Shrude | Shadows & Dawning by Marilyn Shrude | Jan Williams: Williams Tells of Rights by Gustavo Matamoros
Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
___
3:30pm Program
Six Harps Around The Audience
plus Festival composer Marilyn Shrude and
percussion legend Jan Williams
Shadows & Dawning by Marilyn Shrude | Jan Williams: Williams Tells of Rights by Gustavo Matamoros | Drifting over a Red Place by Marilyn Shrude | Surround by Federico Garcia-De Castro
Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2018-06-05
New Music On the Point: Opening Concert
Program:
cComposed Improvisation for Steinberger bass guitar (1987/90) by John Cage—written for Robert Black; Robert Black, Steinberger bass guitar plus cComposed Improvisation for snare drum alone (1987/90) by John Cage—written for Jan Williams; Jan Williams, snare drum; both performed simultaneously | Fireside (Homage to Ruth Crawford Seeger) (2001) Eve Beglarian | Farther from the Heart (2016) Eve Beglarian, voice; Amy Williams, piano | Cineshape 4 (2015) by Amy Williams; Amy Williams, piano; video by Aaron Henderson | Williams Tells of Rights (1994-) Gustavo Matamoros—written for Jan Williams; Jan Williams, amplified snare drum | Minuets (2014) Brad Balliett; Brad Balliett, bassoon | The Hermit Thrush and the Astronaut (2012) by Kate Moore—written for Robert Black; Robert Black, contrabass
New Music On the Point Festival, Brandon, Vermont
2009-03-07
Subtropics 20: Marathon
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Miami Beach High School Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida
2007-03-01
Subtropics 19: Jan Williams
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Jan Williams
Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center, Miami, Florida
2006
Poetry Night
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Luna Star Cafe, North Miami, Florida
2005-11-02
Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC)
Music for a Crowded Planet: Percussion Pieces for a Single Instrument, With or Without Voice
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Jan Williams
Convention Center, Lawton, Oklahoma
2005-10-20
Hörkunstfestival
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Sam Ashley
Media Art Zentrum, Erlangen, Germany
2005-10-02
Gustavo Matamoros: Music on a Budget
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
CubaCultur, Münster, Germany
2005-10-01
Mex Series Intermediale und Experimentelle Musik Projekt
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Kuenstlerhaus, Dortmund, Germany
2004-02-25
Experimental Music Series
Curated by Barbara Young
Williams Tells of Rights sound installation version
Main Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami, Florida
2001-11-15
Outer Ear Festival of Sound
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, Illinois
1997-09-15
Visiting Artist: Gustavo Matamoros
Curated by Lou Mallozzi
Williams Tells of Rights sound installation version
Gallery 400
School of Arts and Design, University of Illinois, Chicago
1997-09-01
Ambrosino Gallery: New Space Opening Event
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Ambrosino Gallery, Miami, Florida
1996-12-09
Interpretations Series
Gustavo Matamoros: In a Fishtank
Williams Tells of Rights, performed by Jan Williams
Merkin Hall, New York City
1995-11-07
The Black Box Project
PUNTO – RE: Disobedience — Songs of Order and Disorder
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Jan Williams
Ground Level, Miami Beach, Florida
1995-03-02
Emit Series
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
1995-02-03
Tallahassee New Music Festival
Williams Tells of Rights performed by Gustavo Matamoros
Nautilus Foundation, Lloyd, Florida
1994-09-09 | US premiere
Sound Portraits and Other Syntax Violations
Piece for Amplified Snare Drum ( a.k.a. Williams Tells of Rights )
composed for and performed by Jan Williams
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, New York
1994-09-02 | world premiere
Sound Portraits and Other Syntax Violations
Piece for Amplified Snare Drum ( a.k.a. Williams Tells of Rights )
composed for and performed by Jan Williams, snare drum and spoken text
The Music Gallery, Toronto, Canada
CREDITS
Concept, score and installation realization: Gustavo Matamoros
Written for: Jan Williams
Featured photograph: Gustavo Matamoros