Unrelated image via Wikipedia
Just Outside was "underwhelmed" with the concert performance by 200 guitarists of A Crimson Grail:
OK, the Chatham. As a composition, it was severely clunky, lurching from one section to the next with little sense of any organic whole. It began very nicely with a controlled hum that expanded into a rich drone, the sounds gently flowing back and forth over the space, lovely effect. The next section also began intriguingly, a 16-note pattern that was also meted out to the four sections, I think four notes each but slightly irregularly, so the sequence softly ricocheted from one quarter to another, the initial bare bones "melody" being added to little by little with flourishes and fanfares. That was fine, but it went on way too long, the sock cymbal's relentless beat becoming very wearying and the essential elements of the section not all that fascinating to hold up for that long (20 minutes?)
He also suggests this kind of thing works better when greatly stripped down. Coincidentally, I heard a version of Chatham's Guitar Trio for the first time last night via last.fm recommendation. And I'll now recommend it as well:
