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Kettle, Rupert (b. 1940, Grand Rapids, Michigan – d. May 11, 2005, Grand Rapids, Michigan). American composer of mostly stage and chamber works that have been performed in Europe and the USA; he is also active as a percussionist and writer.
Mr. Kettle had private lessons in composition with John Cage, Richard Cone, Henri Gibeau, Teije Ito, and Ted Maters. He studied percussion privately with Donald Patterson, James Salmon and Walter Walski in Grand Rapids from 1950-58 and then studied drumkit and Latin percussion privately with Henry Adler, mallet percussion privately with Doug Allen and timpani privately with Alfred Friese in New York from 1958-63. He later received a DFA honoris causa from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids in 2000.
He is also active in other positions. He worked as an editor for Henry Adler Publications in New York City from 1965-68. As a percussionist, he has often performed his own works and jazz pieces, as well as music by John Cage, Joseph Celli, Philip Corner, Malcolm Goldstein, and Lou Harrison. He served as lead percussionist of the First Army Band on Governor's Island in New York City from 1960-62. He has written numerous articles about percussion for DownBeat (1966-67), Modern Drummer (1978-80) and Percussive Notes (1966-67, 1981-95), among other publications, as well as the book Drum Set Reading Method (1968, Belwin; now self-published). His graphic scores have been exhibited in several Michigan galleries, including a month-long retrospective at the Aquinas College Art Gallery (1987), and he served as music project coordinator of the Race Street Gallery in Grand Rapids from 1980-87.
He taught percussion privately in New York from 1965-68 and has taught percussion privately in Grand Rapids since 1968. He has also taught percussion at Aquinas College since 1972, where he founded the Aquinas College Percussion Group in 1979 and has since served as its director.
Studio 4 Music/Alfred Music and HoneyRock Publishing Company publish some of his music and Frog Peak Music distributes some of his scores.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: Rkettle60@aol.com
Street address: Mr. Rupert Kettle, 56 Wallinwood Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503-3720, USA
Telephone: 616 454 9788
SELECT LIST OF WORKS (dates not available)
STAGE: Andalusia Field, 1982 (sound set, choreography by Peggy Hunt), dance troupe, any large number of players (using drumsticks on a wooden floor); '...an overwhelmingly intricate balance...', 2 dancers (version of chamber work); Blues for Baude Cordier (choreography by Peggy Hunt), 5 female dancers, any 5 players, drone; BLUES FOR YVONNE RAINER, female dancer, violin/viola, double bass, 1-3 pianos, 1-2 percussion, 2-track tape (three of its six sections may be performed separately: Three Satie Leaves; Walk around BlueS; '...to make a dull, continued, monotonous sound...'); Gongsong S And Dancer (texts from various sources, compiled by the composer), female dancer, female voice (both + any large number of gongs); in stone circle silence, female dancer, any large number of players; Mountains Do (choreography by Melinda McAfee), dance troupe, dulcimer, live electronics; Roses (choreography by Melinda McAfee, the composer), 5 dancers, any 5 players, 2-track tape; 32'35.634 for a Dancer (choreography by the composer), female dancer; Woman/Flute, female dancer (version of work for flute); WVU II (choreography by Melinda McAfee), female dancer, percussion
ORCHESTRAL: Diamonds – 63 Blues for John Cage, jazz band
CHAMBER MUSIC: '...an overwhelmingly intricate balance...', 2 percussion (also version for 2 dancers); Any Room Music, any large number of players; Aytayze, oboe; Blues for Jimmy Vincent, drumkit; Blues for Lou Harrison, 6 percussion; Blues for Max Roach, drumkit, 3 percussion; Blues for Max, Too, drumkit, 3 percussion; A Blues for McEtu, talking drum, shekeré (African gourd drum), cowbell (all + foot taps); Catlett, Roach, _____ Variations, drumkit, 2-track tape; Dining Room Music, 4 percussion; Displacement, any number of rattles (+ very large bass drum) (any large number of players); Drum Set Set, drumkit (each of its six sections may be performed separately: Eleven Cubed; Chimbulls; Films; Shelly; Messrs. HiHats; Baby Blues); E-flat Minor Seventh Chord (Corner Paraphrase #1), any number of percussion; The First Nowell, hammer dulcimer, marimba; For Gong: Conclusions, any number of dancers ad libitum, 1 or more percussion; 45,949,729,863,572,101 Corps-Style Snare Drum Solos (based on the dice game of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart); 4BPYBV, 2 percussion; Four Percussion Solos; Four Solos for Snare Drum; Gamalone, vibraphone/marimba; God Rest Ye Merry, Everyone, 6-7 percussion; Good Kind Wenceslas Looked out (on the beats uneven), 6-7 percussion; Hollers, 4 percussion; Imaginary Variations No. 1, 6 percussion; Imaginary Variations No. 2, 5 percussion; Imaginary Variations No. 3, 5 percussion; Instead of a Letter to Malcolm, any large number of snare drums; Letters from Satie, any 9/18 players; Lo How a Rose, 6-7 percussion; Le marche ronde, any large number of walking players; Marshes, drumkit; Metal Gamut, any large number of metal objects (4 players); Music for English Handbells, handbells (any number of players)
CHAMBER MUSIC: Nine Solos for Drum Set; O Come, O Come Emmanuel, 6-7 percussion; Partchment, 1-23 percussion; Percussion Mix, any number of percussion; Petite Suite, 2 snare drums; Pour Érik Satie et l'Enfants, vibraphone; Randy Dances (for Randy Marsh), drumkit, 4 percussion; Rattles, any large number of rattles (1 player); Riffs & Pivots, drumkit; A Round, percussion; Rudimental Rascals, 2 snare drums; Schoenberg Pages, flute, viola; Second Petite Suite, 2 snare drums; 6 for 2, 3 or 4 Percussionists (cubic parallelogram); 6 of 7 Mazes, 1-6 percussion; Stones, Bones & Skin, any number of tam-tams (1-2 players), 4 percussion; S'turnalia Stomp, 6-7 percussion; Suite.Bay.Bee, drumkit, 5 percussion; Take Us All Some Bows of Folly, 6-7 percussion; Three Afters for Four Kettledrums, timpani; Three Études for Snare Drum; Three Pieces/Percussionists, 3 percussion; Three Sambas, 3 percussion; 3 Sambas, 2, 2 drumkits; Three Tambourines, percussion; '...to make a dull, continued, monotonous sound...', violin/viola (section of BLUES FOR YVONNE RAINER; may be performed separately); To Max: Dances: #1 (in 7); #2 (in 5), drumkit, any number of percussion; Too, Max Dances, timpani, drumkit; Tracks, 2 percussion; Traps, drumkit (2 players); Tricks, 2 percussion; Trips, 2 percussion; Trois lettres à Jean-Paul Curtay (sampler), percussion; 20 for Marimba-ist (icosahedron), marimba; Walk around BlueS, 1-2 percussion (section of BLUES FOR YVONNE RAINER; may be performed separately); Woman/Flute, flute (also version for female dancer)
VOCAL: Atlas Variations (text from syllables), 4 speakers, 4 percussion; !!!BOFFO YOKS!!! (texts from various jokes), speaker, any number of voices; Most Marvelous Songs about a String (text by the composer, after Anaïs Nin), female voice (+ flute, guitar); To Do with the Work of Diana Shaffer (texts from various architecture books), speaker, any number of voices, 2-track tape; Vide (texts from various sources, compiled by the composer), voice, vihuela (plucked viol), vibraphone
PIANO: Gymnopédies Variations, any large number of pianos; Three Satie Leaves, 1-3 pianos (section of BLUES FOR YVONNE RAINER; may be performed separately)
MULTIMEDIA: 45' for a Photographer; Four Lamp-posts AQAMC, 4 lampposts; Railings AQAMC (outside), railings; To/For/From Piet Mondrian, any number of percussion, slide projections (by Kurt Kayser); To the Barricades, 6-unit steel traffic barricade; Two Automotive Pieces, any large number of cars (any large number of drivers)
ARRANGEMENTS: ...after a fashion (Gamelan II, 'Number Measure Increase Downwards' by Philip Corner), large drumkit; Three Movements for Percussion (Johanna Beyer), 6 percussion
(Last updated on August 20, 2005)
