The Relache Chronicles
THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is a podcast about musicians residing in what we call “the Margins of American Music.” In these 30-to-45-minute episodes, we’ll play recordings – primarily by The Relache Ensemble from Philadelphia - of complete musical works plus commentary by composers, performers, and others with insight to the music. Throughout the podcast, we’ll discuss the guest composers’ processes, how they utilized current and past technologies and how the acoustical properties of a given space informed the creation and performance of a musical work. Finally, we will discuss how the composers’ relationship with the musicians brought the music to life. Episodes feature music by John Cage, Robert Ashley, Joe Kasinskas, Pauline Oliveros, Guy Klucevsek, Eve Beglarian, Fred Ho, Phill Niblock, Romulus Franceschini, Bill Duckworth, and an overview of New Music America Festival 1987 - Philadelphia. THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is produced, directed, and edited, by Arthur Stidfole with Joseph Franklin, Joe Kasinskas, and Arthur Sabatini. Throughout their careers, they have been performing musicians, composers, executive and artistic directors, university teachers, radio hosts and authors, dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Relache Chronicles
Episode Eight - Romulus Franceschini
Romulus Franceschini was a composer, arranger, music editor and assistant curator at the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral music in Philadelphia, his hometown. Raised in the vibrant Italian American community in South Philly, Romulus absorbed the rich classical music that was ever present in Philadelphia, while absorbing the equally rich jazz inflected music of the mid-twentieth century. He studied cello and French Horn; served in a U.S. Army Band in occupied Japan; studied composition and theory with Vincent Persichetti after returning from the service; studied with with Stephan Wolpe and Morton Feldman in New York City; made numerous arrangements for jazz musicians in Philadelphia, including Calvin Massey and John Coltrane, and wrote music for chamber ensembles, voices, and soloists. As an editor at the Fleisher Collection, he was prominent in analyzing the draft and extracting the instrumental parts of Charles Ives’ Fourth Symphony, working in collaboration with conductor Leopold Stokowski, who premiered it in 1964. As Romulus said of himself, “I’m an eclectic composer.” His “eclecticism” was immensely valuable to the growth and maturity of the Relache Ensemble, for whom he served as a guiding force for all things musical. Romulus passed away in 1994. This episode of the Relache Chronicles celebrates the life and music of Romulus Franceschini.
