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, Lois v Vierk, and an overview of the New Music America Festival 1987 - Philadelphia, and the expansive residency/performance project named Music in Motion. 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 Twenty - Paul Epstein
Paul Epstein’s music is deceptive. What appear to be beautiful melodies set within easy-to-recognize harmonies that cradle traditional tonal centers demand careful listening. Those melodies and harmonies are tricky. They slip in and out of an aural context that’s been carefully designed by an artist who has carefully studied the music from Machaut to Stravinsky to Reich. As Kyle Gann has so beautifully written, “The music sounds simple, but actually it’s very intricate and tremendously inventive within small confines.”This episode features two works of Paul’s that were composed for the members of the Relache Ensemble. Paul was a close associate and friend of Relache for many years having composed ten works for the group and its members. We’ll feature two of those works, “Moving Voices” for two singers and flute and “Chamber Music: 3 Songs from Home” for singer Barbara Noska and the Relache Ensemble. To comment on Paul’s music, we’ve asked a former student of his in Philadelphia, Dustin Hurt to join us as we relive Paul’s music and life.
