Episode Fifteen – Robert Ashley

“Since he began composing and performing in the late 1950s, Robert Ashley has created a wholly original body of work. Continuously productive, his oeuvre encompasses nearly all versions of music and music/sound performance from instrumental and electronic compositions to film music and music videos to multi sectioned, intermediated staged operas. Ashley has also written essays and scores, and published books as well as dozens of audio and video recordings.” This from the opening paragraph of an article written by Arthur Sabatini for Performing Arts Journal in 2005, reveals a snapshot view of Robert Ashley’s profoundly creative life.

Throughout the history of experimental music – especially in the United States - there have been many extraordinary artists whose lives interacted with one another in dynamic ways. From John Cage to Morton Feldman; from Philip Glass to Terry Riley; from Robert Ashley to Alvin Lucier…all shared a unique perspective on music, sound, and performance throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Episode Fifteen of The Relache Chronicles features the work of one of the most fascinating artists from the fascinating genre known as “New Music,” Robert Ashley. Better known for his theater works, operas, if you will, we at The Relache Chronicles will focus on two works that define Bob’s exploratory interests: sound production and technology and instrumental/timbral contrasts within the context of performance. Specifically, we’ll hear excerpts from “The Wolfman,” created in 1964, and a complete recording of “Outcome Inevitable,” composed for the Relache Ensemble in 1992.