Flotation Device celebrates Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for its 50th anniversary with a tag-team traversal featuring Igor levit, Marc-André Hamelin, Yuji Takahashi, Omri Shimron, Ursula Oppens and Rzewski himself as soloists. We also preview Seattle Symphony’s upcoming performances of Qigang Chen’s Iris Unveiled for two sopranos, a Beijing Opera singer, three Chinese instruments and a large Western orchestra in service to texts from the Beijing Opera tradition. Its Old Meets New sensibilities are echoed in more recent works by Juri Seo (inspired by Hildegard von Bingen and French Baroque music), James Weeks (harkening back to Renaissance madrigals) and Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (harkening back to Boethius). Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, from 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Flotation Device 2026-02-08: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART ONE
Intro and SET 1: Iris Unveiled [0:00]
1. [2:12] Juri Seo: Rondeau. From Obsolete Music (New Amsterdam, 2025) with Latitude 49, Andrés Villalta (recording engineer)
2. [6:07] Juri Seo: Cantus Firmus. From Obsolete Music (credits as above). NOTE: After Hildegard von Bingen: O rubor sanguinis
3. [11:16] Qigang Chen: Iris dévoilée (excerpts). From Orchestral Works (Virgin, 2003) with Ma Shuai (Beijing Opera voice), Wu Bixia, Ke Luwa (sopranos), Wang Nan (erhu), Li Jia (pipa), Chang Jing (zheng), Orchestre National de France, Muhai Tang (conductor), Gilles Pézerat (recording engineer)
SET 2: Old meets New [30:27]
1. [33:52] James Weeks: Libro di fiammelle e ombre (excerpts). From Book of Flames and Shadows (Winter & Winter, 2022) with Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, James Weeks (conductor), Patrick Allen (recording engineer)
2. [38:43] Jacques Arcadelt: Poss'io morir di mala morte. From Book of Flames and Shadows (credits as above). NOTE: Published in Il Primo Libro de' Madrigali (1539)
3. [40:23] James Weeks: Libro di fiammelle e ombre (excerpts). From Book of Flames and Shadows (credits as above)
4. [42:12] Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Nunc fluens, Nunc stans. From Ex Tenebris Lux (Ondine, 2022) with Pavel Giunter (percussion), Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Karolis Vaitkevicius (conductor), Evelina Staniulytė, Aleksandra Kerienė, Vilius Keras (recording engineers)
5. [58:13] Outro with Jacques Arcadelt: Occhi miei Llssi
6. [1:01:36] Sergio Ortego: El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido. From El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido (Dicap, 1975) with Quilapayún: Hernán Gõmez (bass baritone, guitar, charango), Guillermo Oddo (baritone tenor, guitar, percussion), Guillermo García (baritone, guitar, percussion), Rodolfo Parada (baritone, guitar, tiple, tres, cuatro, zampoña), Carlos Quezada (tenor, percussion, guitar), Hugo Lagos (baritone, quena, zampoña)
Flotation Device 2026-02-08: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell - PART TWO
SET 3: 50 years ago in the avant-garde [1:05:05]
Frederic Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! Montage of six recordings. NOTE: Composed 1975, premiered February 7, 1976, Washington DC by Ursula Oppens:
1. [1:07:10] Theme, Variations 1–6. From The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, Four Hands (Cedille, 2015) with Ursula Oppens (piano), Judith Sherman (recording engineer)
2. [1:14:30] Variations 7–12. From The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (ALM, 1979) with Yuji Takahashi (piano), Yukio Kojima (recording engineer)
3. [1:22:20] Variations 13–18. From The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (New Focus, 2013) with Omri Shimron (piano), Jeff Francis Mix (recording engineer)
4. [1:32:26] Voice Break with Michael Schell
5. [1:34:24] Variations 19–24. From Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 1975–1999 (Nonesuch, 2002) with Frederic Rzewski (piano), Michael W. Huon (recording engineer)
6. [1:41:32] Variations 25–30. From Bach, Beethoven, Rzewski (Sony, 2015) with Igor Levit (piano), Andreas Neubronner (recording engineer)
7. [1:55:45] Variations 31–36, Cadenza, Theme. From The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (Hyperion, 1999) with Marc-André Hamelin (piano), Tony Faulkner (recording engineer)
8. [2:11:38] Outro with Cecil Taylor: Words and Music the last bandstand
Photo credits: Meng Meng via Seattle Symphony, Frederic Rzewski by Michael Wilson, Qigang Chen and Olivier Messiaen via Qigang Chen, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė by Tomas Terekas, James Weeks via the artist, Juri Seo via the artist, Latitude 49 via New Amsterdam Records, score excerpt from The People United Will Never Be Defeated!.
Flotation Device features creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world with host Michael Schell, Sunday nights 10pm–Midnight Pacific Time on 91.3 KBCS-FM Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma. Visit us online at https://linktr.ee/MichaelSchell