Soundtrack of a sarcophagus: Relâche plays music for mummies

Channelling Hollywood's Golden Age, and some creepiness, for a Penn Museum performance.

Courtesy of Penn Museum

During its first seasons in residence at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia’s nine-member, more than 30-year-old music ensemble Relâche composed and performed original music for silent films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Lodger and Buster Keaton’s The General, always maintaining a signature tone of dramatic geniality.

This year, Relâche is part of a three-part residence series at Penn, Music for the Mystery of Silents, and part two of three, “Mummies Outside the Box,” will feature a new score by composer Mike Stambaugh for Ernst Lubitsch’s 1918 silent film Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy).

Penn boasts an impressive collection of mummies, and ticket holders can take a guided tour of the Egyptian (Mummies) Gallery before they’re haunted by Relâche’s soundtrack. Relâche bassoonist/program director Chuck Holdeman and composer Stambaugh recently discussed the musical and cinematic process behind the Jan. 25 event.

 City Paper: Do you see your recent activities — Relâche’s new album, Comix Trips, the soundtrack to the mummies gallery tour/film — as part of a similarly toned sonic whole, or are they so radically different that it’s impossible thinking of them of a piece?

Chuck Holdeman: We did not imagine them as a whole, but they do indicate something about Relâche’s point of view — we like the offbeat, we like humor, we like exploring things like mummies, and what better place than the Penn Museum? We do try to give our audience something they never heard before, something which is challenging sonically and is entertaining at the same time. We come from more the rebellious and playful side rather than from the academic side, even as our musicians have been really well trained.

CP: How did Relâche get involved with the mummies exhibition in the first place? What was the first sound or vibe you imagined?

CH: Relâche did a silent film/new music series for the museum last year. Our co-director, Lloyd Shorter, is an avid explorer of the silent film genre and when he came across mummy titles, and knowing of the museum’s famous mummy collection, it was a natural combination. Lloyd, who recently retired from the University of Delaware’s music faculty, knew Mike [Stambaugh] there as a student, knew his talent, and chose Mike to do the score.

CP: How does one write for mummies? What cues and images inspired you as a composer? 

Mike Stambaugh: I’m still finishing up the score. Creating a sonic atmosphere for The Eyes of the Mummy gave me considerable pause. From an authentic perspective, mummies are for the most part silent creatures, and ancient Egyptian music isn’t understood well enough to co-opt for the purpose. Also, the lack of ancient Egyptian instruments would inevitably create a problem. So, I ended up going inauthentic, and channeling Hollywood. I adopted similar musical tropes to evoke Egypt, European high society, terror and joy that film composers of Hollywood’s Golden Era employed, which I thought nicely accented the film’s antiquity. Additionally, old tropes of this sort tend to have a satirical tinge to them — a perfect fit for a musical ensemble that values musical wit.

CH: The spookiness, the tension and also what looks outrageous and a bit silly to us now will determine the dramatic quality we bring to interpreting Mike’s score. It should be fun.

Sun., Jan. 25, mummy tour at 2 p.m., ensemble performs at 3 p.m., $15, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., 215-898-2680, penn.museum.

More from the Second Season Arts Guide:

Saxophonist Darryl Yokley composes a jazz symphony inspired by the PMA’s new African-American art exhibition.  |  Plus our experts highlight the upcoming season in: Classical/Opera  |  Roots  |  Jazz  |  Rock/Pop  |  Visual Art  |  Dance  |  Theater