Lenz by Marti Epstein

Biography and Background

Marti Epstein (November 25, 1959) started studying composition in 1977 with Professor Robert Beadell at the University of Nebraska.¹ She has degrees from the University of Colorado and Boston University, where her principle teachers were Cecil Effinger, Charles Eakin, Joyce Mekeel, Bunita Marcus, and Bernard Rands. Epstein is currently a private composition teacher on faculty at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Various groups including the San Francisco Symphony, The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra have performed her works.¹ Epstein wrote Lenz in 1999 for baritone voice and piano using a poem written by Wassily Kandinsky, which she divided into three sections to create a short collection of songs, each fostering a different atmosphere. The piece was premiered and recorded by baritone Jonathan Nussman at the Boston Conservatory.² Epstein believes Nussman’s interpretation of the music should be emulated in future performances.

When interviewing Epstein we wanted to know more about her process and her goals. We wanted to give some focus to the combination of text and music. We appreciated how Marti treated the text in Lenz, and how it is interwoven into musical elements. During the interview Marti said she was in love with this poem specifically and really wanted to highlight the German words. When she first started composing this piece she wrote out all the words by hand and drew images that came to her based on that, which turned into the musical texture/atmosphere of the piece. We also found it very interesting to read on her website that she feels her pieces are sad, that term gives such a negative color, but she doesn’t see it that way which we found very interesting.³ During the interview she confirmed that this piece fits her description, and she said that even when she tries to write pieces with a different “happier” color when she returns to them she still finds them sad. She believes this piece is one of those, where she didn’t even notice it was sad until she heard it performed.

1. Epstein, Marti. “Bio.” Marti’s music. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://martiepstein.com/bio-2.

2. Epstein, Marti. Lenz for Baritone and Piano (Text: Wassily Kandinsky). Hisako Hiratsuka and Jonathan Nussman. 2018. https://soundcloud.com/marti-epstein/sets/lenz-for-baritoneand-piano-text-wassily-kandinsky

3.  Epstein, Marti. “About My Music.” Marti’s music. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://martiepstein.com/about-my-music.