#5160, Semmelweis, with Raymond J. Lustig

New Sounds | Jul 10

New York composer and vocalist Raymond J. Lustig has been haunted by the tragic story of the Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who lived in the 1800s. Semmelweis compared the methods of midwives versus doctors, which led him to discover that the simple act of hand-washing could prevent the deaths of many newborns and mothers in hospitals. Shunned by the rest of the medical community in Vienna, where he lived at the time, he was eventually sent to a mental institution. Semmelweis died at the age of 47 after suffering beatings and torture, but today he’s remembered as one of the pioneers of antiseptic procedures despite living at a time when germ theory didn’t even exist. 

“In its essence, it’s a story of our best qualities, the scientific method, coming in conflict with our less admirable qualities as human beings: our egos and our foibles,” says Lustig, as he explains to New Sounds host, John Schaefer, why he felt compelled to compose the record named after the now celebrated physician. Lustig’s operatic and often theatrical pieces feature the pristine vocals of soprano Charlotte Mundy, layered and panned to surround the protagonist Semmelweis as he obsesses over the women who suffered in the hands of doctors that operated on them right after conducting autopsies. 

The story the record is inspired by is a gruesome one, but Lustig’s approach is reserved in telling it, often relying on deliberate dissonance rather than explosive orchestral hits. On this episode, he takes us on an immersive auditory journey where his pieces and the stories behind them become one. - Sırma Munyar

(Photo of Raymond J. Lustig, by Varo Barahona)

Program #5160, Semmelweis, with Raymond J. Lustig (First aired 7/10/26)

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: What is the Day [5:39]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Give Birth on the Earthworks [3:09]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Best Idea [2:44]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Peter Gabriel
WORK: Passion [1:20]
RECORDING: Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ
SOURCE: Real World Records
INFO: https://realworldrecords.com/releases/passion/

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Out in the Yard [1:10]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Archaeology [3:32]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: As if Your Body Were a Cathedral [3:11]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Etiology [3:54]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Once a Candle [1:36]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Lullaby [3:36]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

ARTIST: Raymond J. Lustig & Matthew Doherty, with Charlotte Mundy & The Rhythm Method
WORK: Finale [1:53]
RECORDING: Semmelweis
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/semmelweis

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