Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated

Opis

Rzewski: The People United Will Never be DefeatedOpis:Frederic Rzewski's homage to Latin American liberation struggles is well represented, with stunning interpretations by such luminaries as Stephen Drury and Ursula Oppens prior to this version by Marc-André Hamelin. Drury's version might well be the high-water mark, in part because New Albion Records wisely included a rousing 1975 live version of the original Sergio Ortega liberation anthem with Quilapayun and thousands of singers to give the piano performance context. But comparing two versions of these 36 variations on the song's theme is fraught, given Rzewski's heavily improvisational performance instructions (e.g., to play variation 11 "like fragments of an absent melody--in strict time," variation 27 "Tenderly, and with a hopeful expression"). Hamelin takes the piece more strictly and in more clearly virtuosic terms than Drury, just as he's taken Scriabin and Medtner. He starts off stronger and paces himself differently, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but always more deliberately. People is a work prone to radically different interpretations, and while it's easy to compare Hamelin and Drury, it's musically better to take each on its own. It's folksy, rootsy music that gets microtonal in fragments and deconstructs the melody so thoroughly that it'll be 36 times lovelier when you're done listening. The added bonus of Hamelin's version is the inclusion of the warm "Down by the Riverside" and "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues", both given the theme-restatement-improvisation processing treatment that marks Rzewski's unparalleled work in traditional folk music. --Andrew Bartlett Product Description To the uninitiated it is hard to describe the musical world of the American composer Frederic Rzewski. A pianist himself, Rzewski initially made a name for himself as a champion of the avant-garde, performing everything from Cage to Boulez. In the '70s his own music took a much more populist turn as his political beliefs drove him to find a much more approachable language, basically tonal and incorporating much quotation from popular music. It is music of this period that is recorded here. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! 36 Variations on a Chilean protest song, has been likened to a twentieth-century 'Diabelli' Variations. This lengthy work is a tour de force of compositional and keyboard virtuosity, exhilarating and emotionally all-encompassing in its effect. Marc-Andre Hamelin has been playing the work for many years and has become one of its greatest champions, though the fact that many other pianists have also taken it up confirms that the piece is becoming a twentieth-century classic. Similiar in idiom are the two North American Ballads that complete the recital; once again popular melodies are woven into a fabric which in Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues includes the stunning representation of the mechanical noise of the mill.

Autor:Rzewski, FredericNośnik:Audio CDPłyt:Język: English: Published; English: Original Language; EnglishData wydania: 2025-09-12Waga: 0.18 gramWysokość: 0.6 cmSzerokość: 5 cmDługość: 5.6 cmNew Store StockUWAGA: Kupując produkt na tej aukcji zgadzasz się na wydłużony termin realizacji wysyłki (10-14 dni roboczych). Podany towar pochodzi z zagranicznego magazynu, stąd wydłużony czas realizacji który podany jest obok.