Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! – Marc-André Hamelin Hyperion

The People United Will Never Be Defeated![56’49]
1
No 1 Theme: With determination[1’23]
2
No 2 Variation 1: Weaving, delicate but firm[0’52]
3
No 3 Variation 2: With firmness[0’51]
4
No 4 Variation 3: Slightly slower, with expressive nuances[1’05]
5
No 5 Variation 4: Marcato[0’56]
6
No 6 Variation 5: Dreamlike, frozen[1’08]
7
No 7 Variation 6: Same tempo as beginning[1’08]
8
No 8 Variation 7: Tempo. Lightly, impatiently[0’50]
9
No 9 Variation 8: With agility; not too much pedal; crisp[1’03]
10
No 10 Variation 9: Evenly[1’02]
11
No 11 Variation 10: Comodo, recklessly[0’53]
12
No 12 Variation 11: Tempo I. Like fragments of an absent melody – in strict time[0’52]
13
No 13 Variation 12[1’12]
14
No 14 Variation 13: crochet = 72[1’57]
15
No 15 Variation 14: A bit faster, optimistically[1’13]
16
No 16 Variation 15: Flexible, like an improvisation[1’25]
17
No 17 Variation 16: Same tempo as preceding, with fluctuations; much pedal[1’36]
18
No 18 Variation 17: LH strictly minim = 36[1’22]
19
No 19 Variation 18: crochet = 72[1’38]
20
No 20 Variation 19: With energy[0’35]
21
No 21 Variation 20: Crisp, precise[0’30]
22
No 22 Variation 21: Relentless, uncompromising[0’46]
23
No 23 Variation 22: crochet = 132[0’43]
24
No 24 Variation 23: As fast as possible, with some rubato[0’22]
25
No 25 Variation 24: crochet = 72[2’33]
26
No 26 Variation 25: crochet = ca.84, with fluctuations[2’00]
27
No 27 Variation 26: In a militant manner[1’06]
28
No 28 Variation 27: Tenderly, and with a hopeful expression[5’33]
29
No 29 Variation 28: crochet = 160[1’19]
30
No 30 Variation 29: crochet = 144-152[0’33]
31
No 31 Variation 30: crochet = 84[2’36]
32
No 32 Variation 31: (crochet = 160)[0’52]
33
No 33 Variation 32[0’52]
34
No 34 Variation 33[1’00]
35
No 35 Variation 34[0’56]
36
No 36 Variation 35[0’55]
37
No 37 Variation 36[1’58]
38
No 38 Cadenza: with optional improvisation[6’24]
39
No 39 Theme: Tempo I[2’50]
North American Ballads
40
No 3: Down by the riverside[5’43]
41
No 4: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues[10’27]

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-André 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.