''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' (1975) is a piano composition by American composer

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

. ''The People United'' is a set of 36

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

on the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

an song " ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega and

Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the '' Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution t ...

, and received its world premiere on February 7, 1976, played by

Ursula Oppens Ursula Oppens (born February 2, 1944) is an American classical concert pianist and educator. She has received five Grammy Award nominations. Biography Ursula Oppens was born on February 2, 1944, in New York City into a highly musical family fr ...

as part of the Bi-Centennial Piano Series at the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Concert Hall. Rzewski dedicated the composition to Oppens, who had commissioned it, and who recorded it in 1979; her recording was named "Record of the Year" in that year by ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'', and received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination.

Analysis

The song on which the variations is based is one of many that emerged from the

Unidad Popular Unidad Popular may refer to: * Popular Unity (Chile), a left-wing political alliance in Chile that supported Salvador Allende in 1970 * Popular Unity (Spain) Popular Unity ( es, Unidad Popular) was a political and electoral alliance in Spain. Th ...

coalition in Chile between 1969 and 1973, prior to the overthrow of the

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the firs ...

government. Rzewski composed the variations in September and October 1975, as a tribute to the struggle of the Chilean people against the newly imposed repressive regime of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

; indeed the work contains allusions to other leftist struggles of the same and immediately preceding time, such as quotations from the Italian traditional

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

song " Bandiera Rossa" and the

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

" Solidarity Song". In general, the variations are short, and build up to climaxes of considerable force. The 36 variations, following the 36 bars of the tune, are in six groups of six. The pianist, in addition to needing a virtuoso technique, is required to whistle, slam the piano lid, and catch the after-vibrations of a loud attack as harmonics: all of these are "extended" techniques in 20th-century piano writing. Much of the work uses the language of 19th-century romanticism, but mixes this language with

pandiatonic Pandiatonicism is a musical technique of using the diatonic (as opposed to the chromatic) scale without the limitations of functional tonality. Music using this technique is pandiatonic. History The term "pandiatonicism" was coined by Nicolas Sl ...

tonality, modal writing, and serial techniques. As in the ''

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'', BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also h ...

'' by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, the final variation is a direct restatement of the original theme, intended to be heard with new significance after the long journey through the variations.

Recordings

* Frederic Rzewski (composer and piano), ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', recorded 1986, published 1990 by

Hat Hut Records Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...

, Switzerland, hat ART CD 6066. * Frederic Rzewski (composer and piano), ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', in ''Piano Works, 1975–1999,'' published 2002,

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...

79623-2. * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song.

, piano. Vanguard Classics CD, OVC 8056. * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song.

Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ (born September 5, 1961), is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical proficiency of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has received 11 ...

, Hyperion Records CDA67077 (''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' Editor's Choice). * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. Stephen Drury, piano. New Albion NA063. * Frederic Rzewski Plays Rzewski VAI DVD 4440, Video recording from the 2007 Miami International Piano Festival * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on "¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!".

Kai Schumacher Kai Schumacher (born 18 November 1979) is a German pianist. He specializes primarily in American piano music of the 20th and 21st century, as well as music for piano and electronics Life Kai Schumacher received his first piano lessons when he ...

, piano.

Wergo WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was ...

WER67302. (fono forum magazine, pick of the month) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. Ralph van Raat, piano. Naxos 8.559360. * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. Thomas Schultz, piano. Wooden Fish Recordings (no number). * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song.

Yuji Takahashi Yuji or Yu Ji may refer to: * Yuji Naka, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer * Yu Ji (painter), a Qing dynasty painter and calligrapher * Yūji, a common masculine Japanese given name * Consort Yu (Xiang Yu's wife) (虞姬; ...

, piano. ALM ALCD-19. * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated''. Christopher Hinterhuber, piano. paladino music pmr 0037 (2012) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. Corey Hamm, piano. Redshift Records TK431 (2014) (2014 Spotify Best Classical Record, and Best Classical Recording of 2014 Western Canada Music Awards) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', Four Hands. Ursula Oppens, piano. Çedille Records: CDR 90000 158 (2014) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''.

Lee Sangwook Lee Sang-wook ( ko, 이상욱; born October 14, 1985) is a South Korean male artistic gymnast and a member of the national team. He participated at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, and qualified for the 2016 Summer Ol ...

, piano. Audioguy Classics (2014) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''.

Igor Levit Igor Levit (russian: link=no, Игорь Левит; born 10 March 1987) is a Russian-German pianist who focuses on the works of Bach, Beethoven, and Liszt. He is also a professor at the Musikhochschule Hannover. He lives in Berlin. Biography ...

, piano. Sony Music (2015) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. Daan Vandewalle, piano. Etcetera Records: KTC 1589, 8711801015897 (2017) * Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!.'
Michael Noble
piano. 198004840682 (2022) * List of variations on a theme by another composer

References

External links

* , Frederic Rzewski (piano), Nonesuch {{DEFAULTSORT:People United Will Never Be Defeated! Compositions for solo piano Variations Compositions by Frederic Rzewski 1975 compositions Music dedicated to ensembles or performers Music and politics

Analysis

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links