Day 140
Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated
Marc-André Hamelin
This set of variations made quite an impact when it started to become well known in the late 1970s Rzewski had a reputation as a extreme avant-garde figure and yet here he was writing music which was based on a popular tune and was broadly (if loosely) tonal. It even has key signatures in places!
It is a very interesting piece. Rzewski wanted to find ways of bringing some of the techniques of advanced piano technique to an audience whose experience was rooted in tonal music. I think that largely it does work. The piece is fascinating in many different ways. The textures are highly varied and exploit the full range of the instrumental possibilities - including slamming the piano lid and asking the pianist to hum and play at the same time. At times the music is wild but at the same time the ghost of the theme is apparent in the shadows much of the time. It is a real virtuoso showpiece and would have a real impact in a live performance. I don’t know whether this was a one off for Rzewski,but there is no doubt that the influence on the development of a post-modern musical language where there is a definite move towards an acceptance that some form of expanded tonality has a place in contemporary music.
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