The Use of Variation Form in Frederic Rzewski's the People United Will Never Be Defeated!
Short Description
This was written as my Senior Music Theory Project in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor...
Description
Baldwin-Wallace College
The Use of Variation Form in Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
by Keane Southard
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Music
Music Theory Senior Project Dr. Cleland Spring, 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Keane Southard All rights reserved
2
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Feldman, who began as my advisor for this project up until the day he passed away from ALS.
Thanks to Dr. Cleland for his guidance and support as my other advisor for this project.
Thanks to Frederic Rzewski himself for being kind enough to meet with me and for letting me interview him, which has enriched the content of this paper as well as my understanding of his work immeasurably.
And thanks to Diane for her patience and support.
3
Table of Contents List of Charts and Examples……………………………………………………………………....6 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………12 CHAPTER 1: Background on Rzewski Biography……………………………………………………………...…………………13 MEV……………………………………………………………………………………...15 Improvisation…………………………………………………………………….............17 Political Views…………………………………………………………………………...18 CHAPTER 2: The People United Will Never Be Defeated Background on The People United Will Never Be Defeated…………………………….22 Formal Construction……………………………………………………………………..23 Thema……………………………………………………………………………………30 Set I Variation 1…………………………………………………………………….....40 Variation 2……………………………………………………………………….42 Variation 3……………………………………………………………………….48 Variation 4……………………………………………………………………….50 Variation 5……………………………………………………………………….52 Variation 6……………………………………………………………………….54 Set II Variation 7……………………………………………………………………….60 Variation 8….…………………………………………………………………....62 Variation 9……………………………………………………………………….64 Variation 10……………………………………………………………………...66 Variation 11……………………………………………………………………...70 Variation 12……………………………………………………………………...73 Set III…………………………………………………………………………………….79 Set IV…………………………………………………………………………………….80 Set V……………………………………………………………………………………...82 Variation 25……………………………………………………………………...83 Variation 26……………………………………………………………………...85 Variation 27……………………………………………………………………...88 Variation 28……………………………………………………………………...90 Variation 29……………………………………………………………………...94 Variation 30……………………………………………………………………...96 Set VI Variation 31…………………………………………………………………….110 Variation 32…………………………………………………………………….116 Variation 33…………………………………………………………………….122 Variation 34…………………………………………………………………….128 Variation 35…………………………………………………………………….137 Variation 36…………………………………………………………………….145
4
Recap of Theme………………………………………………………………………...151 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...154 Appendix A Second Structure…………………………………………………………………158 Appendix B Interview with Frederic Rzewski…..……………………………………………..162 Appendix C “Bandiera Rossa” Text and Translation………...………………………………..169 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………171
5
List of Charts and Examples Chart 1. Recapitulation Relationships…………………………………………………………….27 2. Key Scheme……………………………………………………………………………...29 3. Rhythmic Scheme of the Theme………………………………………………………...39 4. Harmonic Tones in Variation 2, m.9-12…………………………………………………45 5. Musical Languages in Variations 1-5……………………………………………………53 6. Variation 30, Measures allotted for each Variation Recapitulated………………………96 7. Recapitulation Relationships, Key Scheme, and Variation Lengths…………………...155 Example 1. Theme, m.1-36………………………………………………………………………..35-36 2. Theme, m. 5-6, Descending Diatonic Bass line………………………………………….37 3. Theme, m.33-34, Descending Chromatic Bass line……………………………………...37 4. Theme, m.5-16, Harmonic and Cadencial Analysis……………………………………..38 5. “Basic Rhythm”…………………………………………………………………………39 6. Variation 1, m. 1-12, Bass line (shown in circles) and Melody (shown in squares) Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………..41 7. Rhythmic Cells of the First Half of Variation 2…………………………………………42 8. Melody and Bass line comparison, Variation 2………………………………………….43 9. Variation 2, m. 1-8, Melody (shown in rectangles) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………..44 10. Rhythmic Cells of Variation 2 Melody…………………………………………………..45 11. Variation 2, m.9-12, m2/P5 Motive……………………………………………………...46 12. Theme, m. 9-12, m2/P5 Motive………………………………………………………….47 13. m2/P5 Motive and Hexachord 6-20……………………………………………………...47 14. Variation 3, m. 1-4, [045] Pitch Set Analysis……………………………………………49 15. Theme, m.13, Melody and Variation 3, m.6, Bass Melody Comparison Theme,m.13,melody……………………………………………………………..49 Variation 3, m. 6, Bass melody…………………………………………………..49 16. Variation 4, m.13-16, Melody Through Accents………………………………………...51 17. Variation 4, m.17-20, Melody (shown in squares) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………..51 18. Variation 4, m.21, Basic Rhythm………………………………………………………...52 19. Variation 5 and Theme Melody Comparison…………………………………………….53 20. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 6 Variation 6, m.1-2……………………………………………………………….55 Variation 1, m. 1-2………………………………………………………………55 Variation 6, m. 3-4………………………………………………………………55 Variation 1, m 15-16…………………………………………………………….56 Variation 6, m 5-6……………………………………………………………….56 Variation 2, m. 5-6………………………………………………………………56 Variation 6, m.7-8……………………………………………………………….57 Variation 2, m.17-18…………………………………………………………….57 Variation 6, m.9-10……………………………………………………………...57 Variation 3, m.5-6……………………………………………………………….57 Variation 6, m.11-12…………………………………………………………….58
6
Variation 3, m.15-16…………………………………………………………….58 Variation 6, m.13-14…………………………………………………………….58 Variation 4, m.1-2……………………………………………………………….58 Variation 6, m.15-16…………………………………………………………….59 Variation 4, m.13-14…………………………………………………………….59 Variation 6, 17-20……………………………………………………………….59 Variation 5, m. 1-4………………………………………………………………59 21. Variation 7 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………..61 22. Variation 7, m.21-24, Melody (shown in rectangles) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………..62 23. Variation 8, m 1-4, [045] Pitch Set Analysis…………………………………………….63 24. Variation 8, m.13-16, Use of Basic Rhythm……………………………………………..64 25. Variation 9 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………..65 26. Variation 9 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………..66 27. Variation 10 Melodic (rectangles) and Harmonic (circles) Analysis………………...67-69 28. Variation 11 Analysis…………………………………………………………………...71 29. Variation 11 Composite Rhythm as Written in 4/4……………………………………...72 30. Variation 11 Composite Rhythm Re-Written in 5/4……………………………………..72 31. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 12 Variation 12, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………..73 Variation 7, m. 1-2………………………………………………………………74 Variation 12, m. 3-4……………………………………………………………..74 Variation 7, m. 15-16……………………………………………………………74 Variation 12, m. 5-8……………………………………………………………..75 Variation 8, m. 9-12……………………………………………………………..75 Variation 12, m. 9-12……………………………………………………………76 Variation 9, m. 9-12……………………………………………………………..76 Variation 12, m. 13-16……………………………………………………….76-77 Variation 10, m. 1-4……………………………………………………………..77 Variation 12, m. 17-18…………………………………………………………..77 Variation 11, m. 10-11…………………………………………………………..78 Variation 12, m. 19-20…………………………………………………………..78 Variation 11, m. 21-22…………………………………………………………..78 32. “Bandiera Rossa” Melody……………………………………………………………….80 33. Variation 24, m. 17-18…………………………………………………………………...81 34. Variation 25, m. 15-16, Analysis of m2/P5 Motive……………………………………..84 35. “Soldaritätaslied” Melody……………………………………………………………….85 36. Variation 26, Theme and “Soldaritätaslied” Melody Comparison ……………………...86 37. Variation 26, m.21-28, Descending Chromatic Bass line (in circles)…………………...87 38. Variation 27, m.1-4, m2/P5 Motive and Descending Chromatic Bass line Analysis…...88 39. Theme, m. 13-15, Quarter note Walking Bass line……………………………………...89 40. Variation 27 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………90 41. Variation 28 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………91
7
42. Variation 28, m.27-42. Theme Melody (in circles) and Descending Chromatic Bass line (in rectangles)…………………………………………………………………...........92-93 43. Comparison of Variation 28 and J.S. Bach Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude in C Major Variation 28, m. 49-52…………………………………………………………...93 J.S. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude in C major, m.1-4…………94 44. Variation 29 and Theme Comparison……………………………………………………96 45. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 30 Variation 30, m. 1-4……………………………………………………………...98 Variation 25, m. 1-4……………………………………………………………..98 Variation 30, m. 5-8……………………………………………………………..99 Variation 25, m. 29-32…………………………………………………………..99 Variation 30, m. 9-16…………………………………………………………..100 Variation 26, m. 21-28……………………………………………………..100-01 Variation 30, m. 17-21…………………………………………………………101 Variation 27, m. 1-4……………………………………………………………101 Variation 30, m. 22………………………………………………………….....101 Variation 6, m. 21-22…………………………………………………………..102 Variation 30, m. 23…………………………………………………………….102 Variation 27, m. 17 (beginning of cadenza)…………………………………...102 Variation 30, m. 24-28…………………………………………………………103 Variation 27, m. 56-61…………………………………………………………103 Variation 30, m. 29-38…………………………………………………………104 Variation 27, m. 75-84…………………………………………………………104 Variation 30, m. 39-40…………………………………………………………104 Variation 27, m. 105-106………………………………………………………105 Variation 30, m. 41-44…………………………………………………………105 Variation 27, m. 115-116………………………………………………………105 Variation 30, m. 45-52…………………………………………………………106 Variation 26, m. 29-36…………………………………………………………106 Variation 30, m. 53-64…………………………………………………………107 Variation 27, m. 85-93…………………………………………………………108 Variation 30, m. 65-68…………………………………………………………108 Variation 29, m. 11-14…………………………………………………………109 46. Transition Phrase Comparison Variation 30, m.69-72…………………………………………………………..109 Variation 12, m. 21-24………………………………………………………….109 47. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 31 Variation 31, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….110 Variation 1, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...111 Variation 31, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….111 Variation 1, m. 15-16…………………………………………………………...111 Variation 31, m. 5-6…………………………………………………………….111 Variation 7, m. 21-22…………………………………………………………...112 Variation 31, m. 7-8…………………………………………………………….112 Variation 7, m. 13-14…………………………………………………………...112
8
Variation 31, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...112 Variation 13, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...113 Variation 31, m. 11-12………………………………………………………….113 Variation 13, m. 19-20………………………………………………………….113 Variation 31, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….113 Variation 19, m. 1-3…………………………………………………………….114 Variation 31, m. 15-16………………………………………………………….114 Variation 19, m. 13-15………………………………………………………….114 Variation 31, m. 17-19………………………………………………………….114 Variation 25, m. 5-7…………………………………………………………….115 Variation 31, m. 20……………………………………………………………..115 Variation 25, m. 29-30………………………………………………………….115 48. Variation 31, m.21-24 Analysis………………………………………………………...116 49. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 32 Variation 32, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….116 Variation 2, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...117 Variation 32, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….117 Variation 2, m. 13-14…………………………………………………………...117 Variation 32, m. 5-8…………………………………………………………….118 Variation 8, m. 7-10…………………………………………………………….118 Variation 32, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...118 Variation 14, m. 5-6…………………………………………………………….119 Variation 32, m. 11-12………………………………………………………….119 Variation 14, m. 19-20………………………………………………………….119 Variation 32, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….119 Variation 20, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….120 Variation 32, m. 15-16………………………………………………………….120 Variation 20, m. 15-16………………………………………………………….120 Variation 32, m. 17-18………………………………………………………….120 Variation 26, m. 21-22………………………………………………………….121 50. Variation 32 m.21-24 Analysis……………………………………………………...121-22 51. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 33 Variation 33, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….122 Variation 3, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...123 Variation 33, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….123 Variation 3, m. 15………………………………………………………………123 Variation 33, m. 5-6…………………………………………………………….123 Variation 9, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...124 Variation 33, m. 7-8…………………………………………………………….124 Variation 9, m. 21-22…………………………………………………………...124 Variation 33, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...124 Variation 15, m. 5-6…………………………………………………………….125 Variation 33, m. 11-12………………………………………………………….125 Variation 15, m. 23……………………………………………………………..125 Variation 33, m. 13-16………………………………………………………….126 Variation 21, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….126
9
Variation 33, m. 17-18………………………………………………………….126 Variation 27, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….127 Variation 33, m. 19-20………………………………………………………….127 Variation 27, m. 57-58………………………………………………………….127 52. Variation 33 m.21-24 Analysis………………………………………………………...128 53. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 34 Variation 34, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….129 Variation 4, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...129 Variation 34, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….129 Variation 4, m. 13-14…………………………………………………………...129 Variation 34, m. 5-8…………………………………………………………….130 Variation 10, m. 1-4…………………………………………………………….130 Variation 34, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...131 Variation 16, m. 7-8…………………………………………………………….131 Variation 34, m. 11-12………………………………………………………….132 Variation 16, m. 18-19………………………………………………………….132 Variation 34, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….133 Variation 22, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….133 Variation 34, m. 15-16………………………………………………………….133 Variation 22, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….133 Variation 34, m. 17-20………………………………………………………….134 54. Comparison of Recapitulations of Variation 28 in Variation 34 and 30……………….135 55. Variation 34, m. 19, and Variation 26, m.1 Comparison Variation 34, m. 19……………………………………………………………..135 Variation 26, m. 1………………………………………………………………136 56. Variation 34 m.21-24 Analysis…………………………………………………………137 57. Variation 35, m. 17-18 and Variation 21, m.9-10 Comparison Variation 35, m. 17-18…………………………………………………………138 Variation 21, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………..138 58. Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 35 Variation 35, m. 1-2…………………………………………………………….139 Variation 5, m. 1-2……………………………………………………………...139 Variation 35, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….139 Variation 5, m. 13-14…………………………………………………………...140 Variation 35, m. 5-6…………………………………………………………….140 Variation 11, m. 13-14………………………………………………………….140 Variation 35, m. 7-8…………………………………………………………….141 Variation 11, m. 21-22………………………………………………………….141 Variation 35, m. 9-10…………………………………………………………...141 Variation 17, m. 3-4…………………………………………………………….141 Variation 35, m. 11-12………………………………………………………….142 Variation 17, m. 16-17………………………………………………………….142 Variation 35, m. 13-16………………………………………………………….143 Variation 23, m. 1-4……………………………………………………………..144
10
59. Variation 35 m.21-24 Analysis………………………………………………………...145 60. Variation 36 Analysis……………………………………………………………….147-49 61. Recap of Theme m.41-43, Diatonic Sequence…………………………………………152
11
Introduction The composition that has brought Frederic Rzewski the most attention, fame, and recognition has been his hour-long set of thirty-six variations called The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for solo piano. In 1990, Art Lange wrote the following regarding the work: ‘It is not often that one is fortunate enough to witness the unveiling of a musical masterpiece, simply because there aren’t many being written today. Yet Frederic Rzewski’s epic solo piano composition, The People United Will Never Be Defeated, certainly fills the bill.’ I wrote that, reviewing a recital by The People United…’s dedicatee Ursula Oppens, in 1978 (three years after the work’s completion; this was its Chicago premiere). Now, some 12 years later, I’m able to add another criterion to its masterpiece status: the test of time. The music has lost none of its ability to mesmerize us with its invention, or move us with its integrity.1 This work is a landmark in variation form, perhaps being itself a kind of new “variation” on traditional variation form. It has been performed numerous times throughout the world, has been recorded at least eight times. A performance of Rzewski performing the work himself has even been released on DVD.2 While the work can be explored and looked at in relationship to its extra-musical and political associations, which can greatly enhance the appreciation of this work, extra-musical aspects will only be briefly touched upon in this essay in order to focus on how the work functions successfully as a piece of music without the justification of extra-musical or programmatic elements. More specifically, this essay will focus on Rzewski’s use of variation form, including how the theme is used and what elements are employed and developed within the variations. 1
Art Lange, Program notes for Frederic Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Frederic Rzewski, Hat ART CD 6066, 1990, quoted in Richard Koloda, “The Piano Music (Post 1974) of Frederic Rzewski.” (MM Thesis, Cleveland State University, 1996), 202. 2
Frederic Anthony Rzewski, perf. Rzewski Plays Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, DVD, directed by Tony Adzinikolov. (Pleasantville: Video Artists International, 2008).
12
Chapter 1: Background on Rzewski Biography Frederic Anthony Rzewski (pronounced Zhev-skee) was born on April 13, 1938 and grew up in Westfield, Massachusetts. He began playing the piano at the age of three and began composing shortly thereafter. At age four, he began studying with Charles Mackey of Springfield, Massachusetts, who taught him piano and a little bit of composition. Mackey exposed Rzewski to music by Shostakovich and Schoenberg, as well as leftist politics.3 At the age of sixteen, Rzewski entered Harvard where he studied composition with Walter Piston, orchestration with Claudio Spies, counterpoint with Randall Thompson, and piano with Gregory Tucker.4 By this time he was already an exceptional pianist, although he hardly practiced and preferred instead to compose, and had made friends with composers Christian Wolff and David Behrman. Wolff introduced Rzewski to the music of John Cage, with whom Wolff was a good friend, being already established as a composer of avant-garde music. They sponsored concerts at Harvard of avant-garde music in a time when “the Harvard Music Department [was] where
3 Frederic Rzewski. “I am in the habit of trying to relate my work to the world around me” interview by Vivian Perlis, 2 December 1984, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, edited by Gisela Gronemeyer and Reinhard Oehlschlagel. (Cologne: MusikTexte, 2007): 158-160. 4
It is interesting to note that Rzewski describes the Harvard Music Department as “not especially interesting…Thompson was the best teacher there was as far as I could see. He certainly was the best teacher that I had there. I studied modal counterpoint with him, and that was a very lucky thing, because I think the important thing in counterpoint is that you have a teacher who genuinely likes counterpoint. And he loved it. He knew Palestrina backwards and forwards. He was able to inspire in the students a certain passion for things like species counterpoint, which is after all not that easy to do. But the other people, although some of them I felt quite close to, like Claudio Spies, with whom I studied orchestration, and I found him a very interesting teacher –I even wrote a piece which I dedicated to him, a trio for flute, trumpet, and piano. A kind of neo-Stravinskian piece. And then there were some interesting professors of history. Nino Pirotta was there for a while teaching Baroque and PostBaroque music, and also Shigeo Kishibe from the University of Tokyo, who gave a very interesting course in Japanese music. So those were interesting courses. [Walter] Piston’s composition seminar was not terribly inspiring, because lots of times Piston didn’t even come to class, and when he did come to class he didn’t say very much. Of course that was his nature, anyway. He was a very nice man, but I don’t think we learned a great deal in that course.” Ibid., 162-64.
13
Stravinsky and neoclassicism ruled. No one in Harvard was listening to Schoenberg and Webern”.5 After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, he went to graduate school at Princeton where he studied with Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt from 1958-60.6 Then he traveled to Rome, Italy on a Fulbright Scholarship to study with Luigi Dallapiccola, but ended lessons very soon after. Rzewski recalls But with Dallapiccola I made a serious mistake. When I first showed up there he asked me what I wanted to do. And I made, I think, a fatal mistake, which was to say to him that what I wanted to do was orchestration. This was the area where I felt I was weakest, and I wanted to concentrate on orchestration rather than on composition. And I think I gave the impression that I was not interested in what he had to say about composition. At first he agreed, he said fine, we’ll work on orchestration, and we did do several lessons of orchestration, but then one time I missed a lesson because I had gone to visit some friends in London, and when I came back from London I found a letter saying that Maestro Dallapiccola felt that I was not the kind of student that he wanted, needed to work with, and would I please go somewhere else. And I realized that I had made a serious mistake simply in –I must have given the impression of arrogance, because I probably was rather arrogant at that time. And now, it’s one thing I’ve always regretted, because I certainly could have gotten a lot from that man if I had approached him correctly.7 Rzewski remained in Rome for the next few years. He began to make his name as a performer while becoming the pianist for the Italian flautist Severino Gazzelloni. He began performing and recording many works by contemporary composers such as Boulez, Stockhausen, Bussotti,
5
Ibid., 166.
6
“If I found the Harvard Music Department not terrifically inspiring, I think the Princeton Music Department was even less so…. The lessons with Sessions consisted mostly of anecdotes, which were quite interesting, but there wasn’t a great deal of time to go into the actual technique of composition. And with Babbitt I think this was even more the case. My lessons with Babbitt consisted often of discussions of baseball or Broadway musicals.” Ibid., 168-70. 7
Ibid., 170.
14
Kagel, Cage, Feldman and Wolff. He even gave the premieres of Stockhausen’s Klavierstuck X and Plus-Minus in 1962 and 1964 respectively.8 In 1963, Rzewski was invited by Elliot Carter, who was also a former student of Walter Piston, to be part of the Ford Foundation artist-in-residence program and live in West Berlin for two years. While there he met fellow composer Alvin Curran, with whom he would later found the group Musica Elettronica Viva. During this time he began teaching, first at the Cologne Courses for New Music in 1963, 1964, and 1970, as well at the Center for the Creative Arts at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1977 he was offered the position of Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatoire de Liege in Belgium, where he remained until retiring in 2003. In the past thirty years, he has been invited to teach for short periods of time at several institutions around the U.S. and Europe, including the Hochschule der Kunste in West Berlin, the Yale School of Music, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, the Hochschule fur Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, and the California Institute of the Arts.
MEV In 1966, while living in Rome, Rzewski founded Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) along with Alvin Curran and Richard Teitelbaum. The group was dedicated to playing live electronic music combined with improvisation in concerts or “happenings”. Jazz proved to be a huge influence, and jazz musicians such as Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, John Coltrane, 8
Harold C. Schoenberg’s review of a performance of Klavierstuck V describes Rzewksi’s playing, “He then turned to Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ‘Klavierstuck 10.’ For which he dusted the keys of the piano with talcum powder and wore a pair of white workman’s gloves with the fingers cut off. This permitted him to make all kinds of glissandos with his palm. What with the glissandos, forearm and fist tone clusters, pregnant pauses and whatnots, there was a good half hour of esthetic commotion. Mr. Rzewski bespattered and weary, took his bows.” Harold C Schoenberg, “Music: Frederic Rzewski at the Piano.” New York Times 21 August 1963, 39, quoted in Koloda, 11.
15
and Anthony Braxton all performed with MEV on occasion. Another large influence was John Cage and his understanding of music as a process and not a product.9 MEV worked to incorporate the audience and non-musicians and also to break down some “outdated” musical traditions, such as notated music and the standard concert format. Incorporating the audience into the music-making is an early example of the unification theme later apparent in The People United. The following are Rzewski’s instructions for one of MEV’s pieces which the audience is to participate: We are all ‘musicians’. We are all ‘creators’. Music is a creative process in which we all can share, and the closer we can come to each other in this process, abandoning esoteric categories and professional elitism, the closer we can all come to the ancient idea of music as a universal language…We are trying to catalyze and sustain a musical process, moving in the direction of unity, towards a sense of communion and closeness among all individuals present…The musician takes on a new function: he is no longer the mythical star, elevated to a sham glory and authority, but rather an unseen worker, using his skill to help others less prepared than he to experience the miracle, to become great artists in a few minutes.10
MEV’s goal was to bring music down from the elitist status of the cerebral composer, such as is exemplified in his former teacher Milton Babbitt’s essay Who Cares if you listen? 11 to something that can create social change and harmony between ordinary people. This dissolution of the traditional classical music concert was an attempt to free the performer and audience in
9
Patricia Ann Keyes, “The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003” (DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006), 51. 10
Michael Nyman, Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999,) 130, quoted in Keyes, 53. 11 Milton Babbitt, “Who Cares If You Listen?” High Fidelity Magazine viii (1958): 38, quoted in Laura Melton, Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective, (DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998), 7.
16
order for a primitive, universal musical language to emerge.12 This is the same view Rzewski maintains while writing The People United. Before they disbanded in 1970, the group played over 200 concerts and these experiences greatly affected Rzewski’s later compositions.
Improvisation In addition to composing fully written-out works, Rzewski is an incredibly skilled improviser, and often inserts improvisations into works he performs, and this interest greatly affects his compositional method. His interest in improvisation came from both the classical tradition of improvising composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, and also from jazz. Christian Wolff writes: One can also say that improvisation and composition are for Rzewski inextricably combined. And, partly because composed, written pieces often have space for improvising with nothing or only the most general suggestions indicated for the player, this interaction of what’s improvised with what’s written and their co-existence are themselves what the music is really about, what we should be listening to. This is not just a formal or procedural matter either. One can see it as the expression of an ideal and a dilemma of human living. No music, no genuine human action or feeling is without spontaneous impulse. The capacity and space for such impulse make up our human freedom. On the other hand, improvised spontaneity is always on the brink of arbitrariness and chaos or absurdity. The drama of that dilemma is the drama of Rzewski’s music.13 Rzewski himself talks about improvisation and composition: Stravinsky once remarked that composition was simply improvising with a pencil. Lately, I’ve been trying to get into a state of mind where I can write off the top of my head, just slapping down ideas on paper as they appear. What passes today for legitimate composition today seems to be a much more formalistic endeavor, an attempt to emulate the procedures of science.14 12
Keyes, 54.
13
Christian Wolff, CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Ursula Oppens, Vanguard Classics VSD-71248, 1993. 14
Joshua Kosman, “Improvising with a Pencil: The Piano Music of Frederic Rzewski.” Piano and Keyboard 161 March/April, 1993: 36, quoted in Keyes, 60.
17
He believes his interest in improvisation and modern music is really just an extension of the classical tradition. He writes: The classical tradition is a dynamic one of innovation. I consider the practice of performing music that is 150 to 200 years old to be an aberration of this tradition…I consider people like myself composer/performers, to be the true inheritors of this tradition.15 Every time I play classical music, someone comes up and complains about it afterwards. A while back I played the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with the New Hampshire Symphony. This was one of the last pieces written by Beethoven that he played himself, and we also know that he did a lot of improvising. There are certain places in the Fourth where there are spaces for cadenzas – at least five; One in the first movement, once in the second, and at least three places in the third. There are written-out cadenzas, but we know that Beethoven sometimes played very, very long improvisations. And one can easily imagine that he probably extended them when performing. So I decided to do that: Improvise all five cadenzas and really play some long improvisations. But people got very upset. There was as much improvised music as there was of Beethoven’s written music in that performance.16
In many of his compositions, including The People United, he inserts spots for optional improvisations, understanding that many concert musicians are not trained or comfortable with improvising, but leaving the option there for those who want to.
Political Views As early as his undergraduate years, Rzewski’s music has been inseparable from his politics and has consciously used his music as a vehicle for social change. Because of this, he has been labeled a “political composer”. Patricia Ann Keyes explains that “because Rzewski has
15
Annette Moreau, “From Outside In; They Call Him Fred the Red, But His God Was Beethoven.” Independent, November 20, 1993, quoted in Keyes, 15-16. 16
Lillian Tan, “Rzewski Fuses Jazz with Classical Music to Create Consciousness-Raising Concerts.” Keyboard Magazine 11 (December 1985): 16-85, quoted in Keyes, 61.
18
long taken an active interest in leftist politics – and has often reflected that interest in his music – he has inevitably acquired the tag of a ‘political’ composer”.17 Rzewski himself does not adhere to this label, saying: I did not publish a book called Stockhausen Serves Imperialism, and I have never sat down in front of a tank. But somehow even my limited involvement in human life in general in my music, or in attempting to associate these things, has brought me the stamp of being ‘Fred the Red’. It’s not relevant to understanding my music. I happen to be interested in life and the relationships of music to life. I am not inspired by abstractions.18
Keyes sees this reluctance to be labeled a political composer as an attempt to keep the focus on the artistic appeal of his music instead of politics.19 Stephen Drury, who has performed and recorded The People United, supports this claim, and says that “He [Rzewski] doesn’t want to get locked in a box. His works are not agitprop, which might be useful socially but tends to be uninteresting artistically. He’s first of all a composer with a social conscience, but he’s interested in writing good music”.20 His belief that music can inspire social change is strong and he believes all artists should take hold of its power in opposition to Babbitt’s artistic elitist position. Rzewski writes: Of course music is a political force. It’s a very powerful political force. Music influences millions of people. If a composer comes to grips with this fact, this tremendous potential force that is in this form of art, then there is a possibility of really doing something to change the situation, perhaps on a small level at first, but nonetheless important. I think it’s very necessary today to begin to think of
17
Keyes, 73.
18
Morreau, 53.
19
Keyes, 74.
20
David Weininger,“Rzewski: Composer, Pianist, Iconoclast, Full of Eclectic Invention. His Work Doesn’t Fit Into a Box” The Boston Globe. June 19, 2005, quoted in Keyes, 74.
19
music as not simply a form of art for art’s sake but a form of spiritual expression that potentially influences masses of people.21 However, he also realizes the limitations that one artist can do to change the world through their art: The important thing is to get past the notion that an individual can, with his own resources, make any significant progress on solving a problem which is social in nature. This is one of the biggest hurdles that artists have to overcome, the idea that art alone can solve problems that really need other forms of action. Art can help: it can be useful in solving human problems. It always has been and it always will be, but only as long as it recognizes its own limitations.22 In addition, while he often uses compositional styles that are less complex in order to be understood by a wider audience, he refuses to write lesser quality music while rejecting more complex and intellectual styles of composition. It is possible to say, however, that such things as counterpoint, chromatic harmony, serialism, the techniques of electronic music, all basically discoveries of the classical tradition in evolution, represent major acquisitions of the human intellect, objective leaps forward in its drive to understand and interpret both nature and its own relation to nature. It would be foolish to sacrifice such things on the grounds that they originally developed in the service of this or that ruling class in various stages of history, just as it would be foolish to scrap this electric typewriter on which I now am writing, merely because its original reason for being was to generate profits for IBM! This typewriter is a beautiful machine, and I need it. Similarly, the masses of people need beauty, and they need it in its most advanced, most complex, most difficult form.23 Politically, Rzewski is usually labeled as a Marxist. Without a doubt we can at least conclude that Rzewski’s political beliefs are well on the left side of the political spectrum.
21
Joe Goldberg, “The Art of Political Process, Frederic Rzewski,” WaxPaper, 5/7 (1979) 21, quoted in
Keyes, 75. 22
Ken Terry, “Frederic Rzewski and the Improvising Avant-Garde.” Downbeat (Jan. 11, 1979) 40, quoted in Keyes, 76. 23
Rzewski, “All artists are compromisers”, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, 204.
20
With regards to his political motivation behind The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, Rzewski writes, During the time I was living in New York (1971-76), I became more and more concerned with the question of language. It seemed to me there was no reason why the most difficult and complex formal structures could not be expressed in a form which could be understood by a wide variety of listeners. I was also concerned with what appeared to me to be a crisis in theory, not only in music but in many different fields, including science and politics: the absence of a general theory to explain phenomena and guide behavior. I explored forms in which existing musical languages could be brought together. A series of variations for solo piano, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! was the main expression for these ideas at the time.24 Overall, Rzewski believes that creating art is always an act of defiance against social oppression. Artists are in fact able to turn into some kind of reality (even if only in a partial and imperfect way) the age-old dream of what life would be like in a nonrepressive society based on an economy of abundance, in which people would be free both from need and from domination, and able to pursue their inborn creative impulses, without having to alienate their labor in the service of an external authority….This explains the continuing need for art and artists: Their work provides a model for the creative negation of an oppressive reality.25
24
Frederic Rzewski, CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Frederic Rzewski, Hat ART CD 6066, 1990, quoted in Melton, 4-5. 25
Rzewski, “Music and Political Ideals”, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, 192.
21
Chapter 2: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! Background on The People United Will Never Be Defeated! The impetus for the creation of The People United Will Never Be Defeated! came from Rzewski’s friend, and concert pianist, Ursula Oppens. She asked him to write a work for her to premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. for the Washington Performing Arts Center’s U. S. Bicentennial Celebration on February 7, 1976.26 She was working on the Diabelli Variations of Beethoven at the time and perhaps this stimulated Rzewski to write a large-scale set of variations to either rival or accompany this piece. The Chilean Revolutionary song “El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido”, written by Sergio Ortega in 1973, serves as the theme of Rzewski’s variations (the English translation of the song’s title is “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”). Laura Melton describes the political context in during which the song was written. From 1970 to 1973, Salvadore Allende was in power in Chile, commanding the first freely elected Marxist regime in the West. This was a difficult three-year period in Chile with a complex network of political and economic problems that resulted from Allende’s attempt to nationalize many of Chile’s domestic and foreign-owned industries, primarily the copper industry. He also raised wages, improved social services and began land redistribution programs, all of which helped the lower class and angered the middle and upper classes. Also unhappy were American businesses and corporations such as ITT and Anaconda Copper. Chile was soon without foreign capital which caused shortages and enormous inflation, which led to strikes, demonstrations, and counterdemonstrations dissolving Allende’s coalition. This led to a coup in September of 1973 when Augusto Pinochet took over. The ironic twist to the to the political nature of the piece becomes clear when one considers the CIA’s successful attempt to destabilize the Allende regime by channeling millions of dollars to the opposition via the press, politicians, businessmen and trade unions.27 26
Of the premiere, Rzewski says “I got there late because the train broke down from New York, so I missed the first part of the concert. I think she [Oppens] played Beethoven Opus 110. I heard my piece, I think. I don’t remember now.” Frederic Rzewski, interview by author, 21 June 2008, tape recording, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati. (See Appendix B for complete transcription of the interview. Subsequent references to this interview will include the page number of the appendix.) 27
Melton, 9.
22
Ever since, the song has become world famous and is an anthem for the Chilean resistance. Keyes points out the irony between the subject matter of the song and the premiere of Rzewski’s work: For a piece that draws its primary inspiration from a leftist chant that was used to support Salvador Allende’s socialist government, it is remarkable that the premiere went ahead. One supposition is that the organizers of the Bicentennial celebration in Washington were unaware of the political nature of the thematic materials used for the variations. Whatever the reasons for its inclusion in the celebration, Rzewski certainly must have enjoyed making a political statement in this context.28
Formal Construction The People United is cast as a theme, thirty-six variations, and recapitulation of theme. In order to musically represent the concept of unification, Rzewski chose a form that would represent this. He chose his own Second Structure, a free improvisation piece he performed several times as a member of MEV in the 1970’s, as a model for the variations. The “piece” simply consists of a text which describes a musical form. Rzewski explains: This was a form which in my group, MEV, we used a number of times as a kind of form to keep in our heads in the course of a free improvisation. Since it was free improvisation, this form, although it perhaps provided some kind of a platform for an impro, it never developed in as strict a way as one could imagine. So that’s why I decided to make a written out version of it…It was a rather rigorous application of the model that you find in that text.29 The following is taken from the text of Second Structure, which details six stages that each “represent some particular way of dealing with time”30:
28
Keyes, 108.
29
Rzewski, interview by author, 160.
30
Ibid.
23
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Simple events Rhythms Melodies Counterpoints Harmonies Combinations of all these.31
The first five points above are different and contrasting elements, while the sixth synthesizes all the elements together. As a musical form, Rzewski chose this for setting the song because the musical form itself represents the idea of unification. Rzewski does this by using many different styles within the variations and bringing them closer together. Rzewski comments on his tendency to use diverse styles and elements in his music and how they can be used together: Such attempts to integrate traditional musical language with the analytic techniques of contemporary practice are considered by some to be suspect, if not outright regressive, coming as they do after the total “tabularasification” undertaken by the serialists. I consider the very interesting possibility that entirely new ground may be broken in the synthesis of newly acquired techniques with older traditions, and this on both sides of the equation: first, because new technologies (such as electronics), as well as new composing techniques make it possible to subject traditional material to a series of transformations, in such a way that it is perceived in a quite new fashion; and second, for the (less apparent but no less important) reason that similar technical advances in areas outside of music (such as communications) have altered our consciousness of these same traditions, and have brought us into close contact with similar traditions in areas of the planet that, only a few decades ago, remained relatively remote and unknown. Such a process of synthesis, both within and outside the universe of music, has made it possible to move out of the confining dogmatism of serial thinking—what Pousseur calls the “symmetrical negation” of tradition into a kind of musical thinking that is both broader (embracing a variety of traditions of diverse social and geographical origin) and deeper (moving freely back and forth through history) than any previous framework for a musical creation. It becomes possible, for the first time, to speak seriously of a possible “world music,” turning the ancient utopian idea of music as a “universal language” into a reality. And this, not as in the work of some composers (like Stockhausen, in Cardew’s view), as the forceful integration of diverse cultures into a Western model, but rather as a gradual and harmonious confluence, under peaceful and mutually satisfying conditions. Already a new generation of musicians is emerging, 31 Frederic Rzewski, CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 19751999 performed by Frederic Rzewski, Nonesuch 79623-2, 2002. (See Appendix A for complete text of Second Structure.)
24
equally at home in both written and improvising traditions, for whom the notion of “composition” will take on hitherto unknown aspects.32
While it is interesting to discuss how each variation fulfills the descriptions of the previously mentioned stages, this would entail an analysis outside the scope of this essay. The idea of combining several diverse elements that characterizes this form actually comes from another work, Plus-Minus of Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1963. Rzewski describes this work as “not really a piece. It’s kind of a formal scheme for a composer to use to write a piece and has this idea of there are a number of elements and then a final element which involves a combination of all those things”.33 Rzewski also performed in the world premiere of this work. Rzewski takes the form set forth in Second Structure and employs it in two different dimensions. The six stages of Second Structure are used on a micro and macro level. The work contains a total of thirty-six variations, which are broken down into six sets of six variations each. In this way, each set is a complete form, where five variations are contrasting and use the material from the theme in different ways, while the sixth of each set recapitulates and synthesizes the material of the previous five by drawing them closer together. In the same way, the six sets themselves embody the form, where the first five sets each have their own character emphasizing different musical elements of the theme and the sixth recapitulates and synthesizes. The first variation of the final set recapitulates the first variation of each previous set, the second variation recapitulates the second variation of each previous set, etc. Following this pattern, the thirty-sixth and final variation is both a recapitulation of the sixth 32
Rzewski, “Melody as Face: On The Interpretation of Perceived Phenomena”, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, 140. 33
Rzewski, interview by author, 161-162.
25
variation of each set, which were themselves recapitulations, and of the previous five variations of the sixth set, which were also recapitulations as well. In other words, what we have in the final variation is a recapitulation of all of the previous variations into one, or more correctly, all of the material and characters of the twenty-five “original” variations, or of all the variations not including the recapitulation variations. The following chart shows these relationships:
26
Chart 1 Recapitulation Relationships
27
The idea of six stages was introduced to Rzewski by the Living Theatre, of whom he collaborated often with in the 1970’s, who got it from the Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.34 This form is also similar to the poetic form of the sestina, in which there are six stanzas of six lines each. Each stanza uses the same six words that end each line but in different combinations. The poem then ends with a three-line envoi that, in a way, recapitulates the previous material by using all six end words in a condensed form. This form was created by 12th century troubadours in France and likely developed separate from the previously mentioned Jewish source.35 While the theme contains thirty-six measures, each variation contains exactly twentyfour, except for the variations in the fifth set, where “it’s supposed to go haywire”36 and the variations vary from fourteen measures (not including repeats) to 116 measures (not including repeats). This consistent structure of twenty-four measures and similar phrasing preserves the coherence throughout this long work and makes Rzewski’s use of vastly different compositional methods and languages as clear as possible. This consistent structure also helps to maintain the clarity in the most diverse and enigmatic variations (outside of Set V, of course) such as Variations ten and eleven, as we will examine later in this essay. The key scheme of the variations is also carefully planned out and significant to the form. The theme itself is in D minor, and so is the first variation. Each subsequent variation is then in the minor key a perfect fifth higher than the previous one (even though several variations can be
34
Ibid, 162.
35
Mark Strand and Eavan Boland, The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000), 21-23. 36
Rzewski, interview by author, 161.
28
considered pantonal,37 each variation beings, ends, and has at least some tertian harmonies that correspond with the harmonic progression of the theme). This goes on around the complete circle-of-fifths over all twelve minor keys for the first twelve variations, or first two sets. The next twelve variations, or two sets, are all in D minor, and the final twelve go around the circleof-fifths one more time by rising fifths. Chart 2 Key Scheme Variation
1
Key
2
4
5
6
8
9
Dm Am Em
Bm
F#m
C#m G#m
D#m
Variation
13
16
17
18
19
Key
Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm
Dm
Variation
25
Key
Dm Am Em
14
26
3
15
27
7
11
12
Bbm Fm
Cm
Gm
20
21
22
23
24
Dm
Dm
Dm
Dm
Dm
Dm
31
32
33
34
35
36
D#m
Bbm Fm
Cm
Gm
28
29
30
Bm
F#m
C#m G#m
10
In this way, there is a tripartite structure that takes advantage of the fact that there are twelve different pitches on a piano and that this is a multiple of six and a factor of thirty-six. This creates a tonal balance throughout the whole composition, where the journey through all twelve minor keys in twelve variations is followed by a stable plateau of twelve variations in the original key of D minor, then travels once again around the twelve minor keys to come back to the original tonality of D minor for the recapitulation of the original theme once again. This key scheme also relates directly to the harmonic material of the theme, where a circle-of-fifths progression is used in the B phrase, which will be shown and discussed later.
37
This author prefers to use the term “pantonal” where others would use the, I believe, incorrect term
“atonal”.
29
Thema As previously mentioned, the theme is the Chilean revolutionary song “El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido” (The People United Will Never Be Defeated) composed by Sergio Ortega in 1973. As a response to the political turmoil, this song became popular throughout South America as a chant for unity against political oppression. Ortega describes the inspiration behind the composition of the song. One day in June, 1973, three months before the bombing by Pinochet’s military coup, I was walking through the plaza in front of the palace of finance in Santiago, Chile, and saw a street singer shouting, “The People United Will Never Be Defeated” –a well-known Chilean chant for social change. I couldn’t stop, and continued across the square, but his incessant chanting followed me and stuck in my mind. On the following Sunday, after the broadcast of the show “Chile Says No to Civil War,” which I directed for Channel 9, we went with a few artists to eat at my house outside Santiago. Upon arrival I sat down at my piano and thought about the experience in the plaza and the events at large. When I reproduced the chant of the people in my head, the chant that could not be restrained, the entire melody exploded from me: I saw it complete and played it in its entirety at once. The text unfurled itself quickly and fell, like falling rocks, upon the melody. In their enthusiasm some of my guests made suggestions that were too rational for the situation I was composing in. Out of courtesy I pretended to accept, but arranged myself to leave the text in its symptomatic landscape.38
The text is as follows:
38
Sergio Ortega, CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, performed by Stephen Drury, New Albion NA 063, 1994.
30
De pie, cantar que vamos a triunfar Avanzan ya banderas de unidad Y tu vendras marchando junto a mi Y asi versa tu canto y tu bandera florecer La luz de un rojo amanecer Anuncia ya la vida que vendra
Arise, sing, for we will triumph Flags of unity advance Come marching with me and behold the Blossoming of your song and your flag The light of a red dawn Announces the life to come
De pie, luchar el pueble va a triunfar Sera major la vida que vendra A conquistar nuestra felicidad Y en clamor mil voces Mil voces de combate se alzaran diran cancion de libertad Con decisional patria vencera
Arise, fight, the People will triumph The life to come will be better Let us win our happiness And in a clamor a thousand voices Of combat rise and recite A song of liberty With decisiveness the nation will be victorious And now the People rise in the fight With a giant’s voice they cry
Y ahora el pueblo que se alza en la lucha Con voz de gigante gritando adelante El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido
The People United Will Never Be Defeated The People United Will Never Be Defeated39
Two days after its completion, the song was performed in public by the Chilean musical group “Quilapayun” and they later made a recording. The song was also popular in Italy, where many Chilean exiles where living as well, and Melton believes that it was while Rzewski was living in Rome in the early 1970’s that he probably heard the tune for the first time.40 However, Rzewski writes himself that “I first heard Sergio Ortega’s song at a concert given by the Chilean group Inti-Illimani at Hunter College in the fall of 1974.”41 After first hearing the song, Rzewski “walked out onto the street singing the melody, and it never left [him] from that time on.”42 The piano piece was then written in September and October of 1975.
39
Ibid., Translation by Elena Hammel and Maria Letona.
40
Melton, 15.
41
Rzewski, liner notes to Rzewski Plays Rzewski.
42
Ibid.
31
While Rzewski chose to use this song in part because of his belief in the message of the song and political associations with it, he also considered the actual musical content of the song. He comments, “This tune, you’ve heard it before, it’s like the famous Paganini theme on which Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski and so on wrote variations. That’s the other thing, it’s a theme that immediately suggests variations.”43 Rzewski also talks about the properties and amazing ability of a melody, such as this, to retain its character: Certain trends in twentieth-century music would reduce all categories of sound and silence to one level. In my opinion, however, those elements of a sound complex which are perceived as “tunes,” as melody, are linked to a separate faculty for recognizing specifically human sounds, as distinct from sounds in general; they are analogous to those elements of a complex visual image which are selectively perceived as together forming a recognizable human figure or face. Melody would be, therefore, for the art of music what the human form, especially the human face, would be for the visual arts. Because of this special quality of “timelessness” (in the case of melody) or “spacelessness” (in the case of the face) –that is, the ability of the recognized figure to stick together, to retain its identity even when removed from a context, from the rest of time or space—it should be possible to subject both types of figure, melody and face, to a considerable degree of abstraction and distortion, without losing recognizability: more than would be the case with ordinary noises or shapes…44 Melton summarizes Rzewski’s reason for using the song, “it satisfied his political beliefs, it stings the bicentennial celebration by celebrating a government that the American government helped to overthrow, it is an inspiring song musically and it is highly accessible, satisfying one of the main facets of his musical philosophy.”45 He later obtained the recording of the song by the group Quilapayun and notated the theme from listening to and transcribing it. Rzewski explains, “I just transcribed it from the recording, which is actually, I heard it as being in a triple rhythm…When I later saw the actual 43
Rzewski, interview by author, 160.
44
Rzewski, “Melody as Face”, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, 138. 45
Melton, 19.
32
score I saw it was dotted-eighth and sixteenth.”46 In addition to changing the rhythm of the theme, Rzewski also changed the key to D minor, while he says the original is in A minor, although the recording by Quilapayun is in G minor.47 The recording by Quilapayun begins with three two-measure statements of the title of the song, simply chanted without exact pitches. The accompaniment, acoustic guitars and drum to emphasize the rhythm, enter on the third statement of the chant. The voices then begin singing the tune in four-measure phrases, in the form of ABBABBCD which is then repeated with different words where D is the non-sung chant. After the repeat, the chant is sung a few more times by some while the tune is sung on the syllable “la” until the end. In Rzewski’s piano piece, the entire theme spans thirty-six measures, which is broken down into nine four-bar phrases. The fact that the theme lasts thirty-six measures parallels the macro-structure of thirty-six variations. This phrase structure can be analyzed as (Ch)ABB(ABB)’C(Ch)’ where “Ch” stands for the chant. All of these four-bar phrases can be further broken down into groups of two two-bar phrases. For the chant, which is sung by Quilapayun without exact pitches in the recording, Rzewski uses the same rhythm while adding pitches in octaves from the melodic material of the “ABB” sections. The pitches from the first two-bar phrase are very similar to the first two-bar phrase of “A” with a couple added notes. The ABB section presents the written-out-swung melody in the right hand with a slow stride-like (alternating bass notes and chords in a higher register) left hand in quarter notes at a mezzo-forte dynamic level. In the (ABB)’ section, the dynamic level is boosted up to forte while the right
46
Rzewski, interview by author, 159.
47 On the recording by Stephen Drury, a recording of the tune by Quilapayun is included and this is the recording that is analyzed in the following paragraph. Frederic Rzewski, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Stephen Drury, New Albion NA-063, 1994.
33
hand melody is raised an octave and often has added harmonic tones attached to it. The right hand also has an extra melodic note added to each short melodic statement, as in the opening chant. The left hand also extends its register down an octave while joining the right hand in the quicker triplet eighth note rhythms. In the C phrase, the music begins at pianissimo and crescendos to forte while using repeated chords. The theme then ends with a louder variant of the opening chant, with a steady descending chromatic bass line in the left hand and accented melody notes, often in octaves fleshed out by harmonic tones, all at fortissimo. The following example shows the entire theme and labels the phrases.
34
Ex. 1 Theme, m. 1-3648
48
All of the examples from Rzewski’s piece come from The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: 36 Variations on “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” Music Score. (Tokyo: Zen-On Music Co., 1979.)
35
36
The structure for each of the variations of twenty-four measures in length (in other words, all of the variations excepting Set V) correspond to the ABB(ABB)’ section of the theme. The most striking elements of the theme, and the motives that are often exploited by Rzewski in the subsequent variations, include the bass line, the melody, the harmonic progression, the phrase structure including cadences, and the rhythm. With the bass line, Rzewski specifically uses the descending diatonic motive from “A” and the descending chromatic motive of the beginning of “(Ch’)”. Ex. 2 Theme, m. 5-6, Descending Diatonic Bass line
Ex. 3 Theme, m.33-34, Descending Chromatic Bass line
From the melody, the most common melodic motive that is derived from the theme is a minor second followed by a perfect fifth (m2/P5). Its significance and origins will be discussed later. From the harmonic progression, the circle-of-fifths sequence from phrase B is used often in the variations, as well as in the key scheme of the variations themselves. In addition, the phrase structure and cadences are also often maintained. The following example analyzes the 37
cadences and harmonic progression of the ABB section (which are the same for the [ABB]’ section as well excepting the final cadence) of the theme, which corresponds to the harmonic progression in many of the variations (except those in Set V). Ex. 4 Theme, m.5-16, Harmonic and Cadencial Analysis
Rhythmically, two aspects of the theme are used in the variations. There is a common “basic rhythm” that underlies each of the eighteen two-bar phrases, and this basic rhythm is also frequently used by Rzewski. There are only three different rhythms for all of the two-bar phrases in the theme (excepting two note extensions in m.12 and m. 24, one note reduction in m.28, and notes that are held through the rests in m.29-36): from the chant (m.1-2), “A” (m.5-6), and “A’” (m.17-18). These are all variations on a basic rhythm taken from the occurrences of the notes on the beats of each two-bar phrase.
38
Ex. 5 “Basic Rhythm”
In addition, the rhythmic scheme of the theme is also maintained in many variations. The following chart shows the rhythms used is each section. Chart 3 Rhythmic Scheme of the Theme SECTION # of measures rhythms
CHANT 4
ABB 12
(ABB)’ 12
Eighth notes
Quarter notes, Triplet eighth triplet quarter notes and eighth notes(swing)
C 4
(CHANT)’ 4
Eighth notes
Eighth notes
What we have is rhythmic progression of slow-fast-slow, or simple-complex-simple. This progression is used throughout many of the variations.
39
Set I Variation 1 The first variation maintains the D minor tonality of the theme, is completely tonal and monophonic with two pitches never sounding at the same time. The pointillistic technique of octave displacement is employed throughout. Nearly the whole range of the keyboard is used, from the lowest A to the highest Bb. Both the bass line and the melody are present (with some notes being omitted), but have been combined into a single disjunct melody with huge leaps. The following analysis shows the use of the bass line and melody in the first half of the variation.
40
Ex. 6
Variation 1, m. 1-12, Bass line (shown in circles) and Melody (shown in squares) Analysis
Because the melody and bass line are presented in one single monophonic line, the bass line is often syncopated instead of on the beat as in the theme. The phrase structure follows exactly the ABB(ABB)’ section of the theme with six four-bar phrases. Rhythmically, all two-bar phrases use the basic rhythm. More specifically, the first twelve measures and the last four use only eighth notes, which is the same rhythm as the chant. In the fourth and fifth phrases, the rhythms quicken to a majority of sixteenth notes, just as it does in the corresponding phrases of the theme.
41
For the last four-bar phrase, the music returns to only eighth notes, unlike the corresponding phrase in the theme. This is the same slow-fast-slow rhythmic progression from the theme and is also used in several subsequent variations. As the melody and bass line are retained in this variation, naturally so are the cadences.
Variation 2 With the second variation, the music begins its first trip around the circle-of-fifths, moving up to A minor. Like Variation one, Variation two contains twenty-four measures (a trend that will continue for every variation until number twenty-five) and corresponds to the same six phrases of the theme. Progressing from the monophonic first variation, the music now moves to a two-voice texture. This variation is characterized by its use of rhythmic cells instead of the basic rhythm. In the first half of the variation (the first three four-bar phrases), the notes of the melody are always presented in two note groups in the rhythm of a quarter note (often written as two eighth notes tied over a bar-line) slurred to an eighth note. Meanwhile, the bass line and other harmonic tones are presented in a rhythm cell of a staccato eighth note followed by an eighth-rest. Ex. 7 Rhythmic Cells of the First Half of Variation 2
These two entities are further always distinguished by dynamics, with the melody always at a louder dynamic than the harmonies (usually forte and piano, respectively) and by the fact that the melody is always syncopated while the harmonies are always on the beat. The melody of the
42
theme has now been simplified and transformed to fit these rhythmic cells. The following example compares the use of the melody and bass line in the first two phrases with the theme. Ex. 8 Melody and Bass line comparison, Variation 2
The following example shows the use of the melody and bass line in the first two phrases of this variation.
43
Ex. 9 Variation 2, m. 1-8, Melody (shown in rectangles) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis
Like variation one, octave displacement of the theme abounds, and the melody and harmonies nearly always alternate hands. In the first B phrase, all of the melodic seconds from the theme are inverted into sevenths. Also like the first variation, the second half of the variation speeds up with its frequent use of sixteenth notes. While the rhythmic cell with the bass line and harmonies remains constant, the rhythmic cell of the melody has evolved from the quarter note plus eighth note cell to four sixteenth notes with the final note tied to an eighth note followed by two more sixteenth notes.
44
Ex. 10 Rhythmic Cells of Variation 2 Melody
Both of these cells have the same duration and are syncopated. In this new cell, the pitches of the melody from the corresponding first phrase of the variation are highlighted by accents. It is interesting to note that the third phrase of the variation introduces the first chromatic pitches and is the first passage where the tonal center is temporarily ambiguous in the variations. Through the course of this phrase, the harmonic progression of B gradually becomes less and less present until we cadence on the dominant at the end of the phrase. The following chart analyzes this drift away from the clear harmonic progression: Chart 4 Harmonic Tones in Variation 2, m.9-12 LOCATION OF PASSAGE Harmony Harmonic tones present in passage Number of harmonic notes in passage
M.9 BEATS 1+2 iv (dm) Root, 3rd, 5th
M.9 BEATS 3+4 VII (GM) Root, 3rd, 5th
M.10 BEATS 1+2 III (CM) Root, 3rd
M.10 BEATS 3+4 VI (FM) Root, 3rd, 5th
M.11 BEATS 1+2 ii (bm) Root, 5th
M.11 BEATS 3+4 V (EM) Root, 3rd
M.12 BEATS 1+2 i (am) Root
M.12 BEATS 3+4 V (EM) Root, 3rd, 5th
6
6
4
4
3 (including enharmonic spellings)
4
1
6
While the harmonic progression of the theme vanishes, the stepwise motion of the melody of the theme is still used in the melodic rhythmic cell, employing chromatic neighbor tones of the harmonic and melodic notes. While the second half of the variation begins with a return to the tonal writing of the opening phrase of the variation, the second phrase of the second half turns back to chromaticism. Here we see the first appearance of the m2/P5 motive that will play a very significant role 45
throughout the rest of the piece. It can also be identified as the pitch set [045], which also takes into account any inversions of the intervals (major sevenths and perfect fourths). By looking at this variation we can see how this motive, which on the surface has little to do with the theme, is derived from melodic and harmonic aspects of the theme and why it is used so much by Rzewski throughout these variations. The fourth and fifth phrases of this variation, which constitute two-thirds of the second half of the variation, display a quickening of the rhythms by arpeggiating the harmonies, just as in the corresponding phrases of the theme itself. The second B phrase of the first half introduced chromaticism and now the first B phrase arpeggiates these chords. What results is a minor second, from the chromatic neighboring tones, and a perfect fifth, from the outer notes of the harmonic triads. Looking back at the third phrase of the variation, the motive is used half melodically and half harmonically: Ex. 11 Variation 2, m.9-12, m2/P5 Motive
If we look back to the B phrase of the theme, we also see the origins of this motive, both melodically and harmonically. The melody is full of upbeats that move a melodic second to the
46
downbeat. While this is happening, the bass line is dropping a perfect fifth (or inverted and up a perfect fourth) around the circle of fifths. This can also be seen as the sevenths of each chord resolving down to be the third of the next chord in a chain of seventh chords: Ex. 12 Theme, m. 9-12, m2/P5 Motive
Another reason Rzewski may have used uses this motive is because when it is extended and repeated, it creates the pitches of a 6-20 hexachord (according to Allen Forte’s classifications),49 otherwise known as a Bartok or augmented scale, which alternates minor 2nds and augmented 2nds. Ex. 13 m2/P5 Motive and Hexachord 6-20
This hexachord can be used as a link between tonality and pantonality and can be employed in both languages. It is symmetrical, repeating the m2/+2 which creates an equality between the notes of the scale, just like in a whole-tone scale, but can also be used to create augmented, major, and minor triads. In this way, Rzewski can easily move between tonality and pantonality,
49
Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven. Yale University Press, 1973).
47
which already has played a part through the first two variations and will continue to play a large part in the rest of the variations. While the uses of this hexachord in the subsequent variations can be analyzed, and have been by others such as Robert Wason50, this author has found too many holes in the variations when analyzed in this way and instead will analyze the same material motivically and by identifying the pitch sets in an attempt to leave no holes.
Variation 3 While variation one was completely diatonic and variation two mixed diatonicism and chromaticism, variation three completes the transformation to pantonality. According to the circle-of-fifths progression of the variations, this variation should be in E minor, and, while it is pantonal, it is most near to the key of E minor, as evidenced by beginning on an E and three of the first four pitches contain the pitches of the E minor triad. In addition, the final three pitches outline the triad as well. There are also a few places where the corresponding harmonies of the theme transposed to E minor are suggested (m.16, beats 3+4: V, m. 17, beats 1+2: iv, m.22, beat 1: III) What dominates this variation is the use of the [045] pitch set. Nearly all of the melodic material comes from this set. This is used freely in a primarily two voice texture whose rhythms nearly always employ eighth notes against triplet eighth notes in a three-against-two relationship. The following analysis shows the many uses of the pitch set in only the first four measures of the variation.
50
Robert W. Wason, “Tonality and Atonality in Frederic Rzewski’s Variations on ‘The People United Will Never Be Defeated!’” Perspectives of New Music 26.1 (1988), 108-43.
48
Ex. 14 Variation 3, m. 1-4, [045] Pitch Set Analysis
The triplet eighth note rhythm is taken from m.17-28 of the theme, and another frequently used rhythmic motive, a dotted-quarter note followed by an eighth note, is derived from the melodic rhythm of m.13 of the theme, which constitutes a quarter note tied to a quarter-note within a triplet eighth grouping, followed by a triplet eighth note. Ex. 15 Theme, m.13, Melody and Variation 3, m.6, Bass Melody Comparison Theme, m.13, melody
Variation 3, m. 6, Bass melody
49
This rhythm is often used in the measures that correspond to that similar rhythm in the theme. In addition, the melodic contours are the same (moving downward by a step and leap). This occurs in measures 5, 7, and 11 of the variation. Like the previous variations, the second half of the variation uses quicker rhythmic values, here sextuplet sixteenth notes, and also like the previous variations, the final four measures return to the slower rhythms of the first half.
Variation 4 Variation four has now moved back to a mix of tonality and pantonality. It is in B minor, according to the circle-of-fifths, and the tonality is confirmed at the beginning where four of the first five pitches create the tonic triad (the fifth, F#, appears twice). This variation begins much like the previous variation ends, with two-voice counterpoint in a pantonal language, excepting the confirmation of the tonality in the first measure. Just like the previous variation, the [045] pitch set dominates most of this variation. The first six measures are divided into two-bar phrases, which each have an arch contour, just like the corresponding first two sub-phrases of the theme (m.5-8). The second half of the variation continues the trend of eight measures, two four-bar phrases, of quicker rhythms followed by a return to the slower rhythms for the final four measures. After the pantonal language of the first half, the second half of the variation suddenly breaks out, after a pseudo-authentic cadence, in a clear B minor tonality, utilizing only the diatonic notes in B minor for the next two measures. The melody from m.3-4 of the theme (from the chant) is present, yet varied, and brought out of the texture by accents. The following example shows a closed position rendering of the melody through the accents in m.13-16.
50
Ex. 16 Variation 4, m.13-16, Melody Through Accents
While m.13-14 are completely diatonic, m.15-16 reintroduce the m2/P5 motive. Despite the many chromatic tones that are resulted by the use of this motive, the tonal center of B remains. When m.17 arrives, it becomes clear that this is the B phrase as the music reaches the subdominant harmony (E minor) in B minor. The phrase structure of the variation as ABB has become clear, although it was totally obscured in the first half. Despite an inner voice which uses the m2/P5 motive in rapid sextuplet sixteenth notes, the melody of the B phrase is present, brought out my tenuto marks, as well as the bass line, brought out by accents. Ex. 17 Variation 4, m.17-20, Melody (shown in squares) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis
The harmonic progression is still apparent and audible despite the many chromatic notes. In the last phrase, the rhythms slow back down and the texture returns to the two-voice counterpoint. Here the use of the “basic rhythm” (see Example 5) is evident.
51
Ex. 18 Variation 4, m.21, Basic Rhythm.
Variation 5 In stark contrast to all the previous variations, where rhythmic energy had consistently built up, variation five suddenly brings all this energy to a halt with whole note and dotted-half note chords. The musical language has now returned to a clear tonality (F# minor) with only very sparing uses of chromatic tones. The variation is characterized by extremes of dynamics and loud chords played staccato while the harmonics are then quickly caught by the pedal. From the theme, the phrase structure is maintained. The first two-bar sub-phrase is repeated as in the theme. As the melodic motion has slowed down significantly, we see the melody of the theme stripped down to only the first and/or second melodic intervals:
52
Ex. 19 Variation 5 and Theme Melody Comparison
In addition, the slow-fast-slow rhythmic scheme is maintained, with m. 13-20 having slightly more rhythmic activity than the preceding and following measures. If we look at the use of different musical languages throughout the first five variations, we find the following: Chart 5 Musical Languages in Variations 1-5 VARIATION # 1 2
MUSICAL LANGUAGES Tonal, diatonic Half-tonal,diatonic Half-pantonal,chromatic Pantonal,chromatic Half-pantonal,chromatic Half-tonal,diatonic Tonal, nearly entirely diatonic
3 4 5
53
Throughout this first set, the piece has traveled from tonality and diatonicism (Var.1) to pantonality and free usage of all twelve tones (Var.3) and back (Var.5). The even numbered variations serve as links between these languages, mixing them both. This shows an arch form using harmonic language.
Variation 6 Variation six is the first of the eleven variations (#6, 12, 18, 24, 30-36) that recapitulate material from previous variations. Following the circle-of-fifths, this variation begins in C#minor. Four measures are allotted to recapitulate each of the first five variations, for a total of twenty measures, followed by a four-bar transition phrase. The addition of this transition phrase keeps the length of the variations consistent at twenty-four measures. These four measures from each variation are not direct quotations, however, or quotations that are simply transposed into C# minor (in fact the variation modulates to other keys, most recognizably Bb minor). What Rzewski does is apply the same characteristics of each variation (usually from both the first half and second half of each variation) and rewrites them so that they retain the same characters and are recognizable as so. This makes these appearances fresh by not being literal recapitulations and shows that he wasn’t simply cutting and pasting (and transposing). Within the four-measure phrases allotted for each variation, two-measure sub-phrases are evident. For the first sub-phrase of each group, Rzewski uses the material and characteristics of the first half of the corresponding variation, and for the second sub-phrase the second half of the variation, where in each variation the rhythms become quicker. The following example compares the measures of this variation with the measures in the corresponding variations that are most similar to them.
54
Ex. 20 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 6 Variation 6, m.1-2
Variation 1, m. 1-2
Variation 6, m. 3-4
55
Variation 1, m 15-16
Variation 6, m 5-6
Variation 2, m. 5-6
56
Variation 6, m.7-8
Variation 2, m.17-18
Variation 6, m.9-10
Variation 3, m.5-6
57
Variation 6, m.11-12
Variation 3, m.15-16
Variation 6, m.13-14
Variation 4, m.1-2
58
Variation 6, m.15-16
Variation 4, m.13-14
Variation 6, 17-20
Variation 5, m. 1-4
59
The variation closes with a four-measure transition phrase that doesn’t correspond directly to any previous variation. This phrase is much like the C phrase of the theme (m. 29-32) in that the basic rhythm is apparent (as well as a steady quarter note rhythm) and the whole phrases crescendos from pianissimo to fortissimo (the phrase in the theme peaks at forte). The m2/P5 motive is used in both voices often by parallel triads.
Set II Variation 7 The second set of six variations begins much like the first set. Like the first and second variations, Variation seven employs lots of octave displacement, here in a two-voice texture. This variation is in G# minor, but often is obscured by lots of chromaticism. From the theme, the listener instantly recognizes the basic rhythm of the theme coming in short little bursts of syncopated and swung triplet rhythms consisting of two short bursts followed by a longer burst, each separated by eighth rests. This occurrence of the basic rhythm repeats to round out the A phrase and each of the two-bar sub-phrases ends on a dominant chord, as in the theme. In the first B phrase, melodic notes of the theme are followed closely but are embellished:
60
Ex. 21 Variation 7 and Theme Comparison
In the second B phrase, three-note clusters are added in counterpoint, also switching hands and registers. As in the previous variations, the texture thickens in the second half of the variation, but, in this case, does not introduce quicker rhythms. Here the tonality is unclear and the melody and harmonies/bass line are obscured as well, although a few veiled half-cadences correspond to the cadences in the theme. As in the previous variations, the simpler texture of the first half of the variation returns in the final phrase and many notes from the bass line and melody are present, although they jump around and switch registers as in variation one:
61
Ex. 22 Variation 7, m.21-24, Melody (shown in rectangles) and Bass line (shown in circles) Analysis
As the variation closes, it ends on a clear perfect authentic cadence in G# minor to confirm the tonality.
Variation 8 Variation eight is much like variation three in that its contrapuntal lines are almost completely composed with free melodic use of the m2/P5 motive/[045] pitch set. The following analysis shows the use of this motive in only the first four measures of the variation.
62
Ex. 23 Variation 8, m 1-4, [045] Pitch Set Analysis
While variation three focuses rhythmically on triplet and sextuplet rhythms, variation eight uses only even rhythms, such as quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. Following the circle-of-fifths progression, this variation is supposed to be in D# minor, although the variation is nearly entirely pantonal. Despite this pantonal prevalence, several of the harmonies of the theme transposed to D# minor are evident or strongly suggested in their corresponding place in the variation, just as in variation three (m.10, beat 1: III, m. 10, beat 3: VI, m.12, beat 1: i, m. 12, beats 3+4: V, m. 17, beat 1: iv, m.20, beat 1: i). While most of the previous variations use quicker rhythms in the second half, variation eight, like seven before it, continues the break of this trend. However, the second half of the variation does intensify, not through the use of faster rhythmic values, but through dynamics and density of the texture. At measure 13, the music reaches forte, while the previous measures never were louder than mezzo-forte. We also now have a primarily four-voice texture, whereas the first half employed only two or three voices. Like the previous variations, the final fourmeasure phrase returns to the simpler and softer texture of the first half of the variation.
63
One other aspect of the theme that is also present in this variation is the appearance of the basic rhythm. In the first four-measure phrase of the second half of the variation (m.13-16), the basic rhythm is used in parallel perfect fifths in the right hand soprano voice and is then passed to the bass voice two measures later also in parallel perfect fifths. Ex. 24 Variation 8, m.13-16, Use of Basic Rhythm
Variation 9 Variation nine, unexpectedly, is tonal with the flavor of a militant march. While it is definitely tonal, nearly all the chords are missing their third and consist of only the root and fifth. In Bb minor, the melody is presented in long notes over a pedal Bb chord with no third that is repeated in unpredictable quintuplet eighth note rhythms, staccato and triple-piano, for the first three phrases. The long note melody is a simplified version of the melody of the theme and maintains the contour of the melody.
64
Ex. 25 Variation 9 and Theme Comparison
Each note of the second phrase corresponds with the first note of each measure in the second phrase of the theme, which descends by step. The same procedure is applied to the third phrase except to the pickups to each measure so that the result is a melodic line up a step from the previous phrase. The second half of the variation begins with the melody in quicker rhythms (as per the slow-fast-slow rhythmic scheme) while the left hand pedal is now in sustained notes instead of staccatos. The dynamic level is also boosted up, now to piano from pianissimo, just as in the theme. With the first B phrase of the second half, the right hand melody is a variant of the last two measures of the chant of the theme and includes the basic rhythm.
65
Ex. 26 Variation 9 and Theme Comparison
The final phrase, like previous variations, returns to the texture of the first half. Here we see the use of the circle-of-fifth sequence from the B phrase in the right hand which progresses in half notes like the theme. In addition, the bass line descends down a fourth as in the A phrases. The cadences of the most of the phrases are also identical to the theme.
Variation 10 Following the circle-of-fifths progression from between variations, variation ten should be in F minor. However, what appears is another variation where the tonality is extremely hidden or non-existent for most of the variation. In addition, the theme also is greatly obscured. The texture created here is in the style of the total serialism (although, at least to my knowledge and in all the research I have read, this variation is not serial in any way), as exemplified in the piano works of Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen, containing extreme rhythmic complexities, unpredictable pitches and dynamics, disjunct melodies, biting dissonances, and glissandi and clusters galore (even cluster glissandi). In fact, Pollack refers to this variation as “a kind of Boulezian adventure.”51 While he never completely leaves the theme, this is one of the variations where Rzewski gets “as far away from it [the theme] as possible.”52 However, despite
51 Howard Pollack. Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and his Students, from Elliot Carter to Frederic Rzewski. (Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1992), 384. 52
Rzewski, interview by author, 161.
66
introducing this totally unrelated style and texture to this variation, “it still has key points where if you listen closely you can see that it’s following the basic harmonic progression.”53 Because this variation, as do all the other variations (with the exception of the fifth set), consists of twenty-four measures and corresponds exactly to m. 5-28 of the theme, we can compare the harmonic progression of that part of the theme with this variation but transposed to F minor. When this harmonic analysis is applied, we find that at many points, usually on strong beats, a note or a few pitches correspond exactly with the harmonic structure of the theme transposed to F minor, and that notes from the melody also correspond frequently. The following example shows where the corresponding harmonic tones (in circles) and melodic notes (in rectangles) occur. Ex. 27 Variation 10 Melodic (rectangles) and Harmonic (circles) Analysis
53
Ibid.
67
68
69
There are a total of twenty-five instances where the harmonies correspond and twenty where the melody corresponds to the theme. Only thirteen of these instances do not occur on strong beats (beats 1 or 3) and all but twelve of the occurrences are played in isolation with no other non-harmonic pitches present. All thirteen of the occurrences off strong beats are played in isolation. This careful placement and treatment of these elements of the theme helps them to stick out as much as possible within this variation, although because of the extreme stylistic difference between this variation and the theme and the preponderance of extra pitches, rhythms, grace notes, glissandi, etc., these thematic elements are still very difficult to hear during a performance. The final two measures have a similar texture to the C phrase of the theme, with repeated chords that crescendo to the end of the phrase. Variation 11 Variation eleven goes to the opposite extreme from the preceding variation, providing maximum contrast. This variation also retains some harmonic and melodic fragments to form a skeleton of the theme, but instead of filling in the skeleton with multitudes of unrelated musical material, as in the previous variation, variation eleven leaves the fragments with large gaps of silence around them. Because of the use of optional whistling, lid-slamming, and shouting in this variation, as well as the prevalence of silence, this variation has been compared to the style and works of John Cage.54 Following the circle-of-fifths, this variation is in C minor, which is supported by the key signature. The following examples compare the theme transposed to C minor with this variation. In Example 28, the notes in grey are the “fragments” of the absent melody and are shown in the octave they appear in the variation and pitches in parenthesis are notes that aren’t in the theme or the harmonic progression.
54
Pollack, 384.
70
Ex. 28 Variation 11 Analysis
71
It is interesting to note that, although this variation is written in 4/4 time and is the same length, twenty-four measures, as all the previous variations, it sounds as if it is actually nineteen measures long in 5/4 time. The following examples show the composite rhythm of the whole variation (not including the optional whistling) as it is notated in 4/4 time, and the composite rhythm converted to a 5/4 meter. Ex. 29 Variation 11 Composite Rhythm as Written in 4/4
Ex. 30 Variation 11 Composite Rhythm Re-Written in 5/4
Nearly every measure of the variation in 5/4 would have pitches attacked on the downbeat (except m.8 of Example 30) and eight of the nineteen measures have their only attack on the downbeat, destroying the sense of four-bar phrases apparent in the theme. The 5/4 feel is
72
superimposed on the theme and fragments, which make the theme much more difficult to hear. If the fragments came every four beats, it would be much easier to hear the theme. Rzewski probably chose 5/4 time not only for this effect, but also because it corresponds with this being the fifth variation of the second set, and a variation where “everything goes haywire”.55
Variation 12 Variation twelve, the recapitulation variation of Set II, is structured the same way as the recapitulation variation of Set I (Variation six). Each of the first five four-bar phrases are written in the style and character of the previous five variations in order, while the final phrase acts as a transition to the next set. Following the circle-of-fifth’s progression, this variation is in G minor, which completes the trip through all twelve minor keys. The following example compares the measures in variation twelve with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations: Ex. 31 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 12 Variation 12, m. 1-2
55
Rzewski, interview by author, 161.
73
Variation 7, m. 1-2
Variation 12, m. 3-4
Variation 7, m. 15-16
74
Variation 12, m. 5-8
Variation 8, m. 9-12
75
Variation 12, m. 9-12
Variation 9, m. 9-12
Variation 12, m. 13-16
76
Variation 10, m. 1-4
Variation 12, m. 17-18
77
Variation 11, m. 10-11
Variation 12, m. 19-20
Variation 11, m. 21-22
The transition phrase uses the sequence from the B phrase of the theme with seventh chords. The melody of the B phrase is chromatically altered and alternates between the hands.
78
Set III While Sets III and IV constitute one-third of the thirty-six variations, I will only discuss these sets in general. In addition, in these two sets, the usage of the theme and what elements are used from the theme are, in general, more obvious and apparent, and in less need of attention than the others (for example, see Variations thirteen, twenty, and twenty-three). Each of these sets, like the first and second, contains six variations, all twenty-four measures in length, and conclude with recapitulation variations that follow the same form as the previous recapitulation variations. While the first two sets travelled around the circle of fifths, these two sets remain rooted in D minor, the key of the theme. Set III, more than either of the previous two sets, has its own distinctive character. It has been described as being in a “jazz style”56 as several of the variations use typical jazz harmonies, such as tall tertian chords (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13th chords) and sound as if they were improvised in a kind of jazz style. Two of these variations also use steady bass lines much like a walking bass in a jazz texture (Variations fifteen and seventeen). One notable aspect of this set is the use of another tune in these variations, “Bandiera Rossa”, an Italian revolutionary song.57 The following is the melody of the tune.58
56
57
Wason, 136. See Appendix C for the complete text and translation of the tune.
58
Mal Collins, Dave Hartler, and Geoff White, comps., Big Red Songbook (London: Pluto Press. 1981), 77, quoted in Melton, 45.
79
Ex. 32 “Bandiera Rossa” Melody
Why would Rzewski, in the midst of variations on one tune, introduce another? One reason is extra-musical. During the Chilean revolution during which the tune El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido was written, many Chilean refugees found asylum in Italy. This inclusion by Rzewski serves as an act of thanks for the kindness the Italians showed the refugees, but as with everything else in this work, he has a musical reason as well. Both melodies begin with an ascending perfect fourth and then proceed up to the third scale degree, outlining a tonic triad (a minor triad in the theme, but a major triad in this tune). Indeed, this ascending motive, including the second scale degree which creates a step-wise ascent between tonic and mediant, is used extensively in the variations in Set III.
Set IV Like Set III, Set IV has a distinct character. It has been described as the “Scherzo/etudes”59 set, containing many fast and virtuosic passages that resemble Liszt or Chopin Etudes. This set is also unique in its continuity between variations, as variations
59
Wason, 136.
80
nineteen and twenty-two are very similar, as well as variations twenty and twenty-three. The entire set is nearly always either monophonic or in two voices and at a blistering tempo. This intensity and virtuosity culminates in the climax of the whole work, where a high B-flat is repeatedly struck for between fifteen and twenty seconds reaching a quadruple-forte while being struck as rapidly as possible “like an alarm” eventually fading out to quadruple-piano. This is followed by a further five to ten second fermata on a rest while the pedal is still held. Ex. 33 Variation 24, m. 17-18
This moment is the climax of the entire piece and is the culmination of the energy built up by these blistering and virtuosic variations of Set IV. It is interesting to note that the placement of this climax is roughly at the golden ratio (.618). This occurs in the twenty-fourth of the thirty-six variations, or about two-thirds of the way through, and in measure seventeen of twenty-six within this variation (.654). According to the Second Structure text, in the fourth stage (Set IV), A process of compression takes place (stretto): The individual themes are stacked up against one another more and more tightly; it is as though they were all going on together, all the time. At the point of maximum compression, the antinomies latent in the original material achieve their fullest expression, before a transformation takes place in Stage 5….Stage 5 beings when the process of compression in Stage 4 has reached an extreme point and cannot be continued; for example when the speed, complexity, intensity, et cetera, of the structures being improvised are such that the performer loses control; when the sense of an
81
extreme state has been reached by means of intensive mental or physical activity (ecstasy, fatigue, et cetera)…60 This tremolo is precisely this extreme point where the music cannot continue to proceed in this direction any further. The sheer physical effort of performer and capabilities of the instrument have been exhausted and the momentum, intensity, energy, etc., must begin to diminish. The music must now look to break new ground, as it has exhausted the possibilities within the rigid twenty-four measure structure of each variation, but in a different way and through an expansion in another, at this point, forgotten dimension.
Set V With the onset of Set V, we reach the farthest and most contrasting ideas in the entire piece. According to the form of Second Structure, Whatever the nature of the material introduced in Stage 5, it is totally unexpected and appears suddenly; at the same time, it is completely different in some way from all of the preceding material….The effect of Stage 5 should be similar to that of reaching the top of a hill after an ascent and witnessing the sudden appearance of a broad expanse of space, and possibly a sense of being suspended, or of timelessness.61 As Rzewski himself explains, this is where everything “goes haywire”.62 Therefore, instead of trying to insist that certain material is somehow related to the theme by some roundabout and distant way, as we could stretch it to show how it is related to any other theme, I will leave some material as unanalyzable, or at least not convincingly analyzable, as being derivative of the theme, because Rzewski’s form itself allows for the inclusion of unrelated material. Only the 60
Rzewski, “Second Structure” Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, 148-150. (See Appendix A for complete text.) 61
Ibid., 150.
62
Rzewski, interview by author, 161.
82
material that is closely related to the theme will be identified and discussed. A possible explanation of this introduction of unrelated material is that, after having realized all the possibilities latent within its original material, the compression of material has given birth to new and unrelated material, akin to the compression and subsequent expansion/creation of the Big Bang Theory. This is the only set in which the variation lengths and phrase structure break away from the normal length of twenty-four measures and become unpredictable. In addition, the meter becomes unpredictable as well. With the exception of Variation nineteen in 12/8 (3/2) and Variation twenty-four in 12/8, all of the previous variations have been written in 4/4. Complex, changing, and triple meters abound in Set V as well as repeat signs to provide maximum contrast both within the set and between the previous four sets.
Variation 25 Variation twenty-five is forty-eight measures in length, which is twice as long as any previous variation, and is in 3/4 time. It begins with staccato chords where the resonance is caught by the pedal, a technique that was introduced in variation five. The variation remains in D minor to begin the trip around the circle-of-fifths once again. A form of the basic rhythm begins the variation, but is quietly interrupted by the m2/P5 motive. At the beginning, the same phrase structure is expected (as there has been very little variation on phrasing previously and all the previous twenty-four variations have had the same length of twenty-four measures) but this interruption puts a halt to this notion. Another two-measure resurgence of the chords with the resonance caught by the pedal then gives way to wandering and free usage of the m2/P5 motive,
83
but unlike previous variations where it is used melodically and contrapuntally, now it is heavily used harmonically and less melodically: Ex. 34 Variation 25, m. 15-16, Analysis of m2/P5 Motive
Echoes and fragments of the melody of the theme are heard, such as the melody of m.9-10 of the theme in m.9-12 of the variation, but because of the lack of a predictable phrase structure the fragments then dissolve into the wandering, fantasy-like texture as before. At m. 25-28, the descending diatonic bass line from m.5-6 of the theme reappears while using the form of the basic rhythm from the beginning of the variation. Then in the following three bars (m. 29-31) the melody of the theme returns in the alto voice with rhythmic adjustments for the 3/4 timesignature and embellishments of a march-like nature which foreshadow the next variation. In addition, the chromatic descending bass line from m. 33-34 of the theme is also present. However, the expected four-bar phrase from the theme is broken off in the fourth measure and the dotted march-like rhythm pervade in m.32-40. The last eight measures act as a transition to the next variation. Here harmonic and melodic usages of the m2/P5 motive are used in combination with Wagner-like harmonic progressions within a crescendo to the beginning of the next variation.
84
Variation 26 In this variation, a second foreign tune is incorporated into the texture: Hanns Eisler’s Solidaritätslied (Solidarity Song). According to Rzewski, this song, set to a text of Bertolt Brecht, was written in 1932 and serves as “a reminder that parallels to present threats exist in the past and that it is important to learn from them.”63 However, just as Bandiera Rossa was justified both by its extra-musical associations and by its musical content, so is the Eisler tune. The following example shows the melody and text of the tune.64 Ex. 35 “Soldaritätaslied” Melody
The key to understanding the musical connection between these two tunes is seen in m.29-32 of this variation. The Eisler tune is present, altered slightly, in the middle voice, while a more march-like (using dotted rhythms) version of The People United melody is in the top voice, 63
Rzewski, CD liner notes to Rzewski Plays Rzewski.
64
Hanns Eisler, “Soldaritätaslied,” from Songs on Texts by Bertolt Brecht, (Deutscher Verlag fur Musik, Leipzig:1972), 9-10.
85
both over the descending chromatic bass line. The following example compares the theme and its usage in these measures as well as the Eisler tune and its usage in these measures. Ex. 36 Variation 26, Theme and “Soldaritätaslied” Melody Comparison
The first phrases of both tunes end in a half cadence on the second scale degree. In addition, by making some slight adjustments, both can be supported by the same harmonic progression as well as the descending chromatic bass line from tonic to dominant. These similarities make them work beautifully in counterpoint with each other and musically justify Rzewski’s usage of this external tune. At the beginning of the variation, before the Eisler tune has entered, it is foreshadowed by four two-bar phrases that each use the repeated notes and quarter note rhythm of m. 9-10 of the tune. These march-like staccato quarter notes are reminiscent of the opening chant of the theme. Then m.11-22 of the tune are presented, in D minor, in parallel thirds accompanied by the descending chromatic bass line for each four-bar phrase. This is another connection that musically justifies the appearance of the Eisler tune. At m.21, the beginning of the tune is
86
presented in the right hand, while the m2/P5 motive/[045] pitch set is used in sextuplet eighth notes in the left hand. The descending chromatic bass line is also used in this section on the downbeats and pick-up notes of each measure. Ex. 37 Variation 26, m.21-28, Descending Chromatic Bass line (in circles)
Measures 29-32 have already been analyzed (see Example 36 above). The second phrase (m. 510) of the Eisler tune follows, without The People United tune this time, but with the descending diatonic bass line from the theme beneath it, now in A minor, and is adjusted to end on an authentic cadence. The Eisler tune is then used in a lower register but again with running triplet eighth notes using the m2/P5 motive. This continues until the final two measures of the variation, where the
87
melody and rhythm of m. 9-10 return in diminution in the right hand and are repeated to serve as a transition to the next variation.
Variation 27 Variation twenty-seven is by far the longest variation at 116 measures (not including repeats and counting the cadenza as two measures). It is divided into four clear sections, alternating between sections that are in 4/4 time, pantonal, and slow, and sections that are in changing and unusual meters, tonal and nearly entirely diatonic, and at a faster tempo. Measures 1-16 constitute the first pantonal section. The section is nearly entirely constructed melodically by the m2/P5 motive. At the beginning, the right hand moves in irregular and unpredictable rhythms while the left hand moves in steady walking quarter notes while also using the descending chromatic bass line of the theme. Ex. 38 Variation 27, m.1-4, m2/P5 Motive and Descending Chromatic Bass line Analysis
This steady, rising, walking, quarter note bass line actually comes directly from m. 13-15 of the theme.
88
Ex. 39 Theme, m. 13-15, Quarter note Walking Bass line
Eight measures into this section, at the halfway point, the hands switch roles as the right hand now as steady quarter notes and the left hand has unpredictable rhythms. The rhythms grow faster and the dynamic level louder to a climax at the beginning of the sixteenth measure and then settle down into the next section. At m. 17, we reach the next contrasting section and finally find the key of E minor, which should be the key of this movement according to the circle-of-fifths progression. It begins with a lengthy unmetered quasi-cadenza exploring the E-natural minor scale. This entire section, m. 17-84, has been described as being in a “minimalist style”.65 For most of the section, short melodic fragments are repeated and subject to different metric treatments. Very little of this material relates directly to the theme, but little similarities are unmistakable. In the second measure of the cadenza (after the repeat sign) the melodies follow the contour of an arch, just as the melody of the theme does in m. 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 17-18, 19-20, 33-34, and 35-36. This arch shape is also evident in melody of m.23-38 and m.39-55 of this variation. The melody in m. 23 is also the beginning of the Bandiera Rossa melody changed to the minor mode. The section from measure 85 through 93 is much like the first section of the variation. The most notable differences are the length of the section is now halved to eight measures instead of sixteen, and the hands trade roles every measure.
65
Pollack, 386.
89
The final section, from m. 94-116, returns to a clear tonality with an ostinato bass line in complex meter [(6+5+6+5)/8]. In m.97, a melody is introduced that uses the pitches from the melody at m.9 of the theme, where a rising minor second is followed by a descending perfect fourth followed by a descending minor second. The differences in its usage in this variation are the rhythms, because of the complex meter, and the first note of each measure is repeated. Ex. 40 Variation 27 and Theme Comparison
In the next two measures, the minor seconds become inverted, then the original pattern is transposed down a third in the following two. At m. 105 the ostinato bass line is then doubled in octaves and the melody from m.97-104 is repeated with octave doublings while building in intensity and dynamics until the end of the variation.
Variation 28 After the intense ending of Variation twenty-seven, Variation twenty-eight blasts off into the march-like repeated staccato quarter notes from variation twenty-six. Following the circleof-fifths progression, the variation is clearly in B minor. At m. 7, the bass voice carries the melody of the theme, but maintains the march-like staccato quarter notes. By showing The People United tune in the march-like militant context of Eisler’s Soldaritätaslied, Rzewski shows another musical connection between these tunes and a justification for their usage together. This melody, however, remains hidden in the texture until m. 9 makes it apparent that
90
the melody has been going on. This happens because the first six measures use the bass motion of the rising minor third from B to D, so when it happens in measures 7 and 8, it doesn’t seem out of the character we have grown used to. It is only after we hear the more distinct and recognizable part of the theme melody (m. 6 of the theme) that we realize it has already begun. The melody continues in the bass voice while the soprano voice descends chromatically like the chromatic descending bass line of the theme. At m. 22, the soprano melody suddenly becomes twice as fast and the bass melody line does the same a measure later. The bass melody now adds some extra non-chord tones and chromatically alters some pitches. The following example compares this melody with the corresponding melody in the theme. Ex. 41 Variation 28 and Theme Comparison
At m. 27, we reach a contrasting section that rounds out the variation. Instead of staccato quarter and eighth notes, there are legato and pedaled triplet eighth notes. The soprano voice is in whole notes and begins with the chromatic bass line. Following this, in m. 31-34, the soprano voice has what appears to be the famous “BACH” name motive (Bb-A-C-B) that J.S. Bach used in some of his compositions. Its usage here is transposed up a tri-tone and then is inverted and used a major second higher. After this section, beginning at m. 39, the descending chromatic bass line returns to the soprano voice. While this is going on in the soprano, the other voice arpeggiates triads in a nonfunctional progression. The melody of the theme is now outlined in the bass voice, with a few alterations, and brought out by tenuto marks.
91
Ex. 42 Variation 28, m.27-42. Theme Melody (in circles) and Descending Chromatic Bass line (in rectangles)
92
This triplet figuration continues, with a now functional harmonic progression, and fades away to finish the variation. Another possible further Bach allusion happens in this section, where the arpeggiation and harmonic progression of I-ii(42) is very similar to the beginning of Bach’s first prelude, in C major, of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. The following example compares these excerpts and their harmonic progressions.
Ex. 43 Comparison of Variation 28 and J.S. Bach Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude in C Major Variation 28, m. 49-52
93
J.S. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude in C major, m.1-466
Variation 29 Variation twenty-nine may be called the last “original” variation because the following final seven variations are all recapitulations and use only the material and characteristics from previous variations. It is also the shortest variation of all in terms of measures (not necessarily in terms of duration) with only fourteen. However, each of the four phrases is repeated once, in essence making the variation twenty-eight measures in length. Despite its appearance, the phrase structure of this variation is very similar to the theme and the 24-measure variations of the first four sets. The phrases are clearly delineated by the repeat signs. The first three measures repeated constitute the A phrase, with each of the three measures as a sub-phrase, just as in the theme. Despite being a three-bar sub-phrase, because of the changing meters, the actual duration of the sub-phrase is fifteen eighth notes which is just one eighth note less than the sub-phrases in the theme that are two bars of length in 4/4. The
66
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1866).
94
next four measures (m 4-7) make the B phrase with its repeat serving as the second B phrase. In the theme, these repetitions are written out and changed slightly at the end. While in this variation these repetitions are not written out, there is one small difference between the repeat and initial statement where the last chord in the right hand is omitted the second time around. The second half of the variation (m. 8-14) is nearly an exact repeat of the first half, as in the theme, but an octave lower with a slightly altered melody, slightly smoother articulation, and a lower dynamic level. These slight changes are the opposite of what occurs in the (ABB)’ section of the theme, where the melody jumps an octave higher and the dynamic level is increased. The style of this variation sounds oriental in character, or at least the superficial oriental sound western ears are accustomed to hearing. Indeed, the first two measures use only the notes of a pentatonic scale using the pitches F#, G#, B, C#, and E. Because of this usage, the tonal center is unclear until we have additional pitches and the circle-of-fifths sequence in the B phrase to orient us in F# minor, which continues the circle-of-fifths progression. The left hand uses only four pitch classes that suggest, but don’t complete, the pentatonic scale, missing the E. This line has a kind of pedal on the C#, which is the dominant, although it does not sound all the way through but instead is played on most downbeats and is the lowest pitch in the line. This voice also focuses on melodic perfect fourths, which is taken from the first melodic interval in the theme. In the right hand melody, the contour of the melody in the A phrase is maintained from the theme. The melody moves from the tonic up to the dominant and back down to the supertonic by the end of the sub-phrase. This contour is also maintained in the A’ phrase from the second half of the variation. In the B phrase, the melody from the theme is even clearer, using nearly all the same notes but altering the rhythm.
95
Ex. 44 Variation 29 and Theme Comparison
The harmonic progression of phrase B, the circle-of-fifths sequence, is also used and followed exactly in the B phrases of this variation.
Variation 30 Variation thirty, in C# minor, is the recapitulation variation of Set V, which is also the first of seven recapitulation variations in a row that end the variations. Because of the irregular lengths of the variations in this set, the standard construction that is familiar to us in the previous recapitulation variations is not used. The space each variation is allotted to be recapitulated is as unpredictable as their own lengths were. The following chart shows the number of measures allotted to each variation Chart 6 Variation 30, Measures allotted for each Variation Recapitulated PREVIOUS VARIATIONS AND LENGTHS Var. 25 (48 measures)
# OF MEASURES ALLOTTED IN VARIATION 30 8
Var. 26 (52 measures)
8
Var. 27 (116 measures w/o repeats)
28
Var. 28 (56 measures w/o repeats)
20
Var. 29 (14 measures w/o repeats)
4
96
Despite this organization, there are three sections in this variation where the material is not immediately identifiable as coming from the variations. Measure 22, with the right hand having minor triads moving by the m2/P5 motive in eighth notes and the bass voice in single quarter notes also using the m2/P5 motive, most nearly resembles the transition phrase all the way back from Variation six (See Example 45 below for comparison). Variation twenty-eight is supposed to be recapitulated, naturally, between the material of Variations twenty-seven and twenty-nine, which would be m. 45-64, but the correlation is not obvious. In m. 45-52, the steady quarter note march rhythm from the first part of variation twenty-eight is used as well as the melody of the theme, but instead it is in the soprano voice and the descending chromatic bass line is in the bass voice, whereas it was switched in Variation twenty-eight. However, the use of the melody of the theme is altered, and the passage actually more closely resembles m. 29-36 in Variation twenty-six, which first employed the Eisler tune and the quarter note march rhythm. This passage uses the descending chromatic bass line (here in half notes) and an ornamented theme melody in counterpoint with the Eisler tune which also modulates to the dominant for the second phrase, but the left hand half note descending bass line of the second phrase is identical in notes to the left hand in m.49-52 of Variation thirty (See Example 44 below for comparison). Even more enigmatic are m. 53-64 in Variation thirty. This passage freely uses the m2/P5 motive in unpredictable rhythms that are never shorter than eighth notes. This is always over an accented bass line in whole notes. This resembles absolutely nothing from Variation twenty-eight, but instead seem much more akin to m.85-93 in the long Variation twenty-eight, as if this part of the variation is being recapitulated a little later than it was supposed to. In this passage a greater variety of quicker rhythmic values are used than in the recapitulation (See
97
Example 46 below for comparison). It is also interesting to note that at the end of this section in the recapitulation, at measure 64, we find a short quote of the beginning of the Bandiera Rossa tune that was used extensively in Set III. Taking these oddities into account, the following example compares the measures in Variation thirty with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations: Ex. 45 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 30 Variation 30, m. 1-4
Variation 25, m. 1-4
98
Variation 30, m. 5-8
Variation 25, m. 29-32
99
Variation 30, m. 9-16
Variation 26, m. 21-28
100
Variation 30, m. 17-21
Variation 27, m. 1-4
Variation 30, m. 22
101
Variation 6, m. 21-22
Variation 30, m. 23
Variation 27, m. 17 (beginning of cadenza)
102
Variation 30, m. 24-28
Variation 27, m. 56-61
103
Variation 30, m. 29-38
Variation 27, m. 75-84
Variation 30, m. 39-40
104
Variation 27, m. 105-106
Variation 30, m. 41-44
Variation 27, m. 115-116
105
Variation 30, m. 45-52
Variation 26, m. 29-36
106
Variation 30, m. 53-64
107
Variation 27, m. 85-93
Variation 30, m. 65-68
108
Variation 29, m. 11-14
The transition phrase is four bars in length, the same as all the previous recapitulation variations. Here the circle-of-fifths sequence is used but with double-dotted rhythms at tripleforte. Rzewski marks the passage “thunderously” to announce the beginning of the final set. The bass voice, in octaves, uses the m2/P5 motive as well. This transition phrase is very similar to the transition phrase in Variation twelve, the recapitulation variation of Set II. Ex. 46 Transition Phrase Comparison Variation 30, m.69-72
Variation 12, m. 21-24
109
Set VI Variation 31 Variation thirty-one kicks off the final set which is composed entirely of recapitulation variations. No new material is introduced in these variations. Instead, the different characters of the previous variations are rewritten and combined in new ways. Variation thirty-one recapitulates the first variation of each set, which are Variations 1, 7, 13, 19, and 25. According to the plan from Second Structure, each of the six larger sets explores a different way of dealing with time. According to Seth Beckman, this also applies to the variations within each set.67 According to this theory, Variation thirty-one should be very similar to Variation six, as they are both recapitulation variations of “simple events”. A detailed exploration and analysis of this theory is outside the scope of this essay. Following the circle-of-fifths progression, this variation is in G# minor. It follows the same structure as the previous recapitulation variations, totaling twenty-four measures where four measures are allotted to material from each of the variations ending with a four-bar transition phrase. The following example compares the measures in Variation thirty-one with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations: Ex. 47 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 31 Variation 31, m. 1-2
67
Seth Victor Beckman, “The Traditional and the Avant-Garde in Late Twentieth-Century Music: A Study of Three Piano Compositions by Frederic Rzewski (1938-).” (DMA Diss., Ball State University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1996.)
110
Variation 1, m. 1-2
Variation 31, m. 3-4
Variation 1, m. 15-16
Variation 31, m. 5-6
111
Variation 7, m. 21-22
Variation 31, m. 7-8
Variation 7, m. 13-14
Variation 31, m. 9-10
112
Variation 13, m. 9-10
Variation 31, m. 11-12
Variation 13, m. 19-20
Variation 31, m. 13-14
113
Variation 19, m. 1-3
Variation 31, m. 15-16
Variation 19, m. 13-15
Variation 31, m. 17-19
114
Variation 25, m. 5-7
Variation 31, m. 20
Variation 25, m. 29-30
The final phrase, the four-measure transition, condenses the first sixteen measures of the variation, using all the material of the variation except the four measures from Variation twentyfive. This condensation of four variations into four measures foreshadows the same tight
115
condensation of the thirty-sixth and final variation. The following example analyzes where each of the variations are used in this transition phrase. Ex. 48 Variation 31, m.21-24 Analysis
Variation 32 Variation thirty-two recapitulates the second variation of the first five sets, namely Variations 2, 8, 14, 20, and 26. Climbing another perfect fifth higher in key, this variation switches over to flats in Eb minor instead of D#. The following example compares the measures in Variation thirty-two with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations: Ex. 49 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 32 Variation 32, m. 1-2
116
Variation 2, m. 1-2
Variation 32, m. 3-4
Variation 2, m. 13-14
117
Variation 32, m. 5-8
Variation 8, m. 7-10
Variation 32, m. 9-10
118
Variation 14, m. 5-6
Variation 32, m. 11-12
Variation 14, m. 19-20
Variation 32, m. 13-14
119
Variation 20, m. 1-2
Variation 32, m. 15-16
Variation 20, m. 15-16
Variation 32, m. 17-18
120
Variation 26, m. 21-22
Measures nineteen and twenty are exceptions in that they contain the Eisler tune but a part that was not in the corresponding Variation twenty-six. The transition phrase, like in Variation thirty-one, condenses the first twenty measures of the variation into a four-measure phrase. Here the first four variations (2, 8, 14, and 20) are condensed into the first three measures while the last, Variation twenty-six, is briefly suggested by the first beat of the final measure. A short modulation follows to set up the next variation and to finish the phrase. The following example analyzes where each of the variations are used in this transition phrase. Ex. 50 Variation 32 m.21-24 Analysis
121
Variation 33 Variations 3, 9, 15, 21, and 27, the third of each set, are recapitulated in Variation thirtythree. Now we have reached Bb minor as the key for this variation. The following example compares the measures in Variation thirty-three with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations: Ex. 51 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 33 Variation 33, m. 1-2
122
Variation 3, m. 1-2
Variation 33, m. 3-4
Variation 3, m. 15
Variation 33, m. 5-6
123
Variation 9, m. 1-2
Variation 33, m. 7-8
Variation 9, m. 21-22
Variation 33, m. 9-10
124
Variation 15, m. 5-6
Variation 33, m. 11-12
Variation 15, m. 23
125
Variation 33, m. 13-16
Variation 21, m. 13-14
Variation 33, m. 17-18
126
Variation 27, m. 1-2
Variation 33, m. 19-20
Variation 27, m. 57-58
The only measures that are a bit of a change from the corresponding variations are measures 7 and 8, which maintain the quintuplet rhythm from Variation nine, but otherwise creep down in a manifestation of the m2/P5 motive, which does not appear in Variation nine.
127
The transition phrase continues the pattern of condensation from the previous two variations. This time all five variations are strongly suggested, with one variation in each of the first three measures and Variations twenty-one and twenty-seven sharing half of the final measure. The following example analyzes where each of the variations are used in this transition phrase. Ex. 52 Variation 33 m.21-24 Analysis
Variation 34 Variation 34 recapitulates the fourth variation of each set, which includes Variation 4, 10, 16, 22, and 28. In F minor, it follows the same structure as the other recapitulation variations. The following example compares the measures in Variation thirty-four with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations:
128
Ex. 53 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 34 Variation 34, m. 1-2
Variation 4, m. 1-2
Variation 34, m. 3-4
Variation 4, m. 13-14
129
Variation 34, m. 5-8
Variation 10, m. 1-4
130
Variation 34, m. 9-10
Variation 16, m. 7-8
131
Variation 34, m. 11-12
Variation 16, m. 18-19
132
Variation 34, m. 13-14
Variation 22, m. 1-2
Variation 34, m. 15-16
Variation 22, m. 13-14
133
Variation 34, m. 17-20
(See explanation below)
Measures 17-20 are the enigmatic measures of this variation. According to the structure, these four measures should recapitulate material from Variation twenty-eight, but the usage is not as obvious as the other recapitulations. The sextuplet rhythms from measures 17 and 18 come from the sextuplet (divided as triplet) rhythms in m.27-56, although here they are used in a scalar form as opposed to the arpeggios in Variation twenty-eight. The eighth note melodies in
134
the soprano and bass voices don’t seem to come directly from the variation, but are used (in quarter notes) in a varied form in Variation thirty, the recapitulation variation of Set V, in the spot that is supposed to recapitulate Variation twenty-eight: The following example compares the melody in different recapitulations of Variation twenty-eight. Ex. 54 Comparison of Recapitulations of Variation 28 in Variation 34 and 30
Measure 19 more closely resembles the first measure of Variation twenty-six, using the exact same opening chord (an octave higher) and even march-like rhythm, than anything found in Variation twenty-eight. Ex. 55 Variation 34, m. 19, and Variation 26, m.1 Comparison Variation 34, m. 19
135
Variation 26, m. 1
Variation twenty-eight uses the even march rhythm in steady quarter notes from Variation twenty-six, but this is only apparent in the first half of m.19 in Variation thirty-four. In measure 20 there is also an appearance of the beginning of the Bandiera Rossa tune that seems to come from Variation fourteen. The transition phrase continues the pattern of condensation as in the previous variations. Here all five variations are represented with Variation 4 using one measure, Variations 10, 16, 22, and 28 each taking a half-measure. The final measure uses the march-like chords from measure 19 and well as the descending m2/P5 motive of Variation sixteen and twenty-two. The following example analyzes where each of the variations are used in this transition phrase.
136
Ex. 56 Variation 34 m.21-24 Analysis
Variation 35 The fifth variation of the first five sets, including Variations 5, 11, 17, 23, and 29, are recapitulated in Variation thirty-five, which is now in C minor. All of the uses of material from the corresponding variations are obvious and straightforward except for the phrase that corresponds to Variation twenty-nine in measures 1720. There seems to be very little direct relation to Variation twenty-nine with the material in these four measures. An explanation of this may come from trying to fit a variation in changing meters into a four-measure phrase in 4/4 time. Nevertheless, the common features seem to be, in 137
measures 19 and 20, a predominance of perfect intervals (fourths and fifths) and constantly shifting rhythmic groupings. While these measures stay in 4/4 meter, the constant sixteenth note motion is beamed in different groupings. The groupings proceed as 3, 5, 3, 4 in each of these two measures. Measures 17 and 18 seem to be most akin to m. 9-10 of Variation twenty-one. Ex. 57 Variation 35, m. 17-18 and Variation 21, m.9-10 Comparison Variation 35, m. 17-18
Variation 21, m. 9-10
The following example compares the measures in Variation thirty-five with the most similar measures in the corresponding variations:
138
Ex. 58 Comparison of Variations and their Recapitulations in Variation 35 Variation 35, m. 1-2
Variation 5, m. 1-2
Variation 35, m. 3-4
139
Variation 5, m. 13-14
Variation 35, m. 5-6
Variation 11, m. 13-14
140
Variation 35, m. 7-8
Variation 11, m. 21-22
Variation 35, m. 9-10
Variation 17, m. 3-4
141
Variation 35, m. 11-12
Variation 17, m. 16-17
142
Variation 35, m. 13-16
143
Variation 23, m. 1-4
The final transition phrase continues the condensing trend of the final phrase in the previous four variations and all five of the variations are represented. What is new in this transition phrase is that the material from the corresponding phrases overlap to some extent, the final beat of the final measure seems to come from Variation seventeen, and there is also a very short transition to the next variation. The following example analyzes where each of the variations are used in this transition phrase.
144
Ex. 59 Variation 35 m.21-24 Analysis
Variation 36 After approximately fifty minutes of music, we finally reach the climactic and cataclysmic final variation. Because it is the sixth and final variation in its set, it is a recapitulation of the previous five variations, Variations 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35 in Set VI. Because it is in Set VI, it is also a recapitulation of the sixth variation in each set, namely Variations 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30. All of these aforementioned variations are, of course, recapitulation variations themselves, making this final variation a recapitulation of the
145
recapitulations. The result is that, contained in this single variation of twenty-seven measures (in fact, the recapitulations occur in only the first twenty measures), is a condensed version of all of the twenty-five “original” variations into one single variation. The entire hour-long work is now, in a way, played in approximately less than a minute, a shrinking in size of approximately fifty times. The result is that the bulk of the original theme is heard twisting and turning through twenty-five different and widely contrasting guises. One moment the theme is clearly recognizable and the variation procedure is obvious and immediately apparently, but literally a second later the theme may be lost completely, only to return seconds later. It is as if looking at an object through twenty-five extremely different lenses, from extreme zooming to different tints to out-of-focus distortions and supernatural dimension alterations. The amazing effect this has is to make “sense” of the previous aurally confusing variations, where the theme seemed to be absent altogether (even though we have found through analysis that this is not the case and that the theme is always substantially present in the music). When these variations were a minute or so long, they were quite temporally detached from the other variations that were “closer” to the theme. As the temporal distance between these variations decreases, so does their apparently wide musical and stylistic distance. The theme underlying them all has become much clearer and, as a result, the entire composition gains a new clarity and coherence. This variation is in G minor and the music nears the close of its second trip around the circle-of-fifths in the piece. This is also the same key as the original recording of the tune by Quilapayun. The recapitulation of the twenty-five variations occurs in the first twenty-one measures. The following analysis shows were the material from each variation is used.
146
Ex. 60 Variation 36 Analysis
147
148
Following a fermata on a complete rest is six additional bars that work as a transition to the recap of the theme, which makes this final variation twenty-seven measures in length. The first two bars of the six-bar transition use slow triads that move melodically by the m2/P5 motive, much like the transition phrase of Variation six. The m2/P5 motive is then used melodically in the third bar in sixteenth notes ending with the beginning of the Bandiera Rossa
149
tune. The final three measures use the sixteenth notes rising up a perfect fourth that was introduced in m.33-40 in Variation twenty-five. In the final measure of this final variation, Rzewski leaves a spot for a cadenza marked “(optional improvisation; may last anywhere up to 5 minutes or so)”. With Rzewski’s interest in improvisation, it is not surprising to see this opportunity to improvise. Rzewski explains its origins: “There was no practical reason for that”, explains the composer. “I wrote ‘The People United’ for Ursula [Oppens]. And I asked her if it would be appropriate to include some improvising sections. At that time, she said ‘no, please don’t, because I’ve never done any improvising and I’d rather not deal with it’. So all I did was to leave a space for an improvised cadenza, which was optional; but I didn’t really require any free improvising.68 This is the perfect place in the context of the piece to have such an improvisation. The composer himself has shown what he can do to the theme in thirty-six variations lasting around fifty minutes, and now has given the performer an opportunity to make his/her own personal, and perhaps thirty-seventh, variation on the theme. Presently, of the seven recordings of the work commercially available, four of them include an improvisation. It must be pointed out, however, that Rzewski always includes an improvisation in his performances and two recordings (the other recordings that include improvisations by Marc-Andre Hamelin69 and Ralph Van Raat70).
68
Terry, 21.
69
Frederic Rzewski, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Marc-Andre Hamelin, Hyperion CDA67077, 1999. 70
Frederic Rzewski, The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Ralph van Raat. Naxos 8.559360, 2008.
150
Recap of Theme As in life, when one goes through a journey and experiences eye-opening possibilities that expand his/her horizons and force him/her to grow, but later return home, the result is a transformation in their being and view of the world. So it is with many musical forms, such as sonata allegro, ternary form, and in a theme and variations where the theme returns at the end. Naturally, the return of the “Thema” at the end of the work, after thirty-six vastly different variations lasting at least fifty minutes, has changed and may even be considered a thirty-seventh (and perhaps a thirty-eighth if an improvisation is included) variation. The recap of the theme returns to the original home key of D minor. The thirty-two measures of the theme (the opening chant is not brought back) are played again with several small changes. The bass line of the first ABB phrases is dropped down an octave lower, the weak-beat left-hand chords always have three notes instead of two, the added inner voice in the theme in the second B phrase is constant throughout these phrases, the harmonies in general are fuller, and the dynamic level is piano. As the (ABB)’ section follows, there are only slight changes from the original theme, the most prominent being frequent appoggiaturas on the weak beats in the left hand instead of all chord-tones. The C phrase and the ending chant are nearly the same, with the biggest difference coming in the final measure of the chant on the second half of the first beat. Instead of a repeated G octave in the left hand, it moves to an octave E to create a ii-half-diminished seventh chord. Instead of ending the whole work now, as may be expected because the equivalent of the whole theme (minus the opening chant) has been played again, Rzewski extends the recap of the theme to twice its original length. In addition, he adds a two-measure tag to finally conclude the entire work. This makes the recap sixty-six measures in length.
151
The next thirty-two measures, like the previous thirty-two, correspond to the whole opening theme minus the opening chant; however, this statement is more different than the opening theme. It begins in a higher register for both hands and at a dynamic level of piano. The harmonies are not filled in as much; at most there are three notes played at a time. The left hand has a continuous line of chord and non-chord tones in triplet eighth notes with no rests which continues (except for a few rests in the first B phrase, but at that point the aural effect is no different because the right hand contains the expected pitches and makes it sound as a continuous melodic line) through the ABB(ABB)’ phrases. Throughout the first ABB section, the right hand alternates between the swung tune in octaves or with added chord-tones and a single continuous line of chord and non-chord tones in triplet eighth notes with no rests, like the left hand, while the tune is only partially present. It is interesting to note the use of these two textures in the right hand in these three phrases. The first A phrase has two bars of the swung tune and two bars of the continuous triplet-eighths where the tune is obscured. The first B phrase is entirely in the swung tune and the second B phrase has steady triplet eighth notes. This phrase also contains a diatonic sequence where the first three bars are the same but down a step each time. Ex. 61 Recap of Theme m.41-43, Diatonic Sequence
As we reach the (ABB)’ phrases, the dynamic level is boosted up to forte. The left hand maintains the continuous triplet eighth note motion but spans from the lowest octave of the piano
152
up into the middle registers. The right hand has the swung theme melody again but with full chords of three or four notes. Octave displacement, which was such an important feature of several variations, is used in the right hand for different parts of the tune. As we reach the final B phrase, not only do we now have octave displacement in the left hand, but we also have substantial chromaticism for the first time in the recap of the theme. All of the chromaticism uses triadic chords that are not found in the key of D minor, such as the major triads on Gb, E, and Eb. This usage of triadic chromaticism is most like that used in Variation thirteen, where major triads outside of the key of D minor, such as Eb and Db, are used in a jazz style. The C phrase now follows, but instead of simply repeating chords, Rzewski uses a technique of adding notes to the chords each time to make them fuller, much like harpsichord composers, such as Scarlatti, did in order to make the effect of a crescendo on the otherwise setdynamic instrument. This effect is used for the first two measures while the second two revert back to the octave displacement to avoid repeating the repeated chords of the C phrase in the theme. As the final statement of the chant returns, it does so with the ultimate utilization of octave displacement in both hands. Here the left hand descending bass line is now in eighth notes instead of quarter notes in order to increase intensity through rhythmic diminution as well as to provide more opportunities for octave displacement. One of the reasons Rzewski made all these slight changes in the recap of the theme is to show how the theme as been changed by the journey and has incorporated some of the different experiences and aspects it has been through. These changes have become an integral part of the theme on its outside, where before these were just possibilities latent within itself.
153
In order to create ultimate finality at the end of such a massive work, Rzewski adds a two-measure tag on the end. After the large fortissimo final statement of the chant, he drops down to a piano statement of the last measure of the chant in the low register. This drop in intensity sets the listener up for the final triple-forte, staccato, and accented statement of this last measure of the chant which finally concludes this incredible work.
Conclusion The title of the theme, The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, and the meaning of its lyrics illustrate and emphasize the strength and power of unification. When people come together and are motivated to work for a common cause, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome. The tune is a testament to the determination of humans, not as individuals, but to the amazing things that can be achieved through a community. The most amazing aspect about Rzewski’s piece of music is how it demonstrates this principle, of strengthening by unification, in a musical context. Rzewski even suggests himself, “The extended length of the composition may be an allusion to the idea that the unification of people is a long story, and that nothing worth winning is acquired without effort.”71 The following chart summarizes the relationships between the variations, the key scheme, and variations lengths.
71
Rzewski, CD liner notes to Rzewski plays Rzewski.
154
Chart 7 Recapitulation Relationships, Key Scheme, and Variation Lengths
155
Many programmatic musical works, which are inspired or supposed to depict something outside of the music, attempt to justify, successfully or not, their musical form by what they are depicting. Many of these works cannot exist successfully without this extra-musical justification and the listener would be lost without knowledge of the program, but Rzewski’s piece is different. While its meaning can be greatly enhanced and appreciated on many different levels by understanding the theme, its lyrics, the historical context surrounding the composition of the theme, Rzewski’s background and why and when he wrote the piece, etc., The People United can be greatly appreciated and works incredibly successfully when looked at from a purely musical standpoint and demonstrates the idea of unification on a musical level. This is one of Rzewski’s own goals as a composer, as he explains: I feel a bit uncomfortable being put in this, or any kind of box. I don’t like feeling obliged to make a political statement with every piece of music. First and foremost as music; and then if one can enrich this musical discourse with extra musical ideas, then so much the better.72
No matter from what angle this work is seen, its purpose is to show that neither angle, neither compositional style, neither culture, neither race, etc., is correct or incorrect, but that they are all connected in a deep and profound way and capable of creating beautiful and great things while increasing the understanding amongst all. When any of these contrasting elements, aspects, people, cultures, etc., come closer together, their similarities transcend their differences and enhance and strengthen each other. Only when this is realized can we truly make a difference in creating a better world for all. If other people can see this, then perhaps Rzewski’s music can indeed help to enact social change, and maybe it has had more of an effect people than
72
Richard Steinitz, “Imperialist Piano-Thumping Was One Avant-Gardiste Description of Frederic Rzewski This Week Because of His New Accessible Style.” Guardian. November 2, 1979, quoted in Keyes, 75.
156
I even know. We can only hope that it will continue to inspire people, both musically and socially, for generations to come. Perhaps Art Lange sums up the effect and meaning of the work the best: But for all its twists and turns, its bursts of violence and chilling absence, its foreboding and tender hopefulness, it ends in triumph, as the theme returns, in full glory, to offer a faith in human values, human feelings, and human rights.73
73
Lange, liner notes to Hat ART CD 6066.
157
Appendix A Second Structure74 For Petr Kotik and Other Friends
A structure in six parts, or cycles, each of which is built in real time (improvised) using a freely articulated sequence of six stages. The character of each cycle generally, and of each stage within a cycle in particular, is determined by the performer(s) in accordance with the following basic image: Six dimensions of time 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Present Recent Imminent Past Future (All) Time
The performer moves through this cycle six times, in such a way that in the first cycle characteristics associated with the image “Present” predominate, in the second those associated with “Recent,” and so on, so that in each cycle the six stages are interpreted in a different way, and macro- and microstructures are reflected in each other. The whole has the form of a 6 x 6 grid which is retained as a conceptual framework in the mind of the performer. Above and beyond the minimum necessary determinations for a given performance, such as the approximate duration (optimally twenty to thirty minutes) and the choice of instruments or circuitry to be employed, as little as possible is to be fixed beforehand; the music should ideally arise in real time from the spontaneous application of the grid in the mind to the unstructured raw material of improvisation. The grid thus has both a generative function, providing the performer with a map of his/her psychic terrain and a designated path with a beginning and an end, which may assist the free exercise of fantasy; and an inhibitive function, acting as a sort of filter and suppressing the tendency to remain in one place or to wander aimlessly. Stage 1 Qualities associated with “present” time: Separateness (no apparent relation between one event and the next); fragmentariness (partial expression of an idea or mere allusion to it, rather than complete statement of it); uniqueness (non-repeatability and non-imitability); transitoriness (brevity, speed); ubiquity (the ability to be in many places at once: thought travelling faster than light); superficiality (wit, dancing on and off the surface of things).
74
Frederic Rzewski, Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, edited by Gisela Gronemeyer and Reinhard Oehlschlagel. (Cologne: MusikTexte, 2007), 144-52.
158
Guiltlessness: Approach the material in a state of innocence. Refrain from judging yourself. Extend yourself in many different directions at once. Keep moving from one geographical area to another. Concretely: Dance around in space, move from one end of the instrument to another, make some radical change in some parameter with every sound (This does not mean: play fast.) Explore space in an infantile, abandoned, random fashion. Play in such a way that each event is a separate entity. Fracture the material; if an idea comes into your head express only part of it. Repeat nothing, and do not linger on any one event or develop it in any way. Make every sound different from the one preceding; leap from one idea to another, always landing on new places. Some of these you may return to in the future; but don’t bother with that here. Don’t try to remember anything; but consider that everything you perceive is registered somewhere in your mind and may be recalled. Generally, between any two events let there be no demonstrable relation. Act as if this were the case, even if you do not believe it. Let there be a long space between the end of one sound and the beginning of the next. Stage 2 Qualities associated with “recent” time: Recognizability (meaningful relation between an event and the immediately preceding one); repeatability (doubling); introspectiveness (memory); freshness (observation of prominent features); likeness (resemblance); discovery (location of a thing with respect to another thing). Repeat something you have just done, without having intended to repeat it. Begin to retrace your steps, at first unintentionally, then deliberately. Do not stop exploring, do not expand on the material at all, but return to it. Thus Stage 1 continues as you begin to introduce Stage 2: In the spontaneously generated material of Stage 1, produced without forethought or intention, seize upon features that appear more striking or interesting, and let these recur after a short time as echoes of themselves. Let there be a short space between the end of one sound and the beginning of the next. Stage 3 Qualities associated with “imminent” time: Identity (evidence of will); reactiveness (conveying emotions: hope, despair, desire, fear, et cetera); individuality (separation in space and time); potentiality (for example of conflict, or growth); invention (calculation). Continue Stages 1 and 2 as you begin to introduce Stage 3. The mere repetitions of fragments that were characteristic of Stage 2 now become complete thematic statements. Extend each idea for increasingly long durations, and introduce variation. At the same time, build up a reservoir of thematic material, with the idea in mind that you will return to this material and expand it in the immediate future. Let each “theme” have a distinguishing characteristic, which remains constant, while others may change: one or more fixed parameters, such as register, tonal area, timbre, degree of complexity, stylistic reference, et cetera. Let each thematic idea develop, become a personality, separate and distinct from others. Introduce new themes and develop their immanent potentialities, until you have several (five, six, or more) such themes at your disposal. Let there be contiguity between events: Let one sound begin when another ends.
159
Stage 4 Qualities associated with “past” time: Complexity (multiplicity); conflict (interpenetration); counterpoint (polyphony). Stages 1, 2, and 3 continue as Stage 4 is introduced. Stage 4 begins when the “themes” of Stage 3 are expanded to the extent that they begin to encroach upon each other’s territory. Example: Two “themes’ in Stage 3 occupy relatively narrow frequency bands that are relatively remote from each other. The bandwidth of each is expanded until they meet. Another example: One theme in Stage 3 is a simple tonal melody, which could be suggestive of the “Internationale.” Another “theme” is a texture built out of angular, aperiodic structures and complex spectra. The two are subjected to progressive transformations in such a way that they begin to take on each other’s characteristics. Material from the past reappears, not as simple repetition in its original form, but mixed up together, and transformed by this mixing-up. The process of variation and development is radicalized, carried to extremes. The separate and distinct “themes” of Stage 3 now appear in combination, altering and altered by each other’s nature. A process of compression takes place (stretto): The individual themes are stacked up against one another more and more tightly; it is as though they were all going on together, all the time. At the point of maximum compression, the antinomies latent in the original material achieve their fullest expression, before a transformation takes place in Stage 5, in which the old themes merge and disappear, and new material is created. Let one sound begin before the end of another sound; let there be a relation of intrusion and overlapping between any two events. Stage 5 Qualities associated with “future” time: Departure (cutting loose); transformation (passage to a new state); simplicity (unity); simultaneity (homophony); suddenness (instantaneity); duration (pause, cesura); mixture (synthesis); consonance (simple numerical relations in frequency and rhythm). Stage 5 begins when the process of compression in Stage 4 has reached an extreme point and cannot be continued; for example when the speed, complexity, et cetera, of the structures being improvised are such that the performer loses control; when the sense of an extreme state has been reached by means of intensive mental or physical activity (ecstasy, fatigue, et cetera); or simply when the performer decides that the moment is right to make a sudden change and introduce entirely new material. Whatever the nature of the material introduced in Stage 5, it is totally unexpected and appears suddenly; at the same time, it is completely different in some way from all of the preceding material, which is dropped for the duration. The effect of Stage 5 should be similar to that of reaching the top of a hill after an ascent and witnessing the sudden appearance of a broad expanse of space, and possibly a sense of being suspended, or of timelessness. Characteristics could include: isolated single attacks, with short and long decays; long durations; slow tempo; large distances, in time and space, between events; simultaneous attacks; timbral mixtures (combining two distinct timbres to produce a third). Let one sound begin together with the beginning of another sound.
160
Stage 6 Qualities associated with “time in general”: Transitoriness; permanence. Periodicity; randomness. Beginning; ending. Direction; force. Process; goal. Destruction; creation. Inflexibility; unpredictability. Strife; reconciliation. Expansion; concentration. Stage 6 is a cadenza in which the previous material is both dropped and brought back; a concluding summary which will be followed by a new beginning. It is a dropping of formal restraints for a duration, ending with a cadence. Stage 6 sums up the character of each cycle. The entire cycle becomes a dash followed by a dot, in which Stages 1 through 4 form the dash, Stage 6 the dot, with Stage 5 as the space between. Something like sliding down the hill, into the next valley. A transitional conclusion, preparing for the return to the present, to zero. Liberating the imagination in order to devise a plan which, when carried out, will liberate the imagination further. A very condensed recapitulation of al the preceding stages; perhaps selective; surveying what has been done, and what there is to do; perhaps containing some allusion to what is to come. Some randomness; some repetition; some variation; some counterpoint; some space; some plain music; whatever comes into your head, without planning (yet as part of a plan). Possibly tranquil, or breathless, or both. Sounds occurring with no particular co-ordination with respect to other sounds; echoing other sounds; occurring at the ends of other sounds; occurring in the middle of other sounds, overlapping them; beginning or ending together with other sounds; leading other sounds, breaking a silence, causing other sounds. Cycle 1: Sense of touch. No judgments. Exploratory. Exploring space. Random sampling, always in a different place. “Abstract.” Zero dimensionality: points. Cycle 2: Sense of taste. Some things chosen, other rejected. Discovering a structure. Repetitive sequences: a ground bass? Recent = familiar. Begin with material similar to Cycle 1, Stage 5. One dimensionality: lines (repetition of points). Cycle 3: Sense of smell. Leading to food. Moving in a direction, drawn onward. Inventing variations, alternative models; realizing potentialities. Following a trail. Expansion. Two dimensionality: shapes. Cycle 4: Sense of sight. Controlled, contrapuntal; overlooking, looking up. Three dimensionality: objects, combinations of shapes. Depth: superimposition of different layers of time. Cycle 5: Sense of hearing. Perceiving across a distance. Four dimensionality: change. Cycle 6: Sense of equilibrium. Taking initiative. Summing up. Sliding, skiing, swimming, gliding: using the force of gravity. Imaginary multi-dimensionality. December 1972
161
Appendix B Interview with Frederic Rzewski University of Cincinnati 6/21/08 By Keane Southard
Southard: My first question is, well I know you heard the tune “The People United” at a concert but how did you notate it? Did you have sheet music or by dictation? Rzewski: I had a recording. S: Ok. The one by the band… R: I believe the recording I had was by the group Quilapayun. I just transcribed it from the recording which is…actually, I heard it as being in a triple rhythm: Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum, when actually when I later saw the actual score I saw it was dotted-eight and sixteenth. S: So they swung it? R: Yes. S: Ok, is that the only thing you changed? R: No, I also changed the tonality. The original is in A minor and I changed it to D minor for some reason which I cannot explain. S: And did you keep the form of the song the same when using it as the theme? R: Yes. S: I could probably get a hold of that recording then. R: You probably can. S: Do you know when that was issued? R: 70’s, mid 70’s. S: On LP? R: Yes. S: Alright. And then how did you approach the theme? Did certain aspects stick out to you as something you could exploit in the variations?
162
R: Yes. In the jargon of popular music there is something they call the hook. It is usually a word but it can be a musical turn also. It is some little trivial detail maybe in a particular song that makes that song different than a thousand other songs that are like it which makes it a hit song. You can find such things in classical composers as well, like in Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony: bum, bum bum-bum, ba-bum, you know and then there’s that BAP BAP BAP. That’s what I would call the hook of that particular piece. But in this case it’s where the melody turns around and repeats: da-da-da-da-da-da-da-ba-BUM-ba-bum. That’s the hook. This tune, you’ve heard it before, it’s like the famous Paganini theme on which Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski and so on wrote variations. That’s the other thing, it’s a theme that immediately suggests variations. S: In some of my research they have talked about how certain variations are kind of homages to certain composers and I wanted to know if you were thinking that way, like the 10th one they call the “Boulez” variation and the 11th one the “Cage” variation…Philip Glass… R: No, I wasn’t thinking of that precisely, no, although perhaps you know that those composers whom you mentioned might be archetypal examples of some particular style. S: So you were just consciously using lots of different styles: R: Consciously or unconsciously, yes, but partly consciously, yes. S: Did you approach making the variations from improvisation, did you say, Ok, I know I want to do a lot with this theme and you had some ideas in your head and then you started improvising on them and that’s how each of these different variations came about? R: No. The whole structure comes out of improvisation. The structure of 6 times 6 comes out of an earlier piece I did earlier in the 70’s. S: Is it the Second Structure? R: That’s right. If you have that text you will see that it’s actually describing the piano piece. This was a form which in my group, MEV, we used a number of times as a kind of form to keep in our heads in the course of a free improvisation. Since it was free improvisation this form maybe, although it perhaps provided some kind of a platform for an impro, it never developed in as strict a way as one could imagine so that’s why I decided to make a written out version of it. But the actual music was not improvised, I mean I always write at the piano, so to a certain extent improvisation is always there, but that’s not what the music came from, no. It was a rather rigorous application of the model that you find in that text, “Second Structure”, so that each of the six stages represent some particular way of dealing with time, so you have points, lines, melodies, counterpoints, chords, and combinations of all of those. S: So did you use, of those elements, is that what you exploited of the theme, such as melodies in the first set? Did you exploit those aspects of the theme in those certain variations?
163
R: No, the theme simply provides the raw material for the variations. And I would say the melody is not the most important thing, it is the bass line and the harmonic structure. S: Ok, I noticed you use the descending chromatic bass line a lot, and as a walking bass in some variations. R: The bass line actually, well, it’s partly Sergio Ortega’s bass line but there are also some little changes that don’t appear in Ortega’s version and some of those ideas I actually stole from other people like my friend Michael Sahl, a composer I’ve known for a long time and I remember he suggested to me something I could do with the bass line. S: One of the things that really entices about the piece is the diversity of styles and languages you use in the variations. Sometimes it’s clear as day where the theme is and what you were doing and sometimes it’s very hidden. R: Yes, it disappears altogether sometimes, yes. That’s also an idea I stole from another friend of mine Alvin Curran who back in the 60’s wrote a piece called “La Lista del Giorno” which I remember and it has a line, there’s a certain kind of basic song on which it’s based and then there’s a line that goes up and down and you’re supposed to improvise on the melody and as the line goes up or down you are supposed to stay closer to the tune or go away from it. And Stockhausen’s sixth piano piece also has a similar wavy line that describes alternate variations of tempo and so forth. S: So at some points you consciously just sort of did away with the theme. R: I never do away with it, but I get as far away from it as possible. Like in the one you call the “Boulez” variation, it still has key points where if you listen closely you can see that it’s following the basic harmonic progression. S: And the phrase structure, and the length of the variations, except the fifth set I believe, are all 20 bars I think. They all have the same length. R: Yes, it’s fairly strict except in the fifth section where it goes haywire. But that’s also part of the formal scheme. In number five of the sequence of six, it’s supposed to go haywire. That’s what the form tells you. When you get to the fifth stage of a six stage cycle, there is a break of some kind. So the logic that you hear, you make some kind of jump into a new thing. S: And even though you go so far away from the theme at some points, in the summary variations which I don’t know if you called them that originally, but in everything I’ve read they call them summary variations…Do you think that’s the right word for those variations, the ones that recapitulate four bars of each variation? R: I don’t know what the word would be, but that’s also an idea I stole from Stockhausen. He wrote a piece in the 60’s called Plus Minus which is not really a piece, it’s kind of a formal scheme for a composer to use to write a piece and he also has this idea of there are a number of
164
elements and then a final element which involves a combination of all those things. There are no original ideas anywhere. Ok? S: Yes, I understand that. You just applied it to the variation form. R: Yes. And the idea of six stages is also not original, I got that from the Living Theatre, whom I was close to in the 60’s, who got it from the Kabbalah. It’s a concept that comes from Jewish mysticism. Ok, go on. S: In these summary variations, you put the different styles so close together that sometimes they just meld into each other where you can hear the theme but, it’s sort of an illusion I find, that you can still hear the theme but it has really disappeared, which I think is so interesting, especially the last one where all five sets of variations are pressed into one, just turning and twisting through all these styles. R: Well, depending how it’s played, of course. You can play it in different ways and you can play it in such as way as to make the formal structure as evident as possible or play it in a different way so that you make the formal structure recede into the background. S: And you recorded twice? R: Oh, I recorded it more times than not. S: How different have your own performances of the piece been? R: Oh, I don’t remember now because I never listen to these things but I remember the first time I recorded it in Italy, it’s an LP that’s still floating around somewhere but it’s very hard to find. S: Is that the one that the original liner notes are with? R: No, that was for the…actually I think I may have recorded it before Ursula did. Yes, I think so. I think the first recording was made by me in Italy around 1977. It was done in a studio and I was worried about whether it would fit on an LP so I played it as fast as I possibly could and then it was all spliced together, it’s not very good, but I played it very fast, much faster than it probably should be. And then Yuji Takahashi recorded a version which is also very fast. But I’ve done it in every way you possibly could imagine I guess. S: Did Ursula give the premiere of it? R: Yes. S: At the bicentennial… R: Yes, at the Kennedy Center. I got there late because the train broke down from New York, so I missed the first part of the concert. I think she played Beethoven Opus 110. I heard my piece, I think. I don’t remember now.
165
S: I don’t know if I have more questions off the top of my head. R: Good. S: I just really enjoy delving into your pieces. I played your “Down By the Riverside”. The piece was just so fun to learn. R: Do you improvise? S: Yes. I did an improvisation during my jury, actually, for the faculty. They let me do one. I don’t know if anyone has ever done that before. R: Done what? S: For my jury at the end of the semester to be graded I did an improvisation in the piece. R: Well, what’s so strange about that? S: Well no one has ever done that before. They were grading my improvisation, which they are not used to. R: I see. Well…sorry about that. S: (Laughs) No, I got an A, so… R: Well everybody gets A’s. It doesn’t mean anything. Ok, good. Are you sticking around for the concerts? S: I may be. I have a four hour drive back to Cleveland. R: Does it really take that much time? S: Yes, I can only come down for the day. I work during the week in Cleveland. R: You know who you might look up, there’s a guy named Jim Miller in Cleveland. He knows this piece very well. As a matter of fact, he brought me to Cleveland in, I think, 1980, I played it there. S: You played at Cleveland State, right? R: I think I played at the conservatory. S: The Cleveland Institute?
166
R: Yes. At that time there was a political organization called, what was it called, I don’t remember but it was connected with a political group called the New American Movement. If you find this guy, Jim Miller, and of course it’s a common name and I don’t happen to have his address and telephone number, but you might be able to find him on the internet. He’s been very active and devoted a lot of time to promoting the music of Hanns Eisler. S: I know you quote one of his songs… R: Yes. This is a very nice guy. He might be able to tell you some things too which are interesting. I remember that concert, they wanted to put it in the Cleveland Institute but the Cleveland Institute wouldn’t promote it so they rented the hall. And the Chileans came and set up tables and sold things. So I remember that concert very well, it was very interesting. But if you are interested in the whole question of politics and music and so forth, this guy is sort of an expert on that subject. And he is still political active and so forth and so on. I wish I had his number on me but I don’t. And if you do find him give him my best regards. So you’re heading back? S: Yes, I figured it would be cheaper, with the gas, not to say overnight. I work during the week. I’m actually from Massachusetts. R: Where? S: Northborough. R: Where’s that? S: It’s about an hour outside of Boston. R: Oh, I see. I’m from western Massachusetts so I don’t know that part of the state that well. S: And I don’t know western Massachusetts that well. But I go to school just outside of Cleveland. I’m here for two months doing a program with my school, working with non-profit organizations in Cleveland. R: What kind of non-profit organizations? S: Well, I’m working with a Hispanic education group working at a summer camp with kids, doing educational things with them and giving them a place to go to during the summer, and with a community development corporation and Habitat for Humanity. R: Oh, well that’s precisely what Jim and his friends are into now, housing questions in Cleveland. S: Because there have been all these foreclosures.
167
R: Yes, well that’s their thing. He and another guy named Steve Kagan, they are activists. They have some kind of program to make affordable loans and, I don’t know how it works, but that’s precisely what they are into, the both of them, this whole question of housing which of course is a burning issue right now. But they’ve been doing this for a long time, and in Cleveland there is a lot of stuff like that. S: Yes, they said when you hear the news about foreclosures it’s always “Cleveland is the worst place”. R: So do look this guy up. You have more reasons than one, and he could probably turn you on to some interesting things that I don’t even know about. I wish I had his address. Well, if you email me, and if you have trouble finding him, let me give you my email address and at least I can give you his email, that I know. Well, you already sent me an email, so you have my email address. S: Well, I sent it through Mr. Hoffman and he forwarded it to you. R: Ok, so you don’t have it. Here it is. There you go. Yes, if you are into this housing thing definitely look up these guys. Let me write his name down. Here you go. Let me know how it goes. S: Ok, and if you would like I could send you a copy of my paper when it is done. R: Sure. S: It will probably be done April of next year. R: Ok.
168
Appendix C “Bandiera Rossa” (The Red Flag) Translation by Patricia Ann Keyes75
Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa Bandiera Rossa, bandiera rossa Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa Bandiera rossa trionfera
Let us march o people, to revolt Red flag, Red flag Let us march o people, to revolt Red flag shall triumph
Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Eviva il communismo e la liberta
Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Long live communism and freedom
Degli sfruttati l’immensa schiera
We are the enormous band of exploited people Raise the red flag O proletariats, to revolt Red flag shall triumph
La pura innalzi, rossa bandiera O proletari, all riscossa Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Il frutto dei lavoro a chi lavora andra
Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph The fruits of labor will go to those who work
Dai campi al mare, alla miniera, All’officina, chi soffre e spera Sia pronto, e l’ora della riscossa Bandiera rossa la trionfera
From the fields to the sea, to the mines From the factories, who suffers and hopes Be ready, it is the hour of revolt Red flag shall triumph
Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Soltanto il communismo e vera liberta
Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Only communism is the true freedom
Non piu nemici, non piu frontiere: Sono I confine rosse bandiere. O communisti, alla riscossa
No more enemies, no more boundaries There are at all borders the red flags O communists, to the revolt
75
Keyes, 194-95.
169
Bandiera rossa la trionfera
Red flag shall triumph
Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Bandiera rossa la trionfera Evviva Lenin, la pace e la liberta
Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Red flag shall triumph Long live Lenin, peace and freedom
170
Bibliography Babbitt, Milton. “Who Cares If You Listen?” High Fidelity Magazine viii (1958): 38. Quoted in Laura Melton Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective, 7, DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. Bach, Johann Sebastian. The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I. Music Score. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1866. Beckman, Seth Victor. “The Traditional and the Avant-Garde in Late Twentieth-Century Music: A Study of Three Piano Compositions by Frederic Rzewski (1938-).” DMA Diss., Ball State University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1996. Burge, David. Twentieth-Century Piano Music. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2004. Collins, Mal, Dave Hartler, and Geoff White, comps., Big Red Songbook London: Pluto Press, 1981, 13. Quoted in Laura Melton Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective, 44-45, DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. Eisler, Hanns. Songs on Texts by Bertolt Brecht. Leipzig: Deutscher Verlag fur Musik, 1972. Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973. Goldberg, Joe. “The Art of Political Process: Frederic Rzewski,” Wax Paper, 4/7 (1979): 17. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 75, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Groemer, Gerald H. “Paths to the New Romanticism: Aesthetic and Thought of the American Post-Avant-Garde as Exemplified in Selected Tonal Piano Music (George Rochberg, William Bolcom, Frederic Rzewski).” DMA Diss., Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1985. Hayashi, Kim. “The Keyboard Music of Frederic Anthony Rzewski With Special Emphasis on the North American Ballads.” DMA Diss., University of Arizona. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1995. Keyes, Patricia Ann. “The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003.” DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Koloda, Richard J. “The Piano Music (Post 1974) of Frederic Rzewski.” MM Thesis, Cleveland State University, 1996.
171
Kosman, Joshua. “Improvising with a Pencil: The Piano Music of Frederic Rzewski.” Piano and Keyboard 161 (March/April, 1993): 30-37. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 60, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Lange, Art. Program notes for Frederic Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Frederic Rzewski. Hat ART CD 6066, 1990. Quoted in Richard Koloda “The Piano Music (Post 1974) of Frederic Rzewski.” 202, MM Thesis, Cleveland State University, 1996. Lewis, Ronald Edwin. “The Solo Piano Music of Frederic Rzewski.” DMA Diss., University of Oklahoma. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1992. Melton, Laura. “Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective.” DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. Morreau, Annette. “From Outside In; They Call Him Fred the Red, But His God Was Beethoven.” Independent. November 20, 1993. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 15-16, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Nyman, Michael. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 53, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Ortega, Sergio. CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, performed by Stephen Drury ,New Albion NA 063, 1994. Quoted in Laura Melton Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective, 16, DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. Pollack, Howard. Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and his Students, from Elliot Carter to Frederic Rzewski. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1992. Rockwell, John. All American Music: Composition in the Late Twentieth Century. New York: Vintage Books, 1984. Rzewski, Frederic Anthony. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by MarcAndre Hamelin. Hyperion CDA67077, 1999. ________. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Ursula Oppens. Vanguard Classics VSD-71248, 1993.
172
________. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Stephen Drury. New Albion NA-063, 1994. ________. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Ralph van Raat. Naxos 8.559360, 2008. ________. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Frederic Rzewski. Hat ART CD 6066, 1990. ________The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Yuji Takahashi. ALM Records ALCD-19, 1989. ________. The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: 36 Variations on “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” Music Score. Tokyo: Zen-On Music Co., 1979. ________. 36 Variations on “The People United Will Never Be Defeated!” (“El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido”) by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayun. Performed by Frederic Rzewski. Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 1975-1999. Nonesuch 79623-2, 2002. ________, perf. Rzewski Plays Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! DVD, Directed by Tony Adzinikolov. 2007. Pleasantville: Video Artists International, 2008. ________. Nonsequiturs: Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation, edited by Gisela Gronemeyer and Reinhard Oehlschlagel. Cologne: MusikTexte, 2007. ________. CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Frederic Rzewski. Hat ART CD 6066, 1990. Quoted in Laura Melton Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! An Analysis and Historical Perspective, 4-5, DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. ________. CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 19751999 performed by Frederic Rzewski. Nonesuch 79623-2, 2002. ________, interview by author, 21 June 2008, tape recording, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati. Schoenberg, Harold C. “Music: Frederic Rzewski at the Piano.” New York Times 21 August 1963, 39. Quoted in Richard Koloda “The Piano Music (Post 1974) of Frederic Rzewski.” 11, MM Thesis, Cleveland State University, 1996. Steinitz, Richard. “Imperialist Piano-Thumping Was One Avant Gardist Description of Frederic Rzewski This Week Because of His New Accessible Style.” Guardian. November 2, 1979. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 75, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006.
173
Strand, Mark, and Eavan Boland. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. Tan, Lillian. “Rzewski Fuses Jazz with Classical Music to Create Consciousness-Raising Concerts.” Keyboard Magazine 11 (December 1985): 16-85. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 61, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Terry, Ken. “Frederic Rzewski and the Improvising Avant Garde:” Down Beat (January 11, 1979): 20-21. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 76, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Wason, Robert W. “Tonality and Atonality in Frederic Rzewski’s Variations on ‘The People United Will Never Be Defeated!’” Perspectives of New Music 26.1 (1988) 108-43. Weininger, David. “Composer, Pianist, Iconoclast: Full of Eclectic Invention, His Work Doesn’t Fit Into a Box.” Boston Globe, section N. June 19, 2005. Quoted in Patricia Ann Keyes, The People United: An Analysis of Frederic Rzewski’s Variations for Solo Piano and Examination of Selected Compositions from 1960-2003, 74, DMA Diss., Boston University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2006. Wolff, Christian. CD liner notes for Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! performed by Ursula Oppens. Vanguard Classics VSD-71248, 1993. Zimmermann, Walter. Desert Plants: Conversations with 23 American Musicians. Vancouver: A.R.C. Publications, 1976. Zuraw, Michael. “From Ideology Into Sound: Frederic Rzewski’s “North American Ballads” and Other Piano Music from the 1970s.” DMA Diss., Rice University. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2003.
174
View more...
Comments
