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Frederic Rzewski

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Frederic Rzewski

Frederic Anthony Rzewski (/ˈʒɛfski/ ZHEF-skee; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist who was considered to be one of the most important American composers of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social and political themes, include the minimalist Coming Together and the piano variations The People United Will Never Be Defeated!,[1] which has been considered to be a "modern classic".[2]

Early life and education

Rzewski was born on April 13, 1938, in Westfield, Massachusetts, to parents of Jewish-Polish descent.[3][4] He began playing piano at age 5 and attended Phillips Academy, Harvard and Princeton, where his teachers included Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and Milton Babbitt. In 1960, he went to Italy, a trip which was formative in his future musical development. In addition to studying with Luigi Dallapiccola, he began a career as a performer of new piano music, often with an improvisatory element.

Career

In 1966, Rzewski co-founded Musica Elettronica Viva with Alvin Curran and Richard Teitelbaum in Rome. Musica Elettronica Viva conceived music as a collective, collaborative process, with improvisation and live electronic instruments prominently featured. In 1971, he returned to New York from Italy.[5]

In 1977, Rzewski became Professor of Composition at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Liège, Belgium, then directed by Henri Pousseur. Occasionally, he taught for short periods at schools and universities throughout the U.S. and Europe, including Yale University, the University of Cincinnati, the California Institute of the Arts, the University of California, San Diego, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and Trinity College of Music, London.[5]

Many of Rzewski's works are inspired by secular and socio-historical themes, show a deep political conscience and feature improvisational elements. His better-known works include The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (36 variations on the Sergio Ortega song "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido"), a set of virtuosic piano variations written as a companion piece to Beethoven's Diabelli Variations; Coming Together, a setting of letters from Sam Melville, an inmate at Attica State Prison, at the time of the famous riots there (1971); North American Ballads (I. Dreadful Memories; II. Which Side Are You On?; III. Down by the Riverside; IV. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues) (1979); Night Crossing with Fisherman; Fougues; Fantasia and Sonata; The Price of Oil, and Le Silence des Espaces Infinis, both of which use graphical notation; Les Moutons de Panurge; and the Antigone-Legend, which features a principled opposition to the policies of the State, and which was premiered on the night the United States bombed Libya in April 1986.[5] Rzewski's later compositions include Nanosonatas (2006–2010) and Cadenza con o senza Beethoven (2003), written for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto. Rzewski played the solo part in the world premiere of his piano concerto at the 2013 BBC Proms.[6]

Personal life and death

In 1963, Rzewski married Nicole Abbeloos; they had five children together. While Rzewski never divorced Abbeloos, his companion for about the last 20 years of his life was Françoise Walot. He had two children with Walot. He also had five grandchildren. Rzewski died of an apparent heart attack in Montiano, Italy,[7] on June 26, 2021.[8]

Appraisal

Nicolas Slonimsky said of Rzewski in 1993: "He is furthermore a granitically overpowering piano technician, capable of depositing huge boulders of sonoristic material across the keyboard without actually wrecking the instrument."[9] Michael Schell called him "the most important living composer of piano music, and surely one of the dozen or so most important living American composers".[1]

In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau reviewed Coming Together/Attica/Moutons de Panurge, an album recorded with vocals by performance artist Steve ben Israel and released in 1973 by Opus One Records. "The design of 'Coming Together' is simple, even minimal", Christgau said. "Steve ben Israel reads and rereads one of Sam Melville's letters from Attica over a jazzy, repetitious vamp. Yet the result is political art as expressive and accessible as Guernica. In ben Israel's interpretation, Melville's prison years have made him both visionary and mad, and the torment of his incarceration is rendered more vivid by the nagging intensity of the music. The [LP's] other side features a less inspiring political piece and a percussion composition, each likable but not compelling, but that's a cavil. 'Coming Together' is amazing."[10]

Music

See also: List of compositions by Frederic Rzewski

Selected discography

As composer

As pianist

Literature

  • Frederic Rzewski Nonsequiturs – Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation. Unlogische Folgerungen – Schriften und Vorträge zu Improvisation, Komposition und Interpretation. Edition Musiktexte, Cologne, 2007. ISBN 3-9803151-8-5.
  • Петров, Владислав Олегович Фредерик Ржевски: путь обновления традиций. – Астрахань: ГАОУ АО ДПО «АИПКП», 2011. – 100 с. // Petrov, Vladislav O. Frederic Rzewski: upgrade path traditions. – Astrakhan: AIPKP, 2011. – 100 p.

References

  1. ^ a b Schell, Michael (April 19, 2018). "Frederic Rzewski at 80: Directions Inevitable or Otherwise". Second Inversion. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  2. ^ Swed, Mark (2020-07-15). "Listen to Rzewski's 'People United' and hear protest music that stirs the soul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-06-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Frederic Rzewski interview". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  4. ^ Gilmore, Bob (September 30, 2011). "Frederic Rzewski". www.paristransatlantic.com. Retrieved 2021-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c "Frederic Rzewski," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.
  6. ^ "Prom 50: White, Barry, Rzewski, Feldman". BBC. August 19, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  7. ^ Assante, Ernesto (June 27, 2021). "È morto Frederic Rzewski, temerario pianista di 'El pueblo unido'". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  8. ^ Page, Tim (June 27, 2021). "Frederic Rzewski, 'daredevil pianist' and iconoclastic composer, dies at 83". Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  9. ^ Slonimsky, Nicolas. The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York: Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 0-02-872416-X.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  11. ^ "Paul Jacobs Plays Blues, Ballads & Rags". Nonesuch Records Official Website. Retrieved 2021-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "The People United Will Never Be Defeated! Stephen Drury, piano". New Albion Records, Inc. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  13. ^ "Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  14. ^ "RZEWSKI, F.: De Profundis / 5 North American Ballads (Which Side Are You On?) (Moore) - CA-21014". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  15. ^ "fred: Music by Frederic Rzewski | Classical". Cedille Records. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  16. ^ "RZEWSKI, F.: People United will never be Defeated (The) (van Raat) - 8.559360". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  17. ^ "Rzewski & Bach: Variations". paladino music. 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  18. ^ "RZEWSKI, F.: 4 Piano Pieces / Hard Cuts / The Housewife's Lament (van Raat, Lunapark, Marinissen) - 8.559759". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  19. ^ "RZEWSKI, F.: People United will never be Defeated (The) / Four Hands (Oppens, Lowenthal) - CDR90000-158". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  20. ^ "Igor Levit: Bach, Beethoven, Rzewski Album Available via Sony Classical on October 30, 2015". www.sony.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  21. ^ "COV 92021 – Frederic Rzewski: Songs of Insurrection". Coviello Classics. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  22. ^ "Anthony Braxton Catalog". www.jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  23. ^ "Capriccio Hassidico". Igloo Records. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  24. ^ We Sing For The Future! by Frederic Rzewski, retrieved 2021-06-27
  25. ^ JOHNSON,TOM, Hour for Piano, retrieved 2021-06-27
  26. ^ POUSSEUR,H., Aquarius-Memorial, retrieved 2021-06-27
  27. ^ Marianne Pousseur, Vincent Bouchot & Frederic Rzewski, Pousseur: La Guirlande de Pierre, retrieved 2021-06-27
  28. ^ Christoph Caskel, Max Neuhaus & Frederic Rzewski, Stockhausen: Zyklus / Klavierstück X, retrieved 2021-06-27
  29. ^ "Nonesuch Records Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 1975-1999". Nonesuch Records Official Website. Retrieved 2021-06-27.

Further reading

Interviews

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