Frederic Rzewski Explained

Frederic Rzewski
Birth Name:Frederic Anthony Rzewski
Birth Date:13 April 1938
Birth Place:Westfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Place:Montiano, Italy
Education:
Occupation:
  • Composer
  • Pianist
  • Academic teacher
Known For:
Notable Works:List of compositions
Organization:

Frederic Anthony Rzewski (; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. From 1977 up to his eventual death, he lived mainly in Belgium. His major compositions, which often incorporate social and political themes, include the minimalist Coming Together and the variation set The People United Will Never Be Defeated!,[1] which has been called "a modern classic".[2]

Early life and education

Rzewski was born on April 13, 1938, in Westfield, Massachusetts, to parents of Polish[3] and Jewish descent,[4] and raised Catholic.[5] 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 on a Fulbright grant, a trip which was formative in his future musical development. In addition to studying with Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence on a Fulbright scholarship[6] 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.[7]

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.

Many of Rzewski's works were 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"); Coming Together, a setting of letters from Sam Melville, an inmate at Attica State Prison, at the time of the riots there (1972); North American Ballads (I. Dreadful Memories; II. Which Side Are You On?; III. Down by the Riverside; IV. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues) (1978–79); 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.[8] 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.[9]

Personal life and death

In 1963, Rzewski married Nicole Abbeloos; they had five children.[10] While Rzewski never divorced Abbeloos, his companion for about the last 20 years of his life was Françoise Walot, with whom he had two children. He also had five grandchildren. Rzewski died of an apparent heart attack in Montiano, Tuscany, Italy,[11] on June 26, 2021, at the age of 83.[12]

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."[13] Michael Schell called Rzewski "the most important living composer of piano music, and surely one of the dozen or so most important living American composers".

In (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."[14]

Selected discography

As composer

As pianist

Literature

Further reading

External links

Interviews

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Frederic Rzewski at 80: Directions Inevitable or Otherwise. Schell. Michael. April 19, 2018. Second Inversion. April 19, 2018.
  2. Web site: Swed. Mark. July 15, 2020. Listen to Rzewski's 'People United' and hear protest music that stirs the soul. June 27, 2021. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
  3. Web site: Gilmore. Bob. September 30, 2011. Frederic Rzewski. June 26, 2021. www.paristransatlantic.com.
  4. Web site: Kim. Sujin. 2011. Understanding Frederic Rzewski's North American Ballads. July 14, 2021. etd.ohiolink.edu. 19. June 26, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210626231047/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1262054539&disposition=inline. dead.
  5. Web site: Frederic Rzewski interview. June 26, 2021. www.telegraph.co.uk. January 14, 2010 .
  6. News: Robin. William. June 27, 2021. Frederic Rzewski, Politically Committed Composer and Pianist, Dies at 83. en-US. The New York Times. June 28, 2021. 0362-4331.
  7. "Frederic Rzewski", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980.
  8. Web site: Rzewski, Frederic. June 30, 2021. Grove Music Online. 2001. en. 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.24218. 978-1-56159-263-0. Murray. Edward.
  9. Web site: Prom 50: White, Barry, Rzewski, Feldman . . February 21, 2021 . August 19, 2013.
  10. Web site: Rzewski . Alexis . Alexis Rzewski (composer's son) . April 26, 2023 . https://www.facebook.com/groups/2224384635/?multi_permalinks=10160660775504636&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&__cft__[0=AZVCxbg9j7JPtVJnZTYGI6SgzgbcOswshGbb4PpZadg9TdG_Fv3lskwC56WfpkScePleKSGWAZeQp9DdUVd4UiNDeKtAFAHQRQLadmygXtwLWr4zjY9DZ3lguZ4jlRpMWHeYcUE0pBDTzvh4He-xPpXNfUp5tV9aMzoI6dkuI8sAgqI4Qnm0cA-pmyuXd46oYuY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R Facebook ]. . April 26, 2023.
  11. Web site: È morto Frederic Rzewski, temerario pianista di 'El pueblo unido' . Assante . Ernesto . Ernesto Assante. June 27, 2021 . . June 28, 2021 . Italian.
  12. News: Page . Tim . Tim Page (music critic). June 27, 2021 . Frederic Rzewski, 'daredevil pianist' and iconoclastic composer, dies at 83 . Washington Post . June 27, 2021.
  13. Book: Slonimsky, Nicolas. The concise edition of Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians. 1994. Schirmer Books. 0-02-872416-X. 8. New York. 28710250. 857.
  14. Book: Christgau, Robert. Robert Christgau. 1981. . Ticknor & Fields. 089919026X. Consumer Guide '70s: R. https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70. March 12, 2019. robertchristgau.com.
  15. Web site: Paul Jacobs Plays Blues, Ballads & Rags. June 26, 2021. Nonesuch Records Official Website. en.
  16. Web site: American Dissident . 2023-01-09 . American Dissident . en.
  17. Web site: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! Stephen Drury, piano. June 26, 2021. New Albion Records, Inc.. en.
  18. Web site: Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. June 27, 2021. Hyperion Records. en.
  19. Web site: Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. October 24, 2021. Redshift Records. July 2015 . en.
  20. Web site: RZEWSKI, F.: De Profundis / 5 North American Ballads (Which Side Are You On?) (Moore) - CA-21014. June 27, 2021. www.naxos.com.
  21. Web site: Chamber Music - RZEWSKI, F. / RIMBAUD, R. / IELASI, G. / PASSARANI, M. (Main Drag) (Alter Ego). November 26, 2023. www.naxos.com.
  22. Web site: fred: Music by Frederic Rzewski Classical. June 27, 2021. Cedille Records. en.
  23. Web site: RZEWSKI, F.: 4 Pieces / ADAMS, J.: Phrygian Gates (Arciuli). November 26, 2023. www.naxos.com.
  24. Web site: RZEWSKI, F.: People United will never be Defeated (The) (van Raat) - 8.559360. June 27, 2021. www.naxos.com.
  25. Web site: March 29, 2014. Rzewski & Bach: Variations. June 27, 2021. paladino music. en.
  26. Web site: RZEWSKI, F.: 4 Piano Pieces / Hard Cuts / The Housewife's Lament (van Raat, Lunapark, Marinissen) - 8.559759. June 27, 2021. www.naxos.com.
  27. Web site: RZEWSKI, F.: People United will never be Defeated (The) / Four Hands (Oppens, Lowenthal) - CDR90000-158. June 27, 2021. www.naxos.com.
  28. Web site: Igor Levit: Bach, Beethoven, Rzewski Album Available via Sony Classical on October 30, 2015. June 27, 2021. www.sony.com. en-US.
  29. Web site: COV 92021 – Frederic Rzewski: Songs of Insurrection. June 27, 2021. Coviello Classics. en-US.
  30. Web site: Imani Winds: Bruits. December 12, 2021. bandcamp.com. en-US.
  31. Web site: Retro Americana. February 25, 2022. www.navonarecords.com. en-US.
  32. Web site: Vintage Americana. February 25, 2022. www.navonarecords.com. en-US.
  33. Web site: Sub Rosa. August 27, 2022. subrosalabel.bandcamp.com. en-US.
  34. Web site: Anthony Braxton Catalog. June 27, 2021. www.jazzdisco.org.
  35. Web site: Capriccio Hassidico. June 27, 2021. Igloo Records. en-US.
  36. Web site: Nonesuch Records Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 1975-1999. June 27, 2021. Nonesuch Records Official Website. en.

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