View source for The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

{{Short description|Composition by Frederic Rzewski}}
{{Italic title}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=November 2021}}
'''''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''''' (1975) is a piano composition by [[United States|American]] composer [[Frederic Rzewski]]. ''The People United'' is a set of 36 [[variation (music)|variations]] on the [[Chile]]an song "[[El pueblo unido jamás será vencido|¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!]]" by [[Sergio Ortega (composer)|Sergio Ortega]] and [[Quilapayún]], and received its world premiere on February 7, 1976, played by [[Ursula Oppens]] as part of the Bi-Centennial Piano Series at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] Concert Hall. Rzewski dedicated the composition to Oppens, who had commissioned it, and who recorded it in 1979; her recording was named "Record of the Year" in that year by ''[[Record World]]'', and received a [[Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]] nomination.

==Analysis==
The song on which the variations is based is one of many that emerged from the [[Popular Unity (Chile)|Unidad Popular]] coalition in Chile between 1969 and 1973, prior to the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|overthrow]] of the [[Salvador Allende]] government. Rzewski composed the variations in September and October 1975, as a tribute to the struggle of the Chilean people against the newly imposed repressive regime of [[Augusto Pinochet]]; indeed the work contains allusions to other leftist struggles of the same and immediately preceding time, such as quotations from the Italian traditional [[socialism|socialist]] song "[[Bandiera Rossa]]" and the [[Bertolt Brecht]]/[[Hanns Eisler]] "[[Solidarity Song]]".

In general, the variations are short, and build up to climaxes of considerable force. The 36 variations, following the 36 bars of the tune, are in six groups of six. The pianist, in addition to needing a virtuoso technique, is required to whistle, slam the piano lid, and catch the after-vibrations of a loud attack as harmonics: all of these are "extended" techniques in 20th-century piano writing. Much of the work uses the language of 19th-century romanticism, but mixes this language with [[pandiatonic]] tonality, [[Mode (music)|modal]] writing, and [[Serialism|serial]] techniques. A typical performance spans roughly 60 minutes.

As in the ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'' by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], the final variation is a direct restatement of the original theme, intended to be heard with new significance after the long journey through the variations.

==Recordings==
* Frederic Rzewski (composer and piano), ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', recorded 1986, published 1990 by [[Hat Hut Records]], Switzerland, hat ART CD 6066.
* Frederic Rzewski (composer and piano), ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', in ''Piano Works, 1975–1999,'' published 2002, [[Nonesuch Records]] 79623-2.
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. [[Ursula Oppens]], piano. [[Vanguard Classics]] CD, OVC 8056.
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. [[Marc-André Hamelin]], Hyperion Records CDA67077 (''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' Editor's Choice).
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. [[Stephen Drury (musician)|Stephen Drury]], piano. New Albion NA063.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070309162148/http://www.newalbion.com/NA063/ More info], Drury, New Albion</ref>
* Frederic Rzewski Plays Rzewski [[Video Artists International|VAI]] DVD 4440, Video recording from the 2007 Miami International Piano Festival<ref>[https://www.vaimusic.com/VIDEO/DVD_4440_Rzewski.htm More info], [[Video Artists International]] 2007</ref>
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on "¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!". [[Kai Schumacher]], piano. [[Wergo]] WER67302. (fono forum magazine, pick of the month)<ref>[https://en.schott-music.com/shop/the-people-united-will-never-be-defeated-no266002.html "''The People United Will Never Be Defeated''"], [[Kai Schumacher]], WER 67302, [[Schott Music]]</ref>
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. [[Ralph van Raat]], piano. Naxos 8.559360.
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. Thomas Schultz, piano. Wooden Fish Recordings (no number).
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated'', 36 Variations on a Chilean Song. [[Yuji Takahashi]], piano. ALM ALCD-19.
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated''. [[Christopher Hinterhuber]], piano. paladino music pmr 0037 (2012)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140115000039/https://paladino.at/en/catalogue/cds/rzewski-bach-variations More info], Hinterhuber, paladino music</ref>
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. Corey Hamm, piano. Redshift Records TK431 (2014)<ref>[https://archive.today/20140422023945/http://www.redshiftmusic.org/redshift-records More info], Hamm, Redshift Records</ref> (2014 Spotify Best Classical Record, and Best Classical Recording of 2014 Western Canada Music Awards)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', Four Hands. Ursula Oppens, piano. Çedille Records: CDR 90000 158 (2014)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. [[Lee Sangwook]], piano. Audioguy Classics {{ASIN|B00JVDADWM}} (2014)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. [[Igor Levit]], piano. Sony Music {{ASIN|B0128ZEVDG}} (2015)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. Daan Vandewalle, piano. [[Etcetera Records]]: KTC 1589, 8711801015897 (2017)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!.'' [https://michaelnoble.net Michael Noble], piano. 198004840682 <ref>{{Cite web |title=American Dissident |url=https://michaelnoble.hearnow.com/ |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=American Dissident |language=en}}</ref>(2022)
* Frederic Rzewski, ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!''. [[Vadym Kholodenko]], piano. Quartz, QTZ2149 (2022)

==See also==
* [[List of socialist songs]]
* [[List of variations on a theme by another composer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Murray, Edward. "Frederic Rzewski", [[Grove Music Online]], ed. L. Macy
* Parry, Jonathan. 1984. [https://www.jonathan-parry.co.uk/_files/ugd/6f2b2d_decb8ba80b1942739c78803475d5391c.pdf ''New uses of tonal harmony in recent music'']. Sheffield University MPhil. Chapter on Frederic Rzewski's ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated''.
*[[Sandeep Bhagwati|Bhagwati, Sandeep]]. 1992. "Von der Schönheit der Vielfalt in der Einheit: Notizen zu Frederic Rzewskis ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated''—36 Variationen über ein chilenisches Volkslied". ''Melos: Jahrbuch für zeitgenössische Musik'' 51:130–171.
*Sherr, Larry. 1985. "Vereinigung der Vielfalt: ''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' von Frederic Rzewski". ''{{ill|MusikTexte|de}}: Zeitschrift für Neue Musik'', no. 11:38–48.
*Southard, Keane. 2009. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/39793944/The-Use-of-Variation-Form-in-Frederic-Rzewski-s-The-People-United-Will-Never-Be-Defeated# "The Use of Variation Form in Frederic Rzewski's 'The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'"]. Baldwin-Wallace College BM Thesis. 
*Wason, Robert. 1988. "Tonality and Atonality in Frederic Rzewski's Variations on 'The People United Will Never Be Defeated{{'"}}. ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 26, no. 1 (Winter): 108–143.
* [[Christian Wolff (composer)|Wolff, Christian]]. Program notes by to Ursula Oppens recording: Vanguard Classics CD OVC 8056.

==External links==
* {{YouTube|DvestPHTuWc|Animated score}}, Frederic Rzewski (piano), Nonesuch

{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:People United Will Never Be Defeated!}}
[[Category:Compositions for solo piano]]
[[Category:Variations]]
[[Category:Compositions by Frederic Rzewski]]
[[Category:1975 compositions]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to ensembles or performers]]
[[Category:Music and politics]]