Frederic Rzewski

Archive 2009

Music

Frederic Rzewski
Main Drag, for nine instruments
The Lost Melody, for clarinet, piano and two percussions

Encounter with the composer
Presentation Martin Kaltenecker

Mary’s Dream, for soprano and ensemble (text by Mary Shelley)
Pocket Symphony, for six instruments
De Profundis, for narrator and piano (text by Oscar Wilde)

Frederic Rzewski, piano and narrator
Marianne Pousseur, mezzo-soprano
Ensemble L’Instant Donné

Corealisation Opéra national de Paris, Festival d’Automne à Paris
With the presence of Adami
Concert recorded by France Musique

Frederic Rzewski, famous for his variations on The People United Will Never Be Defeated (1975), combines protest, 19th century piano and the beat of jazz. His compositional universe features beat, a range of harmony and a focus on melody. Voices sing apparently incongruous texts, such as the preface to Frankenstein, as Rzewski weaves the unexpected with the transient.