Frederic Anthony Rzewski (/ˈʒɛfski/ZHEF-skee; 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.[1][2] 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]
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]
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.[11] Rzewski died of an apparent heart attack in Montiano, Tuscany, Italy,[12] on June 26, 2021, at the age of 83.[11]
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".[1]
InChristgau'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."[14]
Four North American Ballads, played by Paul Jacobs (Nonesuch RecordsonPaul Jacobs Plays Blues, Ballads & Rags D-79006 (LP) & 79006-2 (CD re-issue ) 1980(LP) 1993 (CD)[15]
The People United Will Never Be Defeated! and Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues played by Michael NobleonAmerican Dissident (198004840682) 2022.[16]
Rzewski, Frederic. Nonsequiturs—Writings & Lectures on Improvisation, Composition, and Interpretation (Unlogische Folgerungen—Schriften und Vorträge zu Improvisation, Komposition und Interpretation). Edition Musiktexte, Cologne, 2007. ISBN3-9803151-8-5.
Петров, Владислав Олегович. Фредерик Ржевски: путь обновления традиций. Astrakhan: AIPKP, 2011, p. 100.
Petrov, Vladislav O. Frederic Rzewski: upgrade path traditions. Astrakhan: AIPKP, 2011, p. 100.
Murray, Edward. "Rzewski, Frederic" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vols. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN1-56159-174-2.
Murray, Edward. "Rzewski, Frederic" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. 29 vols. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001. ISBN1-56159-239-0.
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