The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

Album by Frederic Rzewski & Marc‐André Hamelin

The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is a 1975 set of 36 variations for solo piano by American composer Frederic Rzewski. The work reworks a Chilean protest anthem into a technically demanding and rhythmically varied sequence that incorporates improvisatory, jazz-inflected and avant-garde techniques, and it has become a prominent part of late 20th-century contemporary piano repertoire and of Rzewski's output.
First released: May 1999

Tracklist

  1. 1.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Thema. With determination
    1:23
  2. 2.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 1. Weaving - delicate but firm
    0:52
  3. 3.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 2. With firmness
    0:51
  4. 4.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 3. Slightly slower, with expressive nuances
    1:05
  5. 5.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 4. Marcato
    0:56
  6. 6.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 5. Dreamlike, frozen
    1:08
  7. 7.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 6. Same tempo as beginning
    1:08
  8. 8.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 7. Tempo (Lightly, impatiently)
    0:50
  9. 9.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 8. With agility; not too much pedal; crisp
    1:03
  10. 10.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 9. Evenly
    1:02
  11. 11.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 10. Comodo, recklessly
    0:53
  12. 12.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 11. Tempo I. Like fragments of an absent melody - in strict time
    0:52
  13. 13.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 12
    1:12
  14. 14.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 13. ♩ = 72
    1:57
  15. 15.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 14. A bit faster, optimistically
    1:14
  16. 16.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 15. Flexible, like an improvisation
    1:25
  17. 17.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 16 Same tempo as preceding, with fluctuations; much pedal
    1:36
  18. 18.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 17. LH strictly ♩ = 36, RH freely, roughly as in space
    1:22
  19. 19.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 18. ♩ = 72
    1:38
  20. 20.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 19. With energy
    0:35
  21. 21.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 20. Crisp, precise
    0:30
  22. 22.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 21. Relentless, uncompromising
    0:46
  23. 23.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 22. ♩ = 132
    0:43
  24. 24.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 23. As fast as possible, with some rubato
    0:22
  25. 25.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 24. ♩ = 72
    2:33
  26. 26.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 25. ♩ = ca. 84
    2:00
  27. 27.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 26. In a militant manner
    1:06
  28. 28.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 27. Tenderly, and with a hopeful expression
    5:33
  29. 29.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 28. ♩ = 160
    1:19
  30. 30.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 29. ♩ = 144-152
    0:33
  31. 31.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 30. ♩ = 84
    2:36
  32. 32.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 31. (♩ = 160)
    0:52
  33. 33.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 32
    0:52
  34. 34.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 33
    1:00
  35. 35.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 34
    0:56
  36. 36.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 35
    0:55
  37. 37.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Variation 36
    1:58
  38. 38.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Cadenza (optional improvisation)
    6:24
  39. 39.
    The People United Will Never Be Defeated!: Thema. Tempo I
    2:57
  40. 40.
    North American Ballads: No. 3. Down by the Riverside
    5:46
  41. 41.
    North American Ballads: No. 4. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
    10:27

Credits