The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

This Frederic Rzewski masterwork had been recorded at least twice previously (the original version was performed by Ursula Oppens, and another, with Rzewski himself at the piano, was released on hat ART), but Stephen Drury manages to wring out some new and impressive findings in this rendition. The first and most striking addition is the inclusion, at the very beginning of a tape, of the song "El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido!," performed in concert (1975) by the Chilean band Quilapayun, and sung-along to by the crowd in boisterous fashion. Drury, long a champion of contemporary piano music, is a spectacular player, combining a strong attack with extremely graceful delicacy. He perhaps lacks the steeliness and pure passionate drive of Rzewski himself (whose version is still, arguably, the finest) but only slightly. As the hat ART release remained out of print and rare as of 2002, this recording should be first choice, it's superior sonic quality lifting it above the Oppens rendition. The music itself, of course, is absolutely thrilling and magnificent. Interestingly, this disc provides track divisions on each of the 36 variations, allowing the interested listener to parse all of the fascinatingly recursive structures used by Rzewski. More importantly, the spirit of the music, an all-encompassing vision that ranges from folk forms to serialism to free jazz and beyond, eventually culminating in the extraordinarily powerful final recapitulation of the main theme, is beautifully represented. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! is one of the great works of late 20th century music, and this reading by Stephen Drury is a fine place to hear it.