The people united will never be defeated

In 1975 Frederic Rzewski (*1938) composed his cycle of variations on the song “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (“The united people will never be defeated”) by the Chilean Sergio Ortega, which became the symbol of resistance against the dictatorship of Pinochet. Rzewski’s piano cycle is not only one of the most impressive and perhaps most difficult piano pieces to play, but it is above all one thing: a political statement.

“It’s bad enough that the avant-garde has crumbled so simply and without sound. But the fact that capitalism still hasn’t been defeated either, that can get you down”. F.R.