This is a piece based on the Theme from Frederic Rzewski’s “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”, which is in turn a theme and variations on a Chilean political song “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún. I used Rzewski’s theme as the basis for twelve variations. Each variation uses the harmony of a few measures of the theme. For example, the first variation is based on measures 1-4 of the piece. The second is based on 5 & 6, and the twelfth is based on measures 33-36. Think of it as one long trip through the theme, split into twelve variations. More information is available in a series of blog posts made over the past several months, linked to below the playlist.
Theme:
Variation 1:
Variation 2:
Variation 3:
Variation 4:
Variation 5:
Variation 6:
Variation 7:
Variation 8:
Variation 9:
Variation 10:
Variation 11:
Variation 12:
Zipped MP3 files with playlist: download
More information on the individual variations and the tunings employed.