Originally broadcast in 1991 on KPFK, this conversation with composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski happened while he was in Los Angeles for a residency at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Discussing the different steps in Rzewski’s career, the pair talks about the importance of his move to Italy in the early 1960s to study with Luigi Dallapiccola, and the special relationship he has kept with Europe over the years. While playing and discussing several pieces of the composer, they speak of how his compositions tend to be grounded in social and political themes. They further talk about the group he co-founded alongside Alvin Curran and Richard Teitelbaum, Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV).

PIECES AND RECORDINGS FROM:

Frederic Rzewski, Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues (1980), Nonesuch Records [Opening credits]

Frederic Rzewski, May Yingele (1988), performed by Ursula Oppens

Frederic Rzewski, The Lost Melody (1989)

Frederic Rzewski, Whangdoodles (1990), performed by Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio

Frederic Rzewski, Triumph of Death (‘The Song of the Possibility of Survival’) (1988)

Frederic Rzewski, Squares (1978)

MEV, Live concert in Zurich (1990)