Relâche Concert

Relâche begins its 49th season with a groundbreaking, colossal work— but with the originality, impact and relevance that has been our calling card since 1977. 

Just two years before Relâche performed for the first time, American composer Frederic Rzewski, inspired by the political struggle of the Chilean people against the Pinochet regime, composed for solo piano a set of 36 variations on one of the new revolutionary songs which had become associated with the movement: ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! Rzewski’s use of the English translation— The People United Will Never Be Defeated!— expressed solidarity with those facing the struggle and reflected the volatile political landscape here at home as the Vietnam war drew to a close. 

Its dedicatee, Ursula Oppens, gave the epic, 65-minute work its World Premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, and Rzewski’s piece soon became a virtuosic…