Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues from North
American Ballads Frederic Rzewski
Social consciousness has long influenced American composer Frederic Rzewski's
works. He addresses the issue of labor rights in North American Ballads, a set
of four pieces based on union songs. The
text of Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues comments on the harsh working conditions in
the textile mills of North Carolina in the 1930s. Aggressive
hammering clusters in the bass register of the piano open the work, mimicking
the relentless, noisy environment the workers had to endure. The influence of
the blues jazz idiom contrasts this mechanical soundscape. "In writing these pieces," wrote Rzewski in
his program notes, "I took as a model the chorale preludes of Bach, who in his
contrapuntal writing consistently derives motivic configurations from the basic
tune. In each piece I built up contrapuntal textures in a similar way, using
classical techniques like augmentation, diminution, transposition, and
compression, always keeping the profile of the tune on some level." Xiang Zou
Classical Music | Piano Music
Frederic Rzewski
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, from North American Ballads Play
Recorded on 11/29/2005, uploaded on 01/13/2009
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues from North American Ballads Frederic Rzewski
Social consciousness has long influenced American composer Frederic Rzewski's works. He addresses the issue of labor rights in North American Ballads, a set of four pieces based on union songs. The text of Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues comments on the harsh working conditions in the textile mills of North Carolina in the 1930s. Aggressive hammering clusters in the bass register of the piano open the work, mimicking the relentless, noisy environment the workers had to endure. The influence of the blues jazz idiom contrasts this mechanical soundscape. "In writing these pieces," wrote Rzewski in his program notes, "I took as a model the chorale preludes of Bach, who in his contrapuntal writing consistently derives motivic configurations from the basic tune. In each piece I built up contrapuntal textures in a similar way, using classical techniques like augmentation, diminution, transposition, and compression, always keeping the profile of the tune on some level." Xiang Zou
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