| In order to appreciate fully the significance of Frederic Rzewski's piano variations on "¡El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!" (The People United Will Never Be Defeated!), a Chilean Nueva Cancion (New Song) by Sergio Ortega and the folk group Quilapayun, one must understand the inexorable link between music and politics during the Chilean Revolution of the 1960s and 70s. One must also grasp the social, economic, and political climate in Chile during this period and acknowledge the covert American involvement in Chilean economic and political affairs, which contributed to the violent overthrow of Chile's democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, and to the subsequent military dictatorship. Rzewski, appalled by the U.S. government's subversive actions in Chile, wrote The People United as a work of political protest, though many of the most disturbing details of U.S. involvement were conjecture at that time. After democracy returned to Chile in 1990, the U.S. government's release of previously classified documents and the 1998 arrest of Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, made possible a more accurate account of the political events which inspired Rzewski's magnum opus.; This thesis examines the relationship between the U.S. and Chile before, during, and after the coup and traces the Nueva Cancion movement, which generated "El pueblo unido," from its folk roots through stages of protest, militancy, resistance, and recovery. By understanding the political inspiration behind the variations, one can truly appreciate how Rzewski's highly structured formal organization---particularly the relevance of the quoted anti-fascist songs---not only serves to unify its greatly diverse musical elements, but illustrates the skill with which the composer creates a musical metaphor for "The People...United."; Appendices include: (1) historical information, scores, texts, and translations relating to "¡El pueblo unido," "Bandiera rossa" (Red Flag), and " Solidaritatslied" (Solidarity Song) by Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler; (2) chronologies of relevant historical events, including the 1976 car-bomb assassinations in the U.S. capital, Pinochet's rule in Chile, and his 1998--2000 London trial; (3) interviews with Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, and Juan Orrego-Salas; and (4) an errata list to the published score. |
