GreenHaven - Program Notes
18:00 – 18:10
Greeting by Dr. Roman Luckscheiter, Secretary General of the German Commission for UNESCO, on UNESCO's patronage of the GreenHaven inaugural event.
18:10 – 19:10
Frederic Rzewski : “The People United will Never be Defeated!”
36 Variations is based on the Chilean protest song: ¡ El pueblo unido jamás será vencido !
Heather O’Donnell, piano
Notes on Frederic Rzewski’s „The People United will Never be Defeated”
On September 11th, 1973, the democratically-elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was overthrown in a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet with the backing of the CIA, ushering in a brutal 17 year-long military dictatorship. Shortly before the coup, Chilean composer Sergio Ortega had written a song for Allende’s Popular Unity government that would later become the resistance anthem against Pinochet’s oppressive regime, and later an widely recognized hymn sung at protests throughout the world.
Frederic Rzewski, a close friend of Ortega’s, chose this anthem as the theme for his towering set of 36 Variations commissioned by the pianist Ursula Oppens for the American Bicentennial celebrations at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 1976. He wrote: "I wanted to write a piece that she could play for an audience of classical-music lovers who perhaps knew nothing at all of what was happening in Latin America. By virtue of listening to my piece for an hour, they might somehow get interested in the subject. I really was trying to reach the audience by using a language they would not find alienating."
Rzewski already had much experience in communicating political or social messages through musical means. These themes were present in several of his pieces preceding The People United as well as in his writings and lectures including the so-called "Parma Manifesto" delivered in March 1968 in which he stated :
"To create means to be ‚here and now‘: to be responsible to reality on the high-wire of the present.
To be responsible means to be able to communicate the presence of danger to others."
Finding the musical tools necessary for achieving this kind of communication became a lifelong occupation for Rzewski, who achieved this through unceasing activity in many areas of music-making: composition, performance and improvisation. He was one of the few pianist-composers of the late 20th and early 21st century, and in this regard can take his place as a modern-day Mozart, Liszt or Rachmaninoff with his phenomenal pianistic gifts and inspired improvisations.
How the piece is organized:
We begin with the theme. We end with the theme. In between come 36 ways of viewing this theme: 36 variations on the theme.
The 36 variations are organized into six sets of six. Each set has an overriding ‘mood’ and concludes with a so-called ‘memory variation’. The last variation of each set remembers bits and pieces of the preceding 5 variations. Within this play of statements followed by memories, we travel through the hour-long ‘six sets of six’, pausing at the end of each set to remember what came before.
The last set of variations is dedicated exclusively to remembering. In the course of that set, we remember parts of the entire piece. The very last variation, n. 36 is a memory of the entire piece, which makes for a very fragmented, almost chaotic kind of expression. Out of the shards of these memory-fragments, we are able to approach the original theme again – now with a depth acquired through our shared experiences of 36 different encounters/understandings of the theme. In the end, we are invited to remember our original purpose. We can state confidently, backed by our experience: “The People United will never be Defeated!”.
This performance is dedicated to Frederic Rzewski, who passed away in 2021, and MaryAnne O’Donnell: a lifelong protectress and fighter for justice.
19:35-20:05
Martin Asander : "Peace"
Susanna Lindmark : "Song of Hope"
Vasilij Michajljuk : "Vogelkirsche"
"Du hast mich betrogen", arranged by Elena Orlowa
"Komme nicht zu mir", arranged by Veronika Tormachowa
Womens‘ Choir „Ukraine“
Oksana Dondyk, musical direction
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M. Ravel : « Trois chansons de Don Quichotte »
Chanson à boir
Maksim Andreenkov, Bass-Bariton, Anastasiia Kolabanova, Klavier
E. De Curtis: “Non ti scordar di me“
F. Lehár : Duet of Hanna and Danilo from the operetta "The Merry Widow“
Anastasiia Kolabanova, soprano, Maksim Andreenkov, bass-bariton, Amina Chobanzade, piano
20:20 – 21:20
Solo Concert
Richie Beirach, piano
The program will be announced from the stage.
From Richie Beirach:
„I am one quarter Ukrainian ,,my grandma on my mothers side was born in Kiev and lived there for many years before leaving with my grandfather to Brighton beach in New York City ,,I would like to dedicate my entire performance to the brave people of Ukraine ,LONG LIVE UKRAINE !! „
21:45 – 22:45
Laura Marti, Singer
Nataliya Lebedeva, Piano
The program consists of two parts:
I. The Poetic Project is a tribute to famous Ukrainian poets, whose poems Laura Marti wrote music for with the help of Nataliya Lebedeva. Most of these works will be performed here for the first time. Several of these poems are well-known and beloved in Ukraine. They glorify love for their native land and people, the value of life in harmony and freedom. Also among the songs are wonderful love poems and even a humorous one intended for children. Laura's music expresses the depth of the poetry, enhancing its emotionality.
The musicians believe that such a program is one of the best possible ways to support their country in an time that is extremely difficult for everyone.
II. Favorites - jazz originals by Nataliya Lebedeva and Laura Marti. Throughout their 15 years of musical cooperation, Laura and Nataliya have recorded many albums together. The musicians are well-versed in various musical styles, such as Armenian ethno-jazz, crossover, pop jazz and Brazilian music. During this part of the concert, Laura and Nataliya present compositions written throughout the past 15 years, sharing impressions of travels, encounters and significant life events.