Quilapayun

Neruda Productions presents Quilapayun , November 10, Kitchener.

Odd that Rzewski should have been in town only a few months ago. I have been listening obsessively to his The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, base on the song by Quilapayun. Isabella attended a talk by Rzewski, and he mentioned how the publishers of the song had come after him when he had recorded the song (Imagine! Socialists!). What he minded was that to them his variations were not considered original but merely an 'arrangement'. He ended up splitting the proceeds with the songwriter. "Music should be free!" said Rzewski, "and if it's not free, steal it!" He meant his own music. (A friend reported that shortly after this Rzewski's oeuvre began appearing on Demonoid.) This story is as Isabella told me and I remember it, so it may not be entirely complete or accurate.