DESCRIPTION:
For Piano I (1952)

Frederick Rzewski, piano

For Piano I was written for David Tudor with a view to his virtuosity, and first performed by him in February, 1952 in New York. The structure is made of sixteen segments of varying lengths and densities (number of notes in a given length), whose sequence, superposition and recurrence are determined by chance. The choice of notes (out of a total of nine), durations (total 13) and amplitudes (9), and their disposition within a segment were made by the composer. Only segments of zero density, i.e. silence, left no choice.

These limitations allowed a special freedom to the composing: the restrictions once made, the range of choices, though still immense, became particularly clear. The question of what to do next for how long, depending so much on idiosyncratic feeling, was settled in advance. The larger continuity of the piece formed itself, and its expressive content fell in with it. --Christian Wolff

Art by Jannis Kounellis