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Songs of Insurrection

Coviello Music Productions is proud to present the world premiere recording of Frederic Rzewski’s Songs of Insurrection (2016) with Los Angeles based pianist/composer Thomas Kotcheff. Thomas’ playing is a founding member of the piano duo HOCKET who are currently a Piano Spheres core artist. Songs of Insurrection is a timely, personal, and virtuosic meditation on protests across human cultures and histories. Each of the seven movements takes up a protest song from a particular time and place, upon which Rzewski composes variations, often inviting the pianist to conclude the movement with their own improvation (which Thomas does on movements 1, 3, 4 and 5):

  1. Die Moorsoldaten (Germany)
  2. Katyusha (Russia)
  3. Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around (USA)
  4. Foggy Dew (Ireland)
  5. Grândola, Vila Morena (Portugal)
  6. Los Cuatro Generales (Spain)
  7. Oh Bird, Oh Bird, Oh Roller (Korea)

This CD was reviewed by Frederic Rzewski before its release, and he commented:

Thank you so much for sending me this. It’s superb…I love your improvisations!

 

Album Art
The album artwork was created in collaboration with the photographers Chaz Niell, Julien James, and J Pinder. Chaz Niell and Julien James are both high-profile arts and culture photographers based in Washington, D.C. and J Pinder is a filmmaker and photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. All three artists documented the Black Lives Matter protests in their respective cities for the album artwork.

Read the Booklet | Download
Liner notes and essays were written by Zak Cheney-Rice, Kristi Brown-Montesano, and Ted Hearne. Zak Cheney-Rice is a features writer for New York Magazine and reports on race, politics, and the criminal justice system, Kristi Brown-Montesano is the chair of the musicology department at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA, and Ted Hearne is a composer, singer, and recording artist “known for his topical, politically sharp-edged works.” (New York Times)