The Pianist's Body at Work: Mediating Sound and Meaning in Frederic Rzewski's 'Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues'

This essay discusses the interpretation of an American Industrial folk song in a solo piano work by Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938). The author discusses ways the piano work evokes the meaning of the text without relying on the actual sung lyrics. She also discusses performances of the work in certain contexts that lend additional meaning to the song, including recitals given at the Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts and at the American University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.