Performances
Sheet Music
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General Information
Work Title
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Ballade No.6
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Alternative. Title
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The Housewife's Lament
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Composer
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Rzewski, Frederic
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I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No.
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IFR 96
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Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp.
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1980
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Composer Time PeriodComp. Period
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Modern
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Piece Style
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Modern
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Instrumentation
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Harpsichord or Piano
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Navigation etc.
Composer's comments:
The Housewife's Lament was written in 1980 at the request of the harpsichordist Judith Norell. It is a set of variations on a 19th-century song of the same name with words from the diary of Mrs. Sarah Price:
- Life is a toil and love is a trouble,
- Beauty will fade and riches will flee;
- Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double,
- And nothing is as I would wish it to be.
Although the piece was intended for the harpsichord, I find that it works just well when played on the piano. Perhaps the ideal instrument would be an old upright piano of the kind that could be found in middle-class homes across America in the early part of the century.