archive - November 6, 1965: Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, "Father of Electronic Music"; Henry Miller called him "The stratospheric Colossus of Sound"
Hoodini
ones for free audio clips of which I have provided the address for
"Density 21.5: John McMurtery, flute".
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Edgard Varèse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Var%C3%A8se
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6,
1965) was a French-born composer.
Varèse's music features an emphasis on timbre and rhythm. He was the
inventor of the term "organized sound", a phrase meaning that certain
timbres and rhythms can be grouped together, sublimating into a whole
new definition of sound. His use of new instruments and electronic
resources led to his being known as the "Father of Electronic Music"
while Henry Miller described him as "The stratospheric Colossus of
Sound". He is also known to have re-introduced the 'Idee-fixe', a term
first introduced by the French composer Hector Berlioz.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Early years in the United States
* 3 Life in Paris
* 4 Back in the United States
* 5 International recognition
* 6 Idée Fixe
* 7 Works
* 8 Trivia
* 9 References
* 10 External links
o 10.1 Listening
* 11 Notes
Early life
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse was born on 22 December 1883 in
Paris, but after only a few weeks was sent to be raised by his
great-uncle's family in the small town of Villars in Burgundy. There
he developed an intense attachment to his grandfather, Claude Cortot,
something that would outshine anything he would ever feel for his own
parents. In fact, from his earliest years his relationship with his
father Henri was extremely antagonistic, developing into what could
fairly be called a firm and life-long hatred. Reclaimed by his parents
in the late 1880's, in 1893 young Edgard was forced to relocate with
them to Turin, Italy. It was here that he had his first real musical
lessons, with the long-time director of Turin's conservatory, Giovanni
Bolzoni. Never comfortable with Italy, and given his opressive
home-life, a physical altercation with his father forced the situation
and Varèse left home for Paris in 1903.
From 1904 he was a student at the Schola Cantorum (founded by pupils
of César Franck); afterwards he went to study composition with Charles
Widor at the Paris Conservatoire. His first performed orchestral work
was Rhapsodie romane in the year of 1906. Varese was inspired by the
Romanesque architecture of St. Philibert. In 1908 he moved to Berlin.
He moved to Berlin in 1907 and in the same year married the actress
Suzanne Bing and they had one child. They divorced in 1913.
During these years, Varèse became acquainted with Satie, Debussy and
Busoni, the last two being particular influences on him at the time.
The first performance of his Bourgogne in Berlin in 1910 caused a
scandal. After being invalided out of the French Army during World War
I, he moved to the United States in 1915. In 1917 Varese made his
debut in America conducting a piece by Berlioz.
Early years in the United States
He spent the first few years in the United States meeting important
contributors to American music, promoting his vision of new electronic
art music instruments, conducting orchestras, and founding the New
Symphony Orchestra. It was also about this time that Varèse began work
on his first composition in the United States, Amériques, which was
finished in 1921. It was at the completion of this work that Varèse,
along with Carlos Salzedo, founded the International Composers' Guild,
dedicated to the performances of new compositions of both American and
European composers, for which he composed many of his pieces for
orchestral instruments and voices. Specifically, during the first half
of the 1920s, he composed Offrandes, Hyperprism, Octandre, and Intégrales.
He took American citizenship in 1926.
Life in Paris
In 1928, Varèse returned to Paris to alter one of the parts in
Amériques to include the recently constructed Ondes Martenot. Around
1930, he composed his most famous non-electronic piece entitled
Ionisation, the first to feature solely percussion instruments.
Although it was composed with pre-existing instruments, Ionisation was
an exploration of new sounds and methods to create them.
In 1933, while Varèse was still in Paris, he wrote to the Guggenheim
Foundation and Bell Laboratories in an attempt to receive a grant to
develop an electronic music studio. His next composition, Ecuatorial,
completed in 1934, contained parts for theremins, and Varèse,
anticipating the successful receipt of one of his grants, eagerly
returned to the United States to finally realize his electronic music.
Back in the United States
Varèse wrote his Ecuatorial for two fingerboard Theremins, bass
singer, winds and percussion in the early 1930s. It was premiered on
April 15, 1934, under the baton of Nicolas Slonimsky. Then Varèse left
New York City, where he had lived since 1915, and moved to Santa Fe,
San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1936 he wrote Density 21.5. By the
time Varèse returned in late 1938, Leon Theremin had returned to
Russia. This devastated Varèse, who had hoped to work with Theremin on
a refinement of his instrument. Varèse had also promoted the theremin
in his Western travels, and demonstrated one at a lecture at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque on November 12, 1936. The
University of New Mexico has an RCA theremin, which may be the same
instrument.
When, in the late 1950s, Varèse was approached by a publisher about
making Ecuatorial available, there were very few theremins—let alone
fingerboard theremins—to be found, so he rewrote/relabelled the part
for Ondes Martenot. This new version was premiered in 1961.
International recognition
By the early 1950s, Varèse was in dialogue with a new generation of
composers, such as Boulez and Dallapiccola. When he returned to France
to finalise the tape sections of Déserts, Pierre Schaeffer helped
arrange for suitable facilities. The first performance of the combined
orchestral and tape sound composition came as part of an ORTF
broadcast concert, between pieces by Mozart and Tchaikovsky and
received a hostile reaction.
Le Corbusier was commissioned by Phillips to present a pavilion at the
1958 World Fair and insisted (against the sponsors' resistance) on
working with Varèse, who developed his Poème électronique for the
venue, where it was heard by an estimated two million people.
He composed "Poeme Electronique" for use at the 1958 Worlds Fair.
Using 400 speakers separated throughout a series of rooms, Varese
created a sound and space installation geared towards experiencing
sound as you move through space. Received with mixed reviews, this
piece challenged audience expectations and traditional means of
composing, breathing life into electronic synthesis and presentation.
In 1962 he was asked to join the Royal Swedish Academy, and in 1963 he
received the premier Koussevitzky International Recording Award.
Varèse's best known student is the Chinese-born composer Chou
Wen-chung (b. 1923), who met Varèse in 1949 and assisted him in his
later years. He became the executor of Varèse's estate following the
composer's death and edited and completed a number of Varèse's works.
He is professor emeritus of composition at Columbia University.
Idée Fixe
Some of Edgard Varèse's later works make use of the 'Idée Fixe', a
fixed theme, repeated certain times in a work. The 'Idée Fixe' is
generally not transposed, differencing it from the leitmotiv, used by
Richard Wagner.
Works
* Un grand sommeil noir (1906)
* Amériques (1918-21)
* Offrandes (1921)
* Hyperprism (1922-23)
* Octandres (1923)
* Intégrales (1924-25)
* Arcana (1925-27)
* Ionisation (1929-31)
* Ecuatorial (1932-34)
* Density 21.5 (1936)
* Tuning Up (1947)
* Dance for Burgess (1949)
* Déserts (1950-54)
* Poème électronique (1957-58)
* Nocturnal (1961)
Trivia
* One of Varèse's biggest fans was the American guitarist and
composer Frank Zappa, who, upon hearing a copy of The Complete Works
of Edgard Varèse, Vol. 1, which included Intégrales, Density 21.5,
Ionisation, and Octandre, became obsessed with the composer's music.
On his 15th birthday, December 21, 1955, Zappa's mother, Rosemarie,
allowed him a call to Varèse as a present. At the time Varèse was in
Brussels, Belgium, so Zappa spoke to Varèse's wife Louise instead.
Eventually Zappa and Varèse spoke on the phone, and they discussed the
possibility of meeting each other, although this meeting never took
place. Zappa also received a letter from Varèse. Varèse's spirit of
experimentation and redefining the bounds of what was possible in
music lived on in Zappa's long and prolific career[1].
* Another admirer was the rock/jazz group Chicago, whose
Pianist/keyboardist Robert Lamm credited Varèse with inspiring him to
write many number one hits. In tribute, one of Lamm's songs was called
"A Hit By Varèse".
* The record label Varèse Sarabande Records is named after the
composer.
References
* Bernard, Jonathan W. (1987). The Music of Edgard Varèse. Yale
University Press. ISBN 0-300-03515-2.
* Ouellette, Fernand (1973). Edgard Varèse. Calder and Boyars.
ISBN 0-745-0208-1.
[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Edgard Varèse
* BBC.co.uk: Music Profiles: Edgard Varèse
* Edgard Varese - Father of Electronic Music
* Edgard Varese: The Idol of My Youth by Frank Zappa
* Thereminvox.com
o Interview with musicologist Olivia Mattis about Edgard
Varèse's Ecuatorial and the Theremin Cello
o Edgard Varèse links
o A Letter to Leon Theremin by Edgard Varèse
* Theremin.info: Edgard Varèse
* OHM- The Early Gurus of Electronic Music: Varese
* SoNHoRS : Edgard Varèse
* Edgard Varese Bust, a sculptural tribute to the composer
Listening
* Art of the States: Edgard Varèse Nocturnal (1961/1968)
* Density 21.5: John McMurtery, flute
http://www.lunanova.org/podcasts/density.mp3
Notes
1. ^ Russo, Greg. Cosmik Debris: The Collected History and
Improvisations of Frank Zappa. New York: Antique Trader Publications,
Crossfire Publications, Chris Sansom, 1998, pp. 9-11
--
Flat Mouth never met George W. Bush...
"Tell him I blame him for the children we have lost, for the sickness
we have suffered, and for the hunger we have endured. The fault rests
on his shoulders."
~ Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (Flat Mouth), Leech Lake Ojibwe speaking of
Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey
Hoodini
From Wikiquote
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edgard_Var%C3%A8se
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6,
1965) was a French-born composer.
Sourced
* Our musical alphabet is poor and illogical. Music, which should
pulsate with life, needs new means of expression, and science alone
can infuse it with youthful vigor. Why, Italian Futurists, have you
slavishly reproduced only what is commonplace and boring in the bustle
of our daily lives. I dream of instruments obedient to my thought and
which with their contribution of a whole new world of unsuspected
sounds, will lend themselves to the exigencies of my inner rhythm.
o Classic Essays on Twentieth-Century Music, ISBN 0028645812.
* There is an idea, the basis of an internal structure, expanded
and split into different shapes or groups of sound constantly changing
in shape, direction, and speed, attracted and repulsed by various
forces. The form of the work is a consequence of this interaction.
Possible musical forms are as limitless as the exterior forms of crystals.
o Aspects of 20th Century Music, ISBN 0130493465
* I was not influenced by composers as much as by natural objects
and physical phenomena. As a child, I was tremendously impressed by
the qualities and character of the granite I found in Burgundy, where
I often visited my grandfather...So I was always in touch with things
of stone and with this kind of pure structural architecture--without
frills or unecessary decoration. All of this became an integral part
of my thinking at a very early stage.
o Interview with Gunther Schuller (1965, p.34), quoted in
Erickson, Robert (1975). Sound Structure in Music. University of
California Press. ISBN 0520023765.
Attributed
* Music is organized sound.
* The present day composer refuses to die!