Varèse’s music is powerful and modernist,
even when heard some forty years after
the composer’s death. This disc is
a true delight, containing a range
of works composed from 1906 to 1961.
The second volume in Naxos’s series
of Varese Orchestral Works, the disc
also contains solos, such as Density
21.5 for flute, and choral works,
such as Ecuatorial.
The opening work is Amériques,
heard here in its original 1921 version,
for full orchestra. This is an earthy
performance, which brings to life
Varese’s vivid description of the
New World. Varèse was born in France,
but moved to the United States in
1915. His early European compositions
were burned in a fire, and Amériques
was the first of his new works. A
substantial oeuvre lasting almost
25 minutes, the work possesses a strong
sense of the new, a fresh start, and
the slight unease that comes with
unfamiliar territory. Varèse makes
use of exotic instruments, such as
the alto flute, sirens and a vast
array of percussion to create a distinct
sound world. His music is full of
almost pagan energy; there are parallels
here with The Rite of Spring, tied
with an astounding forward-looking
modernism, which makes the music sound
contemporary even now. This is an
incredible work, performed well with
raw energy and a sense of conviction.
Varèse’s interest in new sounds gained
him a reputation as being ‘the father
of electronic music’. Composed for
two Ondes Martenot, bass voices and
ensemble, Ecuatorial was completed
in 1934 and is thought to be the first
work ever written to combine live
and electronic instruments. This curious
work possesses its own unusual sound-world
- how often does one encounter two
Ondes Martenot? - with a feeling of
tribal humanism. The vocal writing
depicts a savage scene of human sacrifice,
using an array of unusual techniques
which combine with the modernist sounds
of the Ondes Martenot and electronic
organ to give the feel of an unusual
and slightly intimidating place. Use
of percussion and brass add strength
to the orchestration, and the juxtaposition
of microtonal sounds with more ‘normal’
harmonies creates a thrilling tension
in the work.
Nocturnal has a similarly tribal
feel, although the soprano soloist
gives a more western feel to the work.
The texts were originally planned,
like Ecuatorial, to come from
ancient civilisations, but Varèse
finally settled on English texts by
Anaïs Nin alongside nonsense sounds
which Varèse created himself. Nocturnal
was first heard, incomplete, in 1961
for a Composer Portrait concert, and
the work was never finished, despite
the creation of numerous sketches.
The version heard here was completed
by Chou Wen-Chung in 1969 from the
composer’s notes and sketches.
Dance for Burgess is a brief
work, lasting less than two minutes,
and was composed as a gesture of friendship
to Burgess Meredith, for a Broadway
musical called Happy as Larry.
Making use of swing and jazz styles,
the work retains Varèse’s individuality
while demonstrating his skills as
a composer.
The 1947 work for large orchestra,
entitled Tuning Up, was composed
for Boris Morros, who was producing
a film called Carnegie Hall.
The idea was for a parody work for
the New York Philharmonic and Stokowski,
but Varèse took the piece seriously
and was offended at the lack of respect
the piece received during rehearsals.
A brilliant work, however, it contains
fragments of works by Varèse and others,
interspersed with an underlying tuning
note A.
Hyperprism is one of Varèse’s
better known works, scored for nine
wind instruments and nine percussion
and completed in 1923. It caused a
riot at its premiere, despite its
brevity - it is less than four minutes
long - but was the first of Varèse’s
works to be published.
The earliest of Varèse’s surviving
works, Un grand Sommeil noir
for soprano and piano is a setting
of a Paul Verlaine text, composed
in 1906. The haunting melody lines
and largely consonant harmonies are
far removed from the biting modernism
of Amériques. This beautiful
work is given an excellent performance
here by Elizabeth Watts and Christopher
Lyndon-Gee.
Density 21.5 is one of the
seminal twentieth-century works for
flute, and is thought to be the first
use of key clicks in the flute repertoire.
Composed for Barrère’s platinum flute,
the title comes from the density of
platinum and the work seeks to demonstrate
the properties of that metal in flute
making. This performance by Maria
Grochowska is considered and convincing,
combining expression with a sense
of drama.
Ionisation uses thirteen percussion
(including sirens) and piano and demonstrates
Varèse’s use of rhythm. He creates
textures, tensions and resolutions
in a way one would not immediately
associate with percussion music, and
despite the lack of pitched material
the overall effect is startlingly
melodic.
This is an excellent disc, which serves
as a welcome introduction to the work
of this largely under-valued composer.
Varèse’s music divulges a creative
genius who was undoubtedly a long
way ahead of his time, and one can
only listen in awe at his work. The
performances here are entirely convincing
and manage to encapsulate the raw
humanistic elements in the music.
At the price of a Naxos disc, this
is unmissable.
Carla Rees
see also review by Dan
Morgan
Note from Paul Serotsky
Both Dan Morgan and Carla Rees, in
their reviews of Vol. 2 of the Naxos
series of Varese orchestral works,
make the same small but significant
error (possibly copied from the CD
booklet?). "Ionisation"
is not for 13 percussion (instruments),
but for 37 percussion played by 13
percussionists.
Incidentally, what a superb little
piece it is - and all the more so
because Varese did not rest content
with a mere rhapsody of "sound
effects", but cast it in what
amounts to an "atonal" sonata
form. Now, that's what I call "neat"!