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Edgard Varese 1883 - 1965 |
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| Varese studied engineering, but was drawn to music. He used engineering in order to explore music in ways that others had never considered. His early compositions were Operatic and orchestral. However, since Varese did not allow any of these pieces to survive to the present day; his catalogued work begins 1921 with an orchestral piece called Ameriques (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). When he immigrated to New York at the start of the 20th century, Varese fell in love with America. He scrapped most of his previous ideas about music, and began to search for something that was divorced from old European ideals of harmony and rhythm (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). Initially his efforts went unnoticed, aside from a small subculture that recognized his talents. Varese created music that people either hated or adored. In 1926, Varese became an American citizen (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Varese). He founded The International Composer's Guild in 1921, along with Carlos Salzedo - a well-known French composer, Pianist, and Harpist (http://www.harpa.com/salzedo/). The guild performed some of Varese's compositions for the first time. Altogether, this was an extremely productive period of Varese's career. He moved back to France shortly thereafter in 1928, to add the Ondes Martenot to his earlier composition - the Ameriques (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/varese.html & http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Varese). In Paris, Varese composed Ionisation: it was the first European composition to dispose almost entirely of pitched sounds (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/varese.html). Although avante garde circles were beginning to appreciate Varese's music, he was still frustrated with his inability to produce certain sounds. He retreated from the public eye for 10 years, during which he experienced some profound setbacks and disappointments. Varese was turned down for a Gughenheim grant, and no one would give him lab space to research electronic sounds. During this moody period of his life, Varese taught music and planned Espace (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/varese.html). Although it was never performed in full, Espace was supposed to simultaneously broadcast from radios around the globe. Varese contemplated suicide. His career faded into a distant memory. Then, in the aftermath of WW2 - Varese finally found the technology to accomplish his musical goals. All his life, he had been haunted by sounds that he could hear but never produce. Using tape editing and splicing techniques, he was able to explore some unique avenues of composition that had been impossible before. Expecting to receive one of his grants, Varese returned to America in 1934. This time, he moved from his long-time home in New York, to California. When he returned to New York, Leon Theremin had already returned to Russia (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Varese) . Since Varese had wanted to work with Theremin's instrument and refine the sound it produced, he was extremely disappointed by this turn of events . Although he wrote to Theremin, his letter was never received until after Varese's death in the 1980s (http://www.thereminvox.com/story/497/). Other artists began experimenting with Music Concrete, and Varese's compositions were finally seen as masterpieces of the time. He was invited to work at the Radio Television Francaise Research center. Although he was 71 by this point, Varese was excited by this new opportunity. He finally had the equipment necessary to experiment properly with acoustics (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). Varese produced Deserts (1954) for wind, percussion, and tape. In the mid 1950s, famous French architect and fan of Varese -Le Corbusier- was commissioned by the Philip's Company to design a pavilion for the 1958 Exposition in Brussels. They also wanted a famous composer to create a soundtrack for the exhibit. At the insistence of Le Corbusier, Varese was the chosen composer. This was a reluctant choice, and the Philip's Company tried to interfere with Varese's work on many occasions. Le Corbusier protected the composer's artistic freedom and Varese refused to compromise. the Poem Electronique introduced many people to Varese's music for the first time, and was a success in general, although the Philip's Company did not approve of the finished product (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). The Poem Electronique is not usually considered Varese's most influential work, but it drew attention from many emerging artists in the field of electronic music. Unfortunately, Varese's life ended before he could explore much of this newfound opportunity. Poem Electronique was his last complete composition, and he died in 1965 (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). Although he only tasted fame amongst small circles; Varese's music is still considered to be a milestone in electronic music. His experiments with electronic tape and recorded sound, inspired later artists to pursue new avenues of music composition. One of Varese's most adamant fans among modern musicians, is Frank Zappa. Varese created Musique Concrete. He was a French Futurist.
Varese drew inspiration from the city, and incorporated sounds from New York into his compositions. Although he used some traditional instruments, he blended the sounds in ways that were completely unique. He often added sirens, special effects, electronic sounds, and other unusual instruments to his performances. The combination of sounds was usually very modern, without a traditional sense of rhythm or musical progression. Nonetheless, his works used repeated motifs and had a sense of climax and anticlimax. In Hyperprism, Varese used a siren and a lion's roar to produce strange and unexpected sounds (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html). He often used percussion instruments more than brass or woodwind. This combination tends to produce an very urban sound, where natural tones and harmonies are subsumed by the tinny, disconnected noises of the city. After WW2, when Varese had more freedom to pursue acoustics and tape splicing techniques, his compositions became increasingly bizarre. He collaged sounds together, to produce unique effects in the style of Music Concrete. Some principles of Music Concrete are reminiscent of Pop Art - where artists (Jasper Johns, Robert Roschenburg, Andy Warhol) began to question the elitist principles of sculpture and painting. They began to ask, why certain objects were considered art, while everyday items were not. Pop artists elevated common (beer cans, soup, scissors) to the status of monuments. Similarly, Music Concrete spliced real sounds together, instead of writing musical notes on a page for some orchestra or band to perform. These ordinary sounds (bells, whistles, rockets, talking) became music, when combined and arranged by artists like Varese. Deserts, one of Varese's most famous works, focused on loneliness and isolation. It combined taped sounds and orchestral sounds, into an eerie, strange musical collage. Although the audience did not react favorably, Deserts is considered to be the first true piece of electronic music (http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html).
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