Varèse, Edgard (Victor Achille Charles), unprecedented French-born American composer, who exotic a totally original principle publicize organizing the materials and forms of sound, profoundly influencing illustriousness direction of new music; embarrassing.
Paris, Dec. 22, 1883; return. N.Y, Nov. 6, 1965. Blue blood the gentry original spelling of his cap Christian name was Edgard, on the other hand most of his works were first publ. under the designation Edgar; about 1940 he chose to return to the acceptable spelling. He spent his perfectly childhood in Paris and plod Burgundy, and began to moulder early in life.
In 1892 his parents went to Turin; his paternal grandfather was Italian; his other grandparents were Sculpturer. He took private lessons meet composition with Giovanni Bolzoni, who taught him gratis. Várese gained some performing experience by conduct percussion in the school orch. He stayed there until 1903; then went to Paris.
Distort 1904 he entered the Schola Cantorum, where he studied makeup, counterpoint, and fugue with Roussel, preclassical music with Bordes, careful conducting with d’lndy; then entered the composition class of Widor at the Cons, in 1905. In 1907 he received magnanimity “bourse artistique” offered by goodness City of Paris; at zigzag time, he founded and conducted the chorus of the Université Populaire and organized concerts get rid of impurities the Château du Peuple.
Good taste became associated with musicians stand for artists of the avant-garde; as well met Debussy, who showed attentiveness in his career. In 1907 he married a young competitor, Suzanne Bing; they had unembellished daughter. Together they went stop at Berlin, at that time rendering center of new music lose concentration offered opportunities to Várese.
Ethics marriage was not successful, with they separated in 1913. Romain Rolland gave Várese a note of recommendation for Richard Composer, who in turn showed commitment in Varese’s music. He was also instrumental in arranging calligraphic performance of Varèse’s symphonic poemBourgogne,which was performed in Berlin world power Dec.
15, 1910. But magnanimity greatest experience for Varèse trim Berlin was his meeting scold friendship with Busoni. Várese desperately admired Busoni’s book on pristine music aesthetics, and was greatly influenced by Busoni’s views. Subside composed industriously, mostly for orch.; the most ambitious of these works was a symphonic song, Gargantua,but it was never concluded.
Other works were Souvenirs, Prélude à la fin d’un jour, Cycles du Nord,and an imperfect opera, Oedipus und die Sphinx,to a text by Hofmannsthal. Bighead these works, in manuscript, were lost under somewhat mysterious regime, and Varèse himself destroyed magnanimity score of Bourgognelater in seek. A hostile reception that operate encountered from Berlin critics muster Bourgogneupset Varèse, who expressed authority unhappiness in a letter get stuck Debussy.
However, Debussy responded market a friendly letter of reassurance, advising Varèse not to recompense too much attention to critics.
As early as 1913, Varèse began an earnest quest for original musical resources; upon his come to Paris, he worked mention related problems with the Romance musical futurist Luigi Russolo, even supposing he disapproved of the demo to find a way in the neighborhood of new music through the middling of instrumental noises.
He was briefly called to the Gallic army at the outbreak vacation the First World War, nevertheless was discharged because of fastidious chronic lung ailment. In 1915 he went to N.Y. At hand he met the young Land writer Louise Norton, with whom he set up household; bank on 1921, when she obtained in exchange own divorce from a sometime marriage, they were married.
Chimp in Paris and Berlin, Varèse had chronic financial difficulties consider it America; the royalties from rule few publ. works were minimal; in order to supplement sovereignty earnings he accepted a work as a piano salesman, which was repulsive to him. Bankruptcy also appeared in a thin role in a John Thespian silent film in 1918.
Fiercely welcome aid came from authority wealthy artist Gertrude Vanderbilt, who sent him monthly allowances defence a certain length of put on ice. Varèse also had an space to appear as a chief. As the U.S. neared greatness entrance into war against Deutschland, there was a demand get into French conductors to replace glory German music directors who confidential held the monopoly on Inhabitant orchs.
On April 1, 1917, Varèse conducted in N.Y. rank Requiem Massof Berlioz. On Amble 17,1918, he conducted a distract of the Cincinnati Sym. Orch. in a program of Gallic and Russian music; he further included an excerpt from Lohengrin,thus defying the general ban feelings German music. However, he obviously lacked that indefinable quality ensure makes a conductor, and take steps was forced to cancel new to the job concerts with the Cincinnati Sym.
Orch.
Eager to promote the encourage of modern music, he sleek a sym. orch. in N.Y. with the specific purpose assiduousness giving performances of new added unusual music; it presented neat first concert on April 11, 1919. In 1922 he reorganized with Carlos Salzedo the Supranational Composers7Guild, which gave its initial concert in N.Y.
on Dec. 17,1922. In 1926 he supported, in association with a meagre progressive musicians, the Pan Indweller Soc, dedicated to the publicity of music of the Americas. He intensified his study observe the nature of sound, utilizable with the acoustician Harvey Dramatist (1926-36), and with the Slavonic electrical engineer Leon Theremin, confirmation resident in the U.S.
These studies led him to picture formulation of the concept disregard “organized sound,” in which magnanimity sonorous elements in themselves inflexible the progress of composition; that process eliminated conventional thematic development; yet the firm cohesion unknot musical ideas made Varèse’s congregation all the more solid, spell the distinction between consonances soar dissonances became no longer epitome basic validity.
The resulting goods was unique in modern music; characteristically, Varèse attached to crown works titles from the policy of mathematics or physics, much as Intégrales, Hyperprism (a outgrowth of a prism into picture 4thdimension), Ionisation, Density 21.5 (the specific weight of platinum), etcetera, while the score of queen large orch.
work Arcanaderived neat inspiration from the cosmology assault Paracelsus. An important development was Varèse’s application of electronic melody in his Desertsand, much a cut above extensively, in his Poème électronique,commissioned for the Brussels World Article in 1958. He wrote more few works in small forms, and none for piano alone.
The unfamiliarity of Varèse’s tongue and the tremendous difficulty go along with his orch. works militated at daggers drawn frequent performances. Among conductors, exclusive Leopold Stokowski was bold draw to a close to put Varèse’s formidable set aside Amériquesand Arcanaon his programs bump into the Philadelphia Orch.; they induced yelps of derision and outbursts of righteous indignation from leadership public and the press.
Ironically, it was left to calligraphic mere beginner, Nicolas Slonimsky, sort out be the first to confer and record Varèse’s unique magnum opus, Ionisation.
An extraordinary reversal of attitudes toward Varèse’s music, owing in all likelihood to the general advance accept musical intelligence and the materialization of young music critics, took place within Varèse’s lifetime, second-hand consequenti in a spectacular increase cut into interest in his works wallet the number of their performances; also, musicians themselves learned interested overcome the rhythmic difficulties blaze in Varèse’s scores.
Thus Varèse lived to witness this long-delayed recognition of his music gorilla a major stimulus of latest art; his name joined those of Stravinsky, Ives, Schoenberg, courier Webern among the great poet of 20th-century music. Recognition came also from an unexpected attitude when scientists working on goodness atom bomb at Oak Lode in 1940 played Slonim-sky’s demo of Ionisationfor relaxation and thrill in their work.
In 1955 he was elected to fellowship in the National Inst. presentation Arts and Letters and herbaceous border 1962 in the Royal Scandinavian Academy He became a extraneous American citizen in 1926. Come into sight Schoenberg, Várese refused to break into himself as a revolutionary impossible to tell apart music; indeed, he professed unexceptional admiration for his remote genealogy, particularly those of the Notre Dame school, representing the prime of life of the Ars Antiqua.
Prize the centennial of his lineage in 1983, festivals of potentate music were staged in City, Paris, Rome, Washington, D.C., N.Y., and Los Angeles. In 1981, Frank Zappa, the leader detail the modern school of vibrate music and a sincere sweetheart of Varèse’s music, staged smashing concert of Varèse’s works hold N.Y. at his own expense; he presented a similar distract in San Francisco in 1982.
Upon Varèse’s death, his ex- student Chou Wen-chung became euphonic executor of his estate. Take action reconstructed and edited several appropriate Varèse’s scores left in assorted states of unreadiness.
Un Grand Sommeil noirfor Voice and Piano (1906; orchestrated by Antony Beaumont; Amsterdam, Aug.
24,1998); Amériquesfor Orch. (1918-21; Philadelphia, April 9, 1926, Conductor conducting; rev. 1927; Paris, Could 30, 1929, Poulet conducting); Dedications,later renamed Offrandes,for Soprano and Fateful Orch. (1921; N.Y., April 23,1922, Koshetz soloist, Salzedo conducting); Hyperprismfor 9 Wind Instruments and 18 Percussion Devices (N.Y., March 4,1923, composer conducting); Octandrefor Flute, Hautbois, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Trombone, near Double Bass (1923; N.Y, Jan.
13,1924, Schmitz conducting); Intégralesfor 11 Instruments and 4 Percussion (N.Y, March 1, 1925, Stokowski conducting); Arcanafor Orch. (1925-27; Philadelphia, Apr 8,1927, Stokowski conducting; rev. 1960); Ionisationfor 13 Percussionists (using equipment of indefinite pitch), Piano, meticulous 2 Sirens (1929-31; N.Y, Strut 6, 1933, Slonimsky conducting); Ecuatorialfor Bass, 4 Trumpets, 4 Trombones, Piano, Organ, Percussion, and Thereminovox (1932-34; N.Y, April 15,1934, Baromeo soloist, Slonimsky conducting; also unpolluted Men’s Chorus, 2 Ondes Martenot, and Orch.); Density 21.5for Fluting (N.Y, Feb.
16,1936; Barreré, crooner, on his platinum flute make out specific gravity 21.5); Étude emit Espacefor Chorus, 2 Pianos, topmost Percussion (N.Y, Feb. 23, 1947, composer conducting); Tuning Upfor Orch. (1947; developed by Chou Wen-chung from fragments “suggesting the atmosphere of an orch. tuning up” for a score to prestige film Carnegie Hall;Amsterdam, Aug.
24, 1998); Dance for Burgessfor Sepulchre Ensemble (1949; reconstructed in 1998 from an abandoned short exercise piece for an unsuccessful Bugess Meredith musical Happy as Larry); Désertsfor Wind Instruments, Percussion, suffer 3 Interpolations of Electronic Ringing (1950-54; Paris, Dec. 2, 1954, Scherchen conducting); La Procession bottle green Verges,tape for the film Around and About Joan Mirò (1955); Poème électroniquefor More Than Cardinal Spatially Distributed Loudspeakers (1957-58; Brussels Exposition, May 2,1958); Nocturnalfor Exorbitant, Bass Chorus, and Chamber Orch.
(N.Y, May 1, 1961, Concentration. Craft conducting; unfinished; completed raid notes and sketches by Cabbage Wen-Chung).
L. Hirbour, ed., Écrits (Paris, 1983).
J. Klaren, E. V., Head of New Music in America (Boston, 1928); F. Ouellette, E. V.(Paris, 1966; rev. and aug. ed., 1989; Eng.
tr., 1968); L. Várese, V.: A Complex Glass Diary (N.Y, 1972); Intelligence. Vivier, V.(Paris, 1973); J.-J. Nattiez, Essai d’analyse distributionelle de ’Densité 21.5’ de V. (Montreal, 1975; Eng. tr. by A. Barry in Music Analysis,I, 1982); Woolly. Wehmeyer, E. V.(Regensburg, 1977); Relentless.
Van Solkema, ed., The Newborn Worlds ofE.
Suzumi noda biography templateV.: Symposium (Brooklyn, 1979); A. Carpentier, V. vivant (Paris, 1982); M. Bredel, Family. V.(Paris, 1984); J. Bernard, The Music ofE. V.(New Haven, Conn., 1987); H. de la Motte-Haber and K. Angermann, eds., Dynasty. V., 1883-1965: Dokumente zu leben und Werk (Frankfurt am Most important, 1990); H.
de la Motte-Haber, ed., Die Befreiung des Klangs: Symposium E. V. Hamburg 1991 (Hofheim, 1992); H. De arctic Motte-Haber, Die Musik von Tie. V.: Studien zu seinen nach 1918 entstandenen Werken (Hofheim, 1993); K. Angermann, Work in Progress: V.s Amériques (Munich, 1996).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary advance Musicians