Much-anticipated release of Volume 2 of Edgard Varèse’s Orchestral Works
Posted by Kelly in New Releases
The works on Edgard Varèse: Orchestral Works, Volume 2 span the composer’s entire career, including his sole surviving early composition, Un grand sommeil noir (1906). Also included are three works completed by composer Chou-Wen Chung, who was Varèse’s disciple and assistant for the last 17 years of his life: Nocturnal (1961, for soprano solo and bass voices), his last unfinished work; Dance for Burgess (1949; for chamber orchestra and percussion); and Tuning Up (1947; for large orchestra).
The recording also highlights Varèse’s seminal works, including the well-known Ionisation (1929-31), one of the first 20th century works comprised solely of percussion instruments, most of which are unpitched. Density 21.5, for solo flute, famously refers to density of the dedicatee’s-Georges Barrère- platinum flute. Ecuatorial, an unusual vocal work for bass voice (this recording uses six bass voices) and Ondes Martenot, employs all manner of unusual vocal writing, including “fortissimo nasal singing, humming, mumbling, Sprechstimme, ‘percussive declamation,’ glissandi, and quartertone intonation.”
Of special interest is the original version of Amériques, composed for a massive orchestra of 155 players and recorded immediately following a rare public performance at the Warsaw Philharmonic (only its second since the 1920s) as part of the 2005 Warsaw Autumn Festival. Amériques was completed in 1921, although Varèse probably began the work before he left Europe for America in December 1915. On the advice of conductor Leopold Stokowski-who felt a smaller orchestra would make the work easier to perform- Varèse revised the work in 1927. For his revised version, Varèse cut some instrumental parts and a considerable amount of music. This original version illustrates the composer’s astonishing imagination and his mastery of the orchestra.
In 1947, Varèse was commissioned by a mutual friend to write a short character piece for a film by Bruce Morros entitled Carnegie Hall, whose subjects were several great musicians who graced its stage: Fritz Reiner, Bruno Walter, and Leopold Stokowski. The work parodied the New York Philharmonic and Stokowski tuning before a performance. The resulting piece, Tuning Up, far exceeded Morros’ expectations for a lighthearted caricature. Varèse took the project very seriously, “delivering a score that allows fragments of Amériques, Arcana, Intégrales, Ionisation and other works to emerge from a mist of repeated As.” Varèse was so incensed at the way his music was performed in rehearsal that he stormed out of the hall and returned his commission check.) From the two versions Varèse sketched for the film, Chou Wen-Chung has created this bi-partite score.
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