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Amériques
''Amériques'' is an orchestral composition by Edgard Varèse, scored for a very large, romantic orchestra with additional percussion (for eleven performers) including sirens. Written between 1918 and 1921 and revised in 1927, it was the first work Varèse composed after he moved to the United States. Although it was not his first work, he destroyed many of his earlier pieces, effectively making ''Amériques'' his opus one (although he never used that designation). Performances The original version of ''Amériques'' was premiered on 9 April 1926 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. The revised version was premiered on 30 May 1929 by the Orchestre des Concerts Poulet under Gaston Poulet at the Maison Gaveau. It was first recorded in 1966 by the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Maurice Abravanel. In recent years, it has emerged as a popular modernist showpiece in the orchestral repertoire, with recordings by Pierre Boulez, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Riccardo Chailly and M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined the term " organized sound" in reference to his own musical aesthetic. Varèse's conception of music reflected his vision of "sound as living matter" and of "musical space as open rather than bounded". He conceived the elements of his music in terms of " sound-masses", likening their organization to the natural phenomenon of crystallization. Varèse thought that "to stubbornly conditioned ears, anything new in music has always been called noise", and he posed the question, "what is music but organized noises?" Although his complete surviving works only last about three hours, he has been recognised as an influence by several major composers of the late 20th century. Varèse saw potential in using electronic media for sound production, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
