Profile: Edgard Varèse

This week, we're going to take a look at one of the founding fathers of percussion music, Edgard Varèse.

Varèse is cool because he brought a new definition to music in the 20th century: music is "organized sound."

Organized sound was unique from the former music definition: "organized musical sounds."

This perspective was the foundation for exploring things composers really hadn't done before: making music with just percussion instruments (read: noise) and considering the ways new technology and multimedia could be part of the music experience.

Here are two important works of his:

Ionisation for percussion ensemble (1929-1931, premiered March 6, 1933)

  • Ensemble Intercontemporain performs Ionisation

  • Listen to how the piece travels through different sound worlds. Also, how delicately this ensemble plays and blends. Such restraint!

Poeme electronique multi-media installation for the Brussels World Fair (1958)

  • Poeme Electronique

  • Can you hear all of the different types of music technology he is using here? Consider the visual information as a parallel.

Varèse went on to teach and influence a bunch of important figures in the 20th century. Frank Zappa, who started off as a percussionist in school and stumbled on to a record of Varèse's music, was deeply influenced.

Now, let's try an activity: Varèse “Organized Sound”