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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)
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”
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