This brought a fresh nuance to one of the slimmest catalogues in composing history (under three hours' worth of music in a regular lifespan), all of it here conducted by Riccardo Chailly. The first disc is performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and takes in full-bodied early orchestral wonders like Ameriques and Arcana, both fine examples of Varèse's attitude to composing as blocks of 'organised sounds', with recurring themes and striking scores, not least for percussion and other devices (that air siren being a bit of a trademark). Also on Disc 1 is the remastered original tape of Poème électronique for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 World's Fair - the pavilion being constructed by Iannis Xenakis, whose Concret PH also featured on entry and exit.
On Disc 2 the Asko Ensemble perform some of Varèse's most frequently recorded pieces like Density 21:5 for flute, and Ionisation for percussion (an alternate version of the latter, by Les Percussions de Strasbourg, here). Varèse's use of technology is also showcased on Ecuatorial, with its ondes martenots (originally intended as parts for theremins - apparently what you can hear here is a special construction with elements of both) and Déserts, his late masterpiece.
Déserts is believed to originate from an abandoned symphony about outer space, and also an unfinished tape work - it thus became the first written & performed work to feature tape music (of percussive and factory sounds) alongside live musicians. Intending to evoke not just physical deserts, "but also distant inner space... where man is alone in a world of mystery and essential solitude", it's possibly the crowning achievement in a compact but still astonishing life's work.
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| Original cover, 2CD fatbox, 1998 |
Disc 2 link
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