Edgard Varese

[Brahmsian]

Look forward to reading about what you were listening to.

Okay, so other than Tuning Up and Arcana, for which I have heard both just once, this was me dipping my toe into the Varese waters.

Thus, based on the recordings below, I sampled:

*Integrales
*Offrandes
*Density for flute
*Octandre
*Hyperprism
*Ionisation

Out of all the pieces, I really only "disliked" Offrandes (sounds too much like late-Stravinsky vocal music, which I am simply not a fan of).  So, based on my ears not rejecting Varese with this sampling, I think I'll now be ready to sample the rest of his oeuvre, via the Chailly complete Varese, which I've had in my collection for over 5 years, but haven't mustered the courage to listen to yet. 

The other works by Penderecki and Ligeti are quite enjoyable.  For Penderecki, particularly Emanationen, Sonato for Cello and Orchestra performance and the String Quartet #1 here, as performed by the Kohon SQ.  For the Ligeti, I really enjoy Aventures (which is also on my 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack, as supplementary pieces not actually featured in the film).

I can give this 2 disc sampling of Avant-Garde works a solid 8.5/10.  Quite enjoyed it, overall!

[brewski]

Good for you!

I'm more a fan of the big, splashy orchestral works, but all of those on your list have merits, too. Love his use of percussion.

Anyway, have a good time exploring. That Chailly set is spectacular.

-Bruce

[aligreto]

Okay, so other than Tuning Up and Arcana, for which I have heard both just once, this was me dipping my toe into the Varese waters.

Thus, based on the recordings below, I sampled:

*Integrales
*Offrandes
*Density for flute
*Octandre
*Hyperprism
*Ionisation

Out of all the pieces, I really only "disliked" Offrandes (sounds too much like late-Stravinsky vocal music, which I am simply not a fan of).  So, based on my ears not rejecting Varese with this sampling, I think I'll now be ready to sample the rest of his oeuvre, via the Chailly complete Varese, which I've had in my collection for over 5 years, but haven't mustered the courage to listen to yet. 

The other works by Penderecki and Ligeti are quite enjoyable.  For Penderecki, particularly Emanationen, Sonato for Cello and Orchestra performance and the String Quartet #1 here, as performed by the Kohon SQ.  For the Ligeti, I really enjoy Aventures (which is also on my 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack, as supplementary pieces not actually featured in the film).

I can give this 2 disc sampling of Avant-Garde works a solid 8.5/10.  Quite enjoyed it, overall!

Great stuff, Ray. Varese is certainly not for everyone. However, I find the music to be wonderfully exciting and challenging. I also second the Chailly set. Go for it! 

[Brahmsian]

Great stuff, Ray. Varese is certainly not for everyone. However, I find the music to be wonderfully exciting and challenging. I also second the Chailly set. Go for it! 

I'll probably tackle that next week! 

[aligreto]

I'll probably tackle that next week! 

OK. Look forward to some observations.

[Brahmsian]

@brewski
@aligreto

Well, well, well!  I have finished running my ears through an automatic car wash.    Seriously, I should despise this music....but overall....I don't. 

Favourable overall impressions on running through the entire Chailly set.  Some comments for some of the works I had not listened to before:

Ecuatorial - Was an astonishing, aural assault!  Mind bending....wowsers!

Deserts - I especially was impacted by the even numbered movements (2, 4, 6), which in the Chailly are listed as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd interpolations.  The distortion and cavernous sounds, almost mechanical, computer, space ship and robotic.  I could listen to 100 of these! 

Ameriques - Accessible Varese?  Aural feast of biblical proportions.  Exciting!

Poemes electroniques - OMG.....I absolutely LOVE IT.  More alien/robot music!  Cat meow?  The original fax machine?  This might be my favourite Varese from my first run. 

Nocturnal - Primitive...primal - the vocals have the biggest impact and effect on this work.

Arcana - (heard this before) - Along with Ameriques, perhaps his most accessible "musical" work?  Perhaps the most balanced work for all of the instrument families.

Varese may be the king of palette cleansers! This was a lot of fun to listen to.  Not something I could go to on a daily basis, but on binges....YES!

[aligreto]

@brewski
@aligreto

Well, well, well!  I have finished running my ears through an automatic car wash.    Seriously, I should despise this music....but overall....I don't. 

Favourable overall impressions on running through the entire Chailly set.  Some comments for some of the works I had not listened to before:

Ecuatorial - Was an astonishing, aural assault!  Mind bending....wowsers!

Deserts - I especially was impacted by the even numbered movements (2, 4, 6), which in the Chailly are listed as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd interpolations.  The distortion and cavernous sounds, almost mechanical, computer, space ship and robotic.  I could listen to 100 of these! 

Ameriques - Accessible Varese?  Aural feast of biblical proportions.  Exciting!

Poemes electroniques - OMG.....I absolutely LOVE IT.  More alien/robot music!  Cat meow?  The original fax machine?  This might be my favourite Varese from my first run. 

Nocturnal - Primitive...primal - the vocals have the biggest impact and effect on this work.

Arcana - (heard this before) - Along with Ameriques, perhaps his most accessible "musical" work?  Perhaps the most balanced work for all of the instrument families.

Varese may be the king of palette cleansers! This was a lot of fun to listen to.  Not something I could go to on a daily basis, but on binges....YES!

So, did you like it?   
Seriously, you had much the same reaction as I had when I first heard this music.
Terrif stuff and I am very pleased that you liked it, Ray. 

[brewski]

@brewski
@aligreto

Well, well, well!  I have finished running my ears through an automatic car wash.    Seriously, I should despise this music....but overall....I don't. 

Favourable overall impressions on running through the entire Chailly set.  Some comments for some of the works I had not listened to before:

Ecuatorial - Was an astonishing, aural assault!  Mind bending....wowsers!

Deserts - I especially was impacted by the even numbered movements (2, 4, 6), which in the Chailly are listed as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd interpolations.  The distortion and cavernous sounds, almost mechanical, computer, space ship and robotic.  I could listen to 100 of these! 

Ameriques - Accessible Varese?  Aural feast of biblical proportions.  Exciting!

Poemes electroniques - OMG.....I absolutely LOVE IT.  More alien/robot music!  Cat meow?  The original fax machine?  This might be my favourite Varese from my first run. 

Nocturnal - Primitive...primal - the vocals have the biggest impact and effect on this work.

Arcana - (heard this before) - Along with Ameriques, perhaps his most accessible "musical" work?  Perhaps the most balanced work for all of the instrument families.

Varese may be the king of palette cleansers! This was a lot of fun to listen to.  Not something I could go to on a daily basis, but on binges....YES!

So happy you responded positively enthusiastically! Of course, his works are not for every day, but I can't think of a single composer I'd want to listen to every day.

PS, one of the attractions for this set: a major orchestra and conductor devoting lavish attention on a composer not often given the royal treatment. While there are certainly great recordings elsewhere of most of these pieces, as a project it really is an outstanding achievement.

Your comments are invigorating to read, and reflect the equal invigoration of listening to the music. Good for you for exploring fearlessly.

-Bruce

[Brahmsian]

So, did you like it?   
Seriously, you had much the same reaction as I had when I first heard this music.
Terrif stuff and I am very pleased that you liked it, Ray. 

So happy you responded positively enthusiastically! Of course, his works are not for every day, but I can't think of a single composer I'd want to listen to every day.

PS, one of the attractions for this set: a major orchestra and conductor devoting lavish attention on a composer not often given the royal treatment. While there are certainly great recordings elsewhere of most of these pieces, as a project it really is an outstanding achievement.

Your comments are invigorating to read, and reflect the equal invigoration of listening to the music. Good for you for exploring fearlessly.

-Bruce

Thanks for the comments, Fergus and Bruce.  I'll be relistening to a handful of the tracks later today and tomorrow.  I feel like I need more Varese. 

[aligreto]

Thanks for the comments, Fergus and Bruce.  I'll be relistening to a handful of the tracks later today and tomorrow.  I feel like I need more Varese. 

That is indeed good to read, Ray. 

[brewski]

Wow, look what appeared over the weekend, a live Amériques with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Alain Altinoglu. Some other things are ahead of this in the queue (for an article I'm writing), but this will get a listen very soon.

Also available and apparently from the same concert, Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, along with a work from a composer new to me, Pépin's Les Eaux célestes.

-Bruce

[vers la flamme]

Anyone listening? I just listened to the whole of disc 1 from Kent Nagano's complete Varèse recording. I don't see that these recordings get a whole lot of attention, but damn it sounded good. Truly an odd cat, Varèse, and I don't know what his music is all about just yet, but a lot of it is certainly very stimulating.

[T. D.]

Anyone listening? I just listened to the whole of disc 1 from Kent Nagano's complete Varèse recording. I don't see that these recordings get a whole lot of attention, but damn it sounded good. Truly an odd cat, Varèse, and I don't know what his music is all about just yet, but a lot of it is certainly very stimulating.

I don't listen to EV's music that often, but whenever I do (either Chailly's Varèse: The Complete Works or one of the old Abravanel recordings), I very much enjoy it.

I've always found it strange that, as big a name and "influential" as Varèse is, the "Complete Works" fits on a mere 2 CDs.

[brewski]

I've always found it strange that, as big a name and "influential" as Varèse is, the "Complete Works" fits on a mere 2 CDs.

Similarly, a few years ago at the annual Focus! Festival at Juilliard, the subject was Webern. All of his output fit pretty neatly into (IIRC) six concerts.

-Bruce

[Daverz]

Anyone like the old Robert Craft recordings?  Now reissued by Sony in a Robert Craft box.

[brewski]

Oh yes, definitely like the Craft recordings, though haven't heard them in a long time. After I first heard Poème électronique (at a concert in Dallas), the Craft version was the first recorded one I found, along with the other pieces on that record.

-Bruce