Varèse: Ionsation / Density u. a., 1960/1983

A-Seite
Ionisation pour percussion, 4:50 Min.
Density 21, 5 pour flûte, 4:13 Min.
Intégrales pour ensemble à vent et percussion, 9:41 Min.

B-Seite
Octandre pour ' lensemble à vent, 6:47 Min.
Hyperprism pour ensemble à vent et percussion, 3:50 Min.
Poème électronique, 8:05 Min.


Ionisation (1929-31)
Dedicated to Nicolas Slonimsky
Scored for 13 performers: crash cyms, GC; gong, 2 tam-tams; 2 bongos, side dm, 2 GC laid flat; tamb mil, side dm; high siren, string dm; low siren, slap stick, guiro; 3 Chinese blocks, claves, triangle; snare dm, maracas; tarole, snare dm, sustained cym; cym, sleighbells, tubular bells; guiro, cast, celesta; tamb, anvils, grand tam-tam; slapstick, triangle, sleighbells, piano.
Published 1934 by Max Eschig; 1958 by Ricordi
Context:
Edgard Varese's Ionisation is credited with being the first Western work for percussion alone, having no basis in folklore. As such, the implications of the work (from the standpoint of when the piece was written) questioned the meaning of the word music, as it was understood in the Western world. Viewed historically, it is actually a return to a very ancient Eastern tradition of percussion music, particularly in the aspect of timbre. Eastern concepts of sound and Western formal concepts of structure and logic merge, resulting in a musical entity which is universal.
Bruitism, a genre of musical composition consisting of noises, comes from the aesthetic of Italian Futurism, which is explained in Luigi Russolo's manifesto Arte dei Rumoni; however, Varese actually refuted the Futurist noise/machine ideal: "Italian futurists, why have you slavishly produced only what is commonplace and boring in the bustle of our daily lives?..."

Quelle: http://hunsmire.tripod.com/music/ionisation.html

Density 21,5
Density 21.5 is considered one of the most revolutionary compositions for the flute in the 20th century. This paper approaches the piece through spectrographic analyses of three different performances e acoustical considerations. The main goal is the clarification of Varèse’s exploration of the sonic possibilities of the instrument. Dynamic, register, articulation and vibrato are some of the aspects considered both in the theoretical discussions and the performances’ analyses. Another issue focused is the resemblance of Varèse’s compositional procedures and electronic music techniques.
Density 21.5, written in January 1936 and revised by the composer in April 1946, was commissioned by the French born flute virtuoso Georges Barrère [1] for the inauguration of his new platinum flute.[2] In this work Varèse explored the instrument in a completely innovative way, launching the instrument to a new sphere of possibilities and sonorities.
The variety of colors, articulations and register changes present in Density 21.5 had no precedent in the flute repertoire, demanding from the performer a different approach, more related to flexibility rather than regularity. The limits of the instrument are stretched in frequency (the “new” high D), volume, contrasting colors (including the new clapping effect) and articulation. By changing the focus from the chains of tonal or serial harmony to the sound as the rough material of music, he opened a new era for the flute. (...)

Quelle: http://farben.latrobe.edu.au/mikropol/volume7/garcia_m/garcia_m.html