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 Although
he wrote just over a dozen works, Edgard Varése’s
(1883–1965) experiments in form and texture, his idea of “organized
sound,” and his eagerness to experiment with new sound sources,
cemented his reputation as one of the most influential composers
of the 20th century. Born in Paris in 1883, Varése defied
his father’s wish that he study math and engineering, and instead
entered the Paris Conservatory. Impressed by Ferruccio Busoni’s
Sketch for a New Aesthetic in Music, Varése moved
to Berlin in 1907 to meet him. Of works he produced during this
period, however, only one survived a massive fire. In 1915, Varése
moved to the United States, where he completed Amériques
in celebration of his new life. He quickly started to promote the
cause of New Music in the country by founding the New Symphony Orchestra
(1919) and the International Composers’ Guild (1921).
In the years following,
Varése split his time between Europe and America, but the
defeat of some of his ventures, as well as difficulties finding
work, made it so he only completed two works: Ionisation
(1931) and Density 21.5 (1936). In 1953 he was anonymously
given a tape recorder, and Varése immediately began work
on Déserts, which premiered in Paris in 1959, in the
first stereo music broadcast in the country’s history. He also
became involved in writing music for documentaries and events, including
Poème Électronique, which he composed for the
1958 Brussels Exhibition. It was performed using 400 loudspeakers
and was accompanied by visuals by Le Corbusier. Despite the attention
he received late in his career, Varése composed relatively
little. His final work, Nocturnal, was unfinished, and performed
at a tribute concert in 1961. It was later completed by composer
Chou Wen-chung.
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