Edgard Varèse

Edgard Varèse was a French-born composer, who moved to the United States in 1915, and took American citizenship in 1926. He spent the first few years in the United States meeting important contributors to American music, promoting his vision of new electronic music instruments, conducting orchestras, and founding the New Symphony Orchestra.
In 1928, Varèse returned to Paris to alter one of the parts in Amériques to include the recently constructed Ondes Martenot, and wrote his Ecuatorial for two fingerboard Theremins, bass singer, winds and percussion in the early 1930s.

General Questions:
1.How deeply rooted into society was this music or person at the time it was created (or when the person was alive and producing?)
He was a famous person and many people are still listening his song.

2.How important or relevant is this music now in 2009? Who listens to it?
Lots of people are listening to his music in 2009.

3.Is this music universal in appeal or is it very specific to a particular time, place, and culture, or audience?
His use of new instruments and electronic resources led to his being known as the "Father of Electronic Music" so he was a famous composer.

Is it easy to hear that this music is directly related to music that came before it, or is it difficult to find a connection to the past?
It is difficult to find a connection to the past.


a.What was his most important contribution to music? Explain.
Varèse followed Amériques by composing his most famous non-electronic piece in 1930 entitled Ionization, the first piece to feature solely percussion instruments.

b.Why was his approach to music composition so different?
He was different because he went to different countries and learn about different kind of music.

c.How influential was he? Who were some of the people he influenced?
Varèse's emphasis on timbre, rhythm, and new technologies was an inspiration to a whole generation of musicians who came of age during the 1960s and 1970s. One of Varèse's biggest fans was the American guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, who, upon hearing a copy of The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Vol. 1, which included Intégrales, Density 21.5, Ionization, and Octandre, became obsessed with the composer's music.