Overview

"The works of Edgard Varese (1883-1965) represent the most radical expression of 20th-century Modernism in music. Not only did he create such orchestral showpieces as ""Ameriques"" and ""Arcana"" and such mainstays of the instrumental repertoire as ""Octandre"" and ""Density 21:5""; he also pioneered works for percussion ensemble and electronic music, both on tape and using electronic instruments. Yet books about Varese are few. Either they are biographical studies by non-musicians, or severely analytical treatises beyond the reach of the majority of music lovers who are likely to hear his works in concert. This book takes a different approach. Within a chronological scheme, its core is a series of descriptive analyses; accessible to any literate music-lover, of all Varese's available works. Malcolm MacDonald relates them to the ideas, both aesthetic and scientific, which underlay Varese's boldly original view of sound and musical structure. He shows how Varese's conception of a music that ""explodes into space"", of ""intelligent sounds moving in space"" arose from 20th-century man's expanding consciousness of his place in the universe, but also from the esoteric philosophies of late 19th-century Paris, inspired by Renaissance alchemists such as Paracelsus. Much of Varese's output is destroyed, but it is possible to infer much about his lost early works, his vast stage of composition about communication with the star Sirius, and the unachieved choral symphony ""Espace"", designed to be performed simultaneously in the various capitals of the world. This is also the first book to discuss the previously unpublished Varese scores released for performance in 1998 by Varese executor Chou Wen Chung."

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9781871082791

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'...exactly the sort of general book which every modern master needs…' - Hugh Wood, Times Literary Supplement; '...an essential acquisition for any library…' - Nigel Simeone, Musical Times; '… an indispensible book on essential music …' - Max Harrison, Musical Opinion; '… eloquent in style and powerful in argument …' - Arnold Whitall, Gramophone

'...exactly the sort of general book which every modern master needs...' - Hugh Wood, Times Literary Supplement; '...an essential acquisition for any library...' - Nigel Simeone, Musical Times; '... an indispensible book on essential music ...' - Max Harrison, Musical Opinion; '... eloquent in style and powerful in argument ...' - Arnold Whitall, Gramophone

Author Information

As well as Varèse - Astronomer in Sound, musicologist Malcolm MacDonald wrote several books notably titles on Brahms, Schoenberg, John Foulds and a three-volume analysis of Havergal Brian's 32 symphonies. He contributed many articles to The New Grove, was the editor of the contemporary music journal Tempo and was a regular reviewer for The Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and International Record Review.

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