Edgard Varèse Amériques pour orchestre Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris Ensemble intercontemporain Matthias Pintscher, direction Enregistré en direct le 3 février 2015 à la Philharmonie de Paris, Grande Salle - Philharmonie 1
Lots of people enjoy the composition Amériques by Edgard Varèse. Personally, I love it so much that my first tattoo ever was a scroll on my shoulder with elements of the alto flute solo in the beginning lol. Truly one of the defining pieces of 20th-century art music, even if reserved for those with hearts aflutter for the avant-garde or for those who enjoy finding the music that since inspired film scoring. I have a cassette tape recording somewhere of Pierre Boulez discussing Amériques before conducting, maybe, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra?, where he described it as having been finished in 1921, but perhaps that was a pre-final revision. Either way, whether it was finished then or simply laid to full paper score then is academic if the premier was in 1926. A mere five years before Ionisation, another work that transformed the concept of music. What a life to have lived. May Sr. Edgard Varèse live forever on in his forcefully beautiful insistence on the transformation of music to adapt to the new directions of humanity.
Vraiment impressionné par l'engagement et le professionalisme de ces jeunes musiciens (et bien sûr des musiciens plus confirmés de l'EIC). Quelle belle version pleine d'énergie et de couleurs, ça décoiffe !
The original version of Amériques was premiered on 9 April 1926 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. The revised version was premiered on 30 May 1929 by the Orchestre des Concerts Poulet under Gaston Poulet at the Maison Gaveau.
Varese is more than a reflection of an era. It’s a phantom asteroid who returns to set his sights on sound art. A stupendous wave laden with paradoxes from which obscurantism and the irrational escape, hypnotic factors defying vulnerable souls in search of the infinity. This sound architecture is a translucid and short tunnel that leads to light 💥
I was enjoying this performance until it was ruined by two advertisements popping up unexpectedly at about the six minute mark. Thanks a lot, You Tube.
Aside from the classic recording of Maurice Abravanel conducting the Utah Symphony, this is one of the great performances that I have heard of this magnificent work.
First time i listened to this was about a year ago and I didn't really like it then. This is my second time listening and i just have chills all over, so good. I'm happy i gave this piece a second chance. I need to listen to Varese more.
Well Done, all! Love that the bassoon section is made up of both French and German system; don't love that the Heckelphone part is being played on a bass oboe. (they're not the same; don't let anyone fool you into thinking they are)
Begins paraphrasing Stravinsky at 0:27. Listen to the Rite of Spring (particularly the part just after the reprise of the bassoon solo melody, but just before the stamping chords of the "augurs of spring" begins. It's almost verbatim. At 2:21, the rite is paraphrased again. This time the melody comes from the introduction to part II of the rite, before "mystic circles of the young girls" begins. 2:45 comes from loosely from "the sacrificial dance". 3:16 was likely inspired by the stamping chords beginning "the augurs of spring". This has Stravinsky written all over it.
2:21 Finding four notes here and there identical to four notes in "The Rite" isn't exactly fair. You've neglected to mention the thousands of notes having no connection. Yes, "The Rite" was an important work, but this argument is faulty for being entirely selective. If "The Rite" were so influential on it, where are the ostinato patterns that make "The Rite" structurally groundbreaking? No where in Varèse. He has an entirely different structural approach far more relevant than four similar notes or a similar metric emphasis spanning all of three seconds.
Frank Zappa often said in interviews he was immensely influenced by Varèses work. Zappa made a list in 1966 consisting of his biggest influences. Varèse was in it together with names like Stravinsky, Stockhausen, Boulez, Ravel, Webern and Schönberg.
Oh! A little bit of discrimination is always nice. So, young people play better than old people….this orchestra doesnt pay well, see….? So, young people who didnt get a better place yet work here.
One can see that this really is a very difficult thing to perform, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. It's a pity the recording engineers were not quite up to the superb standard of the orchestra. Some of the performers, especially in the percussion, are scarcely audible. But I do know the difficulties in capturing such a massive range of dynamics.
Interesting. I was enjoying the recording without thinking much about it, but now that I am thinking about it, I guess the percussion does seem a bit far away, although I don't mind it. Wouldn't that be a fair representation of what it might sound like if you had good seats in this hall? They are at the back after all. i suppose some spot mics would do the trick, but I can't help but wonder if that would make the percussion sound a bit too close. Thanks!
@@davewestner You make some good points. But actually, it's all a matter of BALANCE. I have myself uploaded a copy of "ARCANA" which I chose because of it's excellent recording. RU-vid use data compression, but it won't substantially alter the balance of the instruments.
@@AsIwasPlayingDrums RU-vid use data compression, but that won't substantially alter the balance of the instruments within the recording. I have myself posted a version of ARCANA which I believe is an excellent recording for comparison.
@@michaelberridge1934 I am listening to Arcana from your page. I am going to comment about it on that video. just wanted to let you know so you recall this conversation
This is quite an achievement. I'm familiar with most of the recorded versions of this piece, and I've never heard a more adroitly balanced ensemble. Many details I'd never heard before. A sumptuous sound from the orchestra and the most (yes) lyrical rendition of the piece I've heard. Congratulations to one and all. And RU-vid - SHAME on you for interrupting this with ads!
It boggles my mind that this piece is a hundred years old now. Leopold Stokowski, who premiered it, I believe was one of the bravest conductors in the last century. He looked for challenges like this for the concert hall. Nothing seemed to phase him, i.e. his premiering Charles Ives` 4th Symphony at age 83!
I don't know what all the fuss is. Its just good music. A man is able to convey precisely what he imagines. What is impressive is the immensity of the orchestra and the physical beauty of the instruments, to which the music seems designed to draw one's attention.
Something worth noting is how so many of the members of this really prestigious ensemble are actually quite young, and also diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity. I think that speaks really well of this institution, in spite of its controversial past when it... kind of dictated the aesthetic of new music in France with an iron fist.
How you just gonna compare Stravinsky to this composer the piece is good were talking about Stravinsky here he’s probably the best composer in ever and know I regret replying to your “comment”
Love the music! I don't hear much of Stravinsky in it aside from the opening alto flute motif; it's more like the next step after Scriabin's Prometheus. Performance is masterful, but as others have said, it would be great if the recording were less compressed. This sounds like the revised version...
Interesting piece. It sounds as much like Stravinsky - specifically, The Rite Of Spring - as like Varese; it is apparently Varese's first published composition. The huge orchestra is not characteristic of him, nor is the length. Most of his later pieces involve non-standard chamber groups, and are considerably shorter and more focused on one concept.
Doesn't sound like Stravinsky to my ears. Varese was his own man. And there are more intense performances of this piece conducted by Boulez, and Chailly.
The piece wouldn't exist if Stravinsky hadn't written The Rite of Spring. Its influence is all over this score. It's still unmistakably Varese, but the Stravinsky influence is huge.
@@raouldegardefeu1310 That's how I look at it. If you like it: Fine. If not: Fine. There are many types of people and many types of music. Yes, I would agree - just listen to it.
What I do before any score analysis, is close my eyes, and listen to the piece 15-20 times, and just go on a musical journey. Let the music take me wherever it wants to take me.... I GO! Then I pick up the score and then start studying it for the next 15-20 listens. Then I for the next 5 listens I act like I am conducting the piece... Then after 40-50 listens, half with the score, that is how you get to ''understand'' a piece. It is not a quick process. There are pieces like Ligeti's Requiem...that may take 100-150 listen throughs to ''understand'' the piece. Also reading a biography/autobiography about the composers life also helps!
Still finding it difficult to grasp Varese. I see a lot of comments comparing this to Le Sacre du printemps. I can still understand the melodic development (mainly in motifs) of stravinskys work, which happens to be one of my absolute favourites, but this seems to me to be more of an experiment on organising sounds which is exciting to hear but doesn’t seem memorable to me. The final few minutes - starting from the 17’ mark - are an exception they’re fantastic
I heard this in the 80s with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Tilson Thomas. It was so powerful I was shaking uncontrollably through the first half of intermission. It was much more ferocious than this. I think they were so angry to have to play it that they took out all their aggression in the performance.
Pas très fair-play de ne pas mentionner l'Orchestre du Conservatoire dans le titre... Accessoirement, que signifie "Enregistré en direct"? Y aurait-il des enregistrements en différé?
Dear EI Thanks for the recordings but can you please not cut off the audience response. I do think this is not well recorded but at the same time its just a series of episodes, there's little tension in what is one of the most electric pieces of music ever written. And that's the conductor's fault. And if you're looking for influences go and listen to The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Varese's teacher Dukas.
Not many people know Varèse collaborated at least twice with Antonin Artaud, who was also a big influence on Zappa. Like Artaud Varèse was mocked in his day.
@xxxwood_windxx-bb4413 I'm not sure what you mean when you say this piece is "far away from Stravinsky's time". Rite of Spring was composed in 1913 and this was written only 8 years later in 1921.
@articflower2789 - I suppose you're making a joke, but just in case you're not you should know that this piece was composed in 1921 and first performed a few years later in 1926.
@@segmentsAndCurves Orthogonality to rational, melodious? An obvious hectoring of petite bourgeois sensibilities? Dissettlement -- if that's a word? An entire orchestra is purposed for what is anti-structural? Reveling with _Schadenfreude_ at hearing this would be absurdist, IMHO.
@@segmentsAndCurves No, I enjoy it for its sheer musicality, its ability to explore what I call _tonal neutrality._ Absurdism is necessarily an integral relationship phenomenon with the non-absurd, the structured set of petty bourgeois sensibilities. Now, can you or I honestly claim objectivity? Or are we forever captive to our socialization? Can we face outwards? Or are we slaves to our comforts and reassurances? I'm a big Ligeti fan, and his association with _2001 A Space Odyssey_ was quite formative for me. I can better face my non-facing of the Universe with these musical aids. So let me finally define absurdism as runaway irony. But then what and why is irony? One set of highly intelligent people enjoy the hell out of it, another set reviles it.
