Edgard Varèse's Déserts: Analysis (Part 1 of 2)

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Composer Samuel Andreyev’s analysis of Edgard Varèse's masterwork Déserts (1950-54). The first part (of two) examines the context, aesthetics and aims of the piece.
ERRATA: the passage from bars 48-51 features timpani and tubas, not timpani and trombones. Also, Déserts is the composer's las COMPLETED composition, but not his very last work; Nocturnal was written afterward, but remained incompete at the composer's death. My apologies for the errors.
www.samuelandreyev.com

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10 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 42

@richardvernon3206 Год назад

Excellent work Samuel! One of my favourite pieces explained by an intelligent and broad minded musician! Love all your stuff. Thanks again x🎶❤️

@attichatchsound-bobkowal5328 6 лет назад

One of my favorite pieces! The unwitting blue-print of modern sound design descriptive film soundtracks.

@jakeoconnor3420 5 лет назад

Yet another Wonderful analysis of a compelling piece. Thank you for what you do Samuel

@johnappleseed8369 7 лет назад

yesssssssss!!!!!!! I'm so happy to see something on Varese, I'm looking forward to this :)))) Instant sub!

@GavinskisTutorials 2 года назад

Excellent analysis, humble yet highly informed delivery, thank you so much!

@Medtnaculuss 7 лет назад

Fantastic analysis. I'm eager to see what other composers you cover on this channel. I've always had a hard time getting past a certain point and breaking through into more modern music. Composers like Mosolov, Rudhyar and Sorabji are as far as I can push my ears.

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

Medtnaculus Thanks for your feedback. I've got plans for at least 20 more videos over the coming months. The next one will be going up in a day or two.

@raffen79 7 лет назад

Thank you so much for these amazingly instructive videos. I have always loved Déserts, and thanks to you I have now broadened my perception and understanding of the work.

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

raffen79 You're welcome -- I'm glad you enjoyed them. There's more coming soon!

@squaresunmusic Год назад

Great discussion and analysis as always! I would argue that an integral parameter to Varèse's music that should be added to the four (or five) you mentioned is "texture." Texture is of paramount importance to Varèse. I posit he makes stunning, complex, and comprehensive use of texture in his compositions.

@henrygingercat 7 лет назад

Great. I can actually understand your analyses which was very seldom the case when I was force-fed Perspectives on New Music at university 30+ years ago. Do keep up the good work.

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

peter owen Thank you, I'm very happy to hear that.

@bakeone4406 2 года назад

Glad you're sharing the fruit of of your listening efforts. Can you recommend specific recordings of Varese? Hoping to find the most sonically pristine version of Deserts on vinyl available. The Robert Craft Columbia Symphony Orchestra LP, 1962 was my introduction (and my favorite so far).

@theazza 2 года назад

Hey great video. Liking Zappa's music and wanting to know what influenced him had me listening to Varese and others. Thanks man.

@bassoonistfromhell 7 лет назад

great video

@EnricoPresti 2 года назад

Very remarkable. Have you some registration on it?

@thedream-workdoesnotthink4512 6 лет назад

I have pretty much no understanding of music theory but for some reason I'm drawn to so-called experimental music (so-called because all music is experimental by degrees). Zappa brought me to Varese. Excellent channel. Thanks!

@samuel_andreyev 6 лет назад

The dream-work does not think Good to hear from you -- glad you enjoyed my Varèse video.

@thedream-workdoesnotthink4512 6 лет назад

It'd be great if you could create a playlist on Spotify of some of your favourite composers/compositions. I've found a couple of your albums there. Great work!

@juanborjas6416 7 лет назад

Great videos very helpful and informative. I would love to see analysis of Schoenberg,Webern, Bartok, Debussy, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, Messiaen and Takemitsu. I hope you get more views in the future.

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

Juan Borjas Thanks -- I've done a Webern video already (check out my channel) and am presently working on one about Stockhausen.

@marcbrasse747 4 года назад

Of course duration an rhythm are basically the same! Rhythm is only a formalised method of handling duration. Call it a "higher" programming language if you will in which certain broadly accepted interpretations of repeated duration are combined. The same applies to frequency pitch and timbre. Pitch and timbre are again organized restrictions of frequency. If an instrument is played louder it's timbral contents change. A series of harmonics are reproduced in differing amplitiudes over time. So both pitch and harmonics are actually aspects of organized frequency content. Seen as such basically only frequency, amplitude (loudness) and duration remain.

@Lucillemorono 6 лет назад

Would you please make an analysis of Poeme eletronique?

@hanfordreach6849 5 лет назад

good video

@soundtreks 6 месяцев назад

I wonder if you would consider doing a video on Jerry Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes score. while it does borrow some sound mass principles from Varese, it also uses tone rows (Goldsmith was a fan of Berg). The kinetic element of the Apes score is reflective of Bartok's music, even his use of poly modalism. It's a terrific score because Goldsmith took all of those musical references but contextualized them into a single music narrative and world. The use of ram's horn and mixing bowls was also inspired.

@samuel_andreyev 6 месяцев назад

Interesting. I have never seen Planet of the Apes.

@soundtreks 6 месяцев назад

@@samuel_andreyev the movie was released in 1968 (my birth year) and while some might find it silly, the music is quite good. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YB-VevOGzog.html si=G1D8mNziEbRUT5CB

@Snardbafulator 7 лет назад

Love your analyses, Samuel. I came into them through Trout Mask Replica (thank you for the respect you show that often mocked work). I don't really know much postwar 20th century music in depth (I'm more a Bartok and Stravinsky fan), so this will be a fascinating introduction. A question: Do you respect Frank Zappa's orchestral music enough to analyze it in a video? He's a totally unsystematic composer, throws the kitchen sink at an orchestra, so I'd love to see any patterns or traditions you could ferret out ...

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

Snardbafulator Thank you. I have heard Yellow Shark and Perfect Stranger but not very recently so I'm not in a position to comment on these works other than to say that I enjoyed them. I most certainly hold Zappa in very high esteem. What reasonable musician would not?

@Snardbafulator 7 лет назад

Well, considering Zappa's lifetime love-hate relationship with musicians, I'd say probably a good deal of them, at least in private ;) Have you heard of the speech he gave in front of ASUC (American Society of University Composers) called "Is Music Necessary in an Industrial Society?" At the end he recommended (tongue only somewhat in cheek) that they pull a Jonestown and commit mass suicide ;) (And change the name from ASUC to We-SUC.) Zappa has called musicians mere "mechanics" and has dumped snark all over the career ambitions inherent in playing the standard repertoire, where coping with complex rhythmic ideas is not a requirement. Read the liner notes of the LSO album, Volume Two. He needed 45 edits and all the digital editing tricks in the book in the space of an eight-minute piece to clean up the mistakes that vaunted orchestra made -- in one of his simpler and more accessible orchestral pieces. So jazz fusion musicians and people like myself into highly technical rock have enormous respect for Frank. Your average working classical violinist, I might venture to guess not so much ;)

@Snardbafulator 7 лет назад

All that said, Zappa did say that the Ensemble Modern gave the most accurate reading of his music of all the musicians who've played it and he has the highest respect for them. I really love Outrage at Valdez ...

@lawsonj39 7 лет назад

I'm a major fan of this channel, and I'm curious about the large number of edits in Samuel's audio/video track, which creates an effect vaguely reminiscent of Max Headroom. The edits save a lot of time, obviously, but I'd like to know: are those edits hand-done, so to speak, or are they produced by software somehow?

@samuel_andreyev 7 лет назад

The edits are done in video editing software. It's to improve the flow of the videos and eliminate redundancies or hesitations. Hopefully my speaking (and editing) skills will improve over time.

@lawsonj39 7 лет назад

Thanks so much for the reply. I teach public speaking, and take my word for it: your mastery of language is exceeded only by your mastery of music theory. Looking forward to seeing the videos about your own compositions.

@hermes1671 3 года назад

Where can i find the graphic score/images you are showing in the video? Thanks!

@samuel_andreyev 3 года назад

In the video :)

@hermes1671 3 года назад

@@samuel_andreyev Sorry, i meant if it is possible, according to you, to find the COMPLETE score.

@eppiehemsley6556 2 года назад

Why is his jacket 2 different colors.?

@longtoothedman Год назад

Wagner died February 1883 Varese was born December 1838

@LucasHagemans 2 года назад

4:50 I had to laugh when you mentioned accordion. But I started thinking. What do you mean with 'effect' exactly? See for example ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x7HorjlwwAg.html