VARESE, EDGARD  BIOGRAPHY

Preferring the concept of organized sound to that of music, the French-born composer Edgard Varèse exercised a strong influence on the contemporary avant-garde, particularly in the United States, where he spent some time from 1915 until 1928, when he returned to Paris. He returned to America in 1933, eventually finding the necessary backing for his electro-acoustic research. He enjoyed an earlier career as a conductor of some distinction, but is now remembered chiefly for his experiment in composition and for the influence his work exerted over younger composers.

Works

Varèse made an early impression with his Offrandes for soprano and small orchestra in 1921 and the remarkable Octandre, for wind instruments and double bass, first heard in New York in 1924. Later organized sound included Ionisation for thirteen percussion-players, completed in 1931, and Déserts, with its combination of instrumental performance and recorded tape.