The World of Music; 6; Varese: Pioneer of the New Sound
- Series
- The World of Music
- Episode Number
- 6
- Episode
- Varese: Pioneer of the New Sound
- Producing Organization
- National Educational Television and Radio Center
- WNDT (Television station : Newark, N.J.)
- Contributing Organization
- Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/512-0k26970p2b
- NOLA Code
- WDOM
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- Description
- Episode Description
- French-born composer Edgar Varese has been a giant in the world of avant garde music for nearly half a century. To author Henry Miller, Varese is "the stratospheric Colossus of Sound." Varese, to World of Music host Morton Gould, is "a supreme master of the science of sound. He is forever seeking out new sounds, and new ways of organizing the old ones."?On this episode, Varese, nearing his eightieth birthday, lends his perpetually youthful questing mind to a discussion of his music -- its genesis, its form, its relationship to other 20th century arts. Two of his pioneering works. "Density 21.5" and "Integrales" are performed by flutist Samuel Baron and by the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Arthur Weisberg conducting. While as a composer, Varese is dynamic, inventive, and highly explosive, there is nothing in his manner that suggests the revolutionary. He is an articulate and exacting spokesman: "I imagined music that would be like beams of sound as fascinating to the ear as powerful searchlight beams to the eye. Further on musical form, which he likens to the process of crystallization: "Crystal form is a resultant rather than a primary attribute. It is the consequence of the interaction of attractive and repulsive forces This corresponds to the way my music is formed -- expanding and splitting into groups of sound constantly changing in shape, direction and speed, and the form of the work is the consequence of their interaction."?"Density 21. 5" was composed in 1936 for unaccompanied flute. It was written at the request of musician Georges Barrere to celebrate his platinum flute. (21. 5 is the density of platinum.) Flutist Samuel Baron, who plays the composition here, says of "Density 21 5": "In its single-minded preoccupation with the range of pitches and dynamics that the instrument is capable of, it creates a drama that we flutists never had." "Integrales," played here by the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Arthur Weisberg, was written in 1926 Written for eleven wind instruments and seventeen percussion instruments, "Integrales" is the largest of Varese's ensemble pieces and was the subject of much controversy when it was first presented. This unorthodox composition calls for the unusual "piccolo trumpet," and "contrabass trombone"; the percussion group includes chains, rattles and whips. Varese was born in Paris in 1885 and has been living in the United States since 1915. His musical education was in Paris under d'Indy, Roussel, and Widor. A recent highlight of his long career was the presentation of his "Poeme Electronique" created in close collaboration with the architect Le Corbusier for the Brussels World's Fair in 1958. The "Poeme" was projected on magnetic tape simultaneously over 400 loud speakers accompanied by, yet not coordinated with, a series of visual images chosen by the architect. Episode Running Time: 27:54 (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Series Description
- This series is designed to illuminate The World of Music through imaginative and informative contact with musical compositions and the artists and instruments that interpret them. The episodes encompass a wide spectrum of styles from the musical past and present -- from the keyboard music of Bach and the madrigals of Gesualdo to the avant garde compositions of Edgar Varese, the protest songs of the civil rights movement, and the "third stream" jazz of Billy Taylor. And some well-known contemporary musicians represent, in performance and discussion, their special fields of interest in conversations with series host, Morton Gould. In general, each episode offers discussion and comment, concerning specific musical subjects, by the host and guest artist; a visual exploration of the "tools" of music, whether it be a precious instrument, the equipment which makes and repairs it, or a composer's score; and performance by the singer or instrumentalist of the music itself. The concentration of each of these components varies with the subject of each episode. The World of Music is a 1964-65 production of National Educational Television, produced through the facilities of Channel 13/WNDT, New York. The 22 half-hour episodes that comprise the series were originally recorded on videotape. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1965-02-07
- Asset type
- Episode
- Genres
- Talk Show
- Performance
- Topics
- Music
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
Assistant to the Producer: Pernstein, Harriet
Assistant to the Producer: Bowman, Sandra
Conductor: Weisberg, Arthur
Director: Jones, Clark, 1920-2002
Guest: Varese, Edgar
Host: Gould, Morton
Performer: Baron, Samuel
Performing Group: Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Producer: Toobin, Jerome, 1919-1984
Producing Organization: National Educational Television and Radio Center
Producing Organization: WNDT (Television station : Newark, N.J.)
Set Designer: Gurlitz, Eugene
Writer: Sherman, Robert B.
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2343185-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
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- Citations
- Chicago: “The World of Music; 6; Varese: Pioneer of the New Sound,” 1965-02-07, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 11, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-0k26970p2b.
- MLA: “The World of Music; 6; Varese: Pioneer of the New Sound.” 1965-02-07. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 11, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-0k26970p2b>.
- APA: The World of Music; 6; Varese: Pioneer of the New Sound. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-0k26970p2b