Another Zappa related post?
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:43 am
I guess this is as good of place as any to share this bit of info. Besides the latest post on Dweezel's workshop, I have found several ancient threads concerning Frank Zappa and his music, and discussions about Zappa's music have the potential of bringing some benefit to the concept of musicianship.
This post isn't really about Frank Zappa though. It's about having discovered a piece written by Edgaard Varese, a composer who was highly influential on Zappa. If you are a fan of Frank's, you are quite possibly already aware of Varese' percussion ensemble piece, "Ionization." This is the piece that pulled Zappa into the world of 20th Century Modern composition; he drew on it extensively for ideas in his own writing and if you have listened to any recordings of it, it is easy to hear the powerful impact it made on him. If you are interested, there is a beautiful performance of Ionization conducted by Piere Boulez on YouTube.
But there is another piece by Varese that has recently come to my awareness called "Ameriques." It retains many of the characteristics found in Ionization but may be more relevant to a wider range of listeners because it is written for full orchestra. I found it dazzling, psychedelic, and humorous. It is a relatively short work, about twenty-five minutes, and if this sort of thing appeals to you, or if you are simply curious and would like to hear it, San Francisco Symphony has a fine recording of it, also available on YouTube. Ta!
This post isn't really about Frank Zappa though. It's about having discovered a piece written by Edgaard Varese, a composer who was highly influential on Zappa. If you are a fan of Frank's, you are quite possibly already aware of Varese' percussion ensemble piece, "Ionization." This is the piece that pulled Zappa into the world of 20th Century Modern composition; he drew on it extensively for ideas in his own writing and if you have listened to any recordings of it, it is easy to hear the powerful impact it made on him. If you are interested, there is a beautiful performance of Ionization conducted by Piere Boulez on YouTube.
But there is another piece by Varese that has recently come to my awareness called "Ameriques." It retains many of the characteristics found in Ionization but may be more relevant to a wider range of listeners because it is written for full orchestra. I found it dazzling, psychedelic, and humorous. It is a relatively short work, about twenty-five minutes, and if this sort of thing appeals to you, or if you are simply curious and would like to hear it, San Francisco Symphony has a fine recording of it, also available on YouTube. Ta!