Reviews (1)

Budget priced overview of newer recordings
Reich suffers much the same problem as Riley (or even Cage and Stockhausen) where classic recordings remain unavailable and what can be found (easily) on the shelf are newer, 'tamer' recordings that fail to express the more challenging dimensions of the pieces.While much has been done to fix this problem with Riley, the best recordings of Reich remain unavailable.
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Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Classical    3. Classical Artists   

Editorial Review

Wendy Carlos's Read more

Features

• Enhanced
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (22)

wonderful album but. . .
I have always enjoyed this album and Well-Tempered Synthesizer ever since they came out in LP form when I was young.
A fun trip back to the 60's
I remember being in college listening to (at the time) the LP while studying. It is a greeat trip down memeory lane.

How about "class by itself?"
Sure I had record albums of music by Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff, but "Switched-On" was my real intro. to "classical" (orchestral) music. I still have this vinyl album, but I seldom drop the tonearm on it anymore: I'm afraid the stylus will come after me. Brandenburg No. 3 with its dripping water 2d movement puts this recording in a class by itself.
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Subjects:  1. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    2. Cantata    3. Choral    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Concerto    8. Concerto Grosso    9. Electronic    10. Electronic & Computer    11. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    12. Invention for Keyboard    13. Keyboard    14. Orchestral    15. Prelude and Fugue for Keyboard   

Reviews (2)

Be Thou My Vision
Track 3, Be Thou My Vision, was a surprise as the song was the final song played at my father's funeral.It set the closing mood most fittingly.While Be Thou My Vision is my favorite the entire collection is wonderfully mellow.I recommend it for for the mellow moods.

Reverent, beautiful
After criticizing Windham Hill in the past for often recycling the same songs over and over in various collections, I have to hand it to them with the new "Prayer" CD.It's a fine set of all-new acoustic versions of hymns or spiritual songs, plus a good number of original compositions.Producer Dawn Atkinson has done an excellent job of lining up a bunch of top-drawer people for "Prayer," and in working with the artists on the song selection.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative    2. Ambient    3. Chamber Jazz    4. Choral    5. Choral Music    6. Contemporary Christian Music    7. Contemporary Instrumental    8. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    9. Folk-Jazz    10. Fusion    11. Keyboard    12. Keyboard Music    13. Meditation    14. Miscellaneous    15. Miscellaneous Music    16. Miscellaneous Vocal Music    17. Motet    18. Neo-Classical    19. New Age Collections    20. Pop   

Features

• Soundtrack

Reviews (4)

Classic - Hold the Chills
This is a fine collection of mostly classical themes.
Packed with creepy stuff
This is an awesome album. It starts off with thunder crashing, running footsteps, a gate creaking, the wind howling, a cat screeching, a door opening, a woman crying that she needs help....and then SCREAMING! And then straight into track 2, the overture to 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Wow! The rest of the cd also features 'creepy' music from various sources, such as Alfred Hitchcock films, like Psycho, various classic works like Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Night on Bald Mountain', and also some other creepy sound effects. A good album not only for Halloween but I dare you to listen to it during a dark night with a thunderstorm raging outside.

A real work-out for your system......
I've owned the "Chiller" CD since it's release in '89.At the time, I was working for a local Audio/Video/Music dealer, and was looking for 'demo' CD's containing not necessarily heavy bass, but ones displayingincredible dynamic range, and sharp transient peaks.I already owned acopy of "Time Warp", also on Telarc, and was intrigued when Iread about "Chiller.Needless to say, I was extremely pleased withthis disc.Not only did I get a disc containing some great treatments ofclassics, but the re-make of the "Psycho" suite is wonderful (theshower sequence is very faithful to the original)!A word ofwarning.....the dynamic range of this disc is not to beunderestimated.....I drove an older amplifier into thermal shutdown VERYquickly with track #1.I haven't tried it since I've upgraded my homesystem....hmmm....might have to scare the neighbors tonight (or at leastrattle a few dental fillings)! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music    2. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    3. Choral    4. Classical    5. Classical Artists    6. Classical Music    7. Conductor    8. Electronic/Computer/Tape Music    9. Film    10. Film Music    11. Instrumental Pop    12. Keyboard    13. Miscellaneous    14. Miscellaneous Music    15. Music Theater    16. Musical Theater    17. Orchestral    18. Orchestral Pop    19. Romantic Orchestral Music    20. Romantic Tone Poem/Symphonic Poem for Orchestra   

Editorial Review

So much truly boring ambient music has been made since Brian Eno coined the phrase in the mid 1970s that it's sometimes hard to remember this can truly be a vibrant music that's, you know, musical. And while there are some clicky and smeared sounds courtesy of Mr. Eno that can only result from modern computer software, this album is a return to 1975's lush, pastoral and excellent Read more

Reviews (14)

Back in form, and brilliantly.
Whoosh!It's been, wha...30 years since the wonderful two LP's "No Pussyfooting" and "Evening Star" by this pathbreaking duo of Fripp and Eno.Since then we have long hoped for more...more...from these two incredible genii of ambient-electronic music.Well, in 1994 Caroline released "The Essential Fripp And Eno" which had both LP's except for some reason they left out Side 2 of "Evening Star", "An Index Of Metals", but included 4 new tracks "Healthy Colours".Nice stuff, but not what we'd've expected.Anyhoo...here's a wonderful new selection of seven mid-size (5-9 minute) tracks of very atmospheric guitar-synthesizer, sampled synth, who-knows-what-studio-wizardry.Fripp proves to be still a very formidable guitarist, playing meltingly beautiful solos over Eno's very advanced and gorgeous electronic backings.Two tracks have notably catchy backbeats, but the others are mostly airy-ambient cloud-musics of beautiful depth and range.Let us hope that these two top-notch brilliant British musicians don't wait another 30 years to add another chapter to their output!
lord, brilliant
the most natural step they could make as a duo, this far in the future. you wonder, do eno and fripp hang out even when they're not creating a once in a billion year collaboration!? fripp. eno. eno. fripp. god bless em. no, i don't say god bless em. other reviewers say god bless em. way better than me.

A Truly Remarkable CD!
This is Eno's best work ever and the the most interesting work we have heard from Fripp in many years. The combined talents of Fripp and Eno easily outdo any solo work either have done up to the present. Where have these guys been all this time!!This is an updated, reconsidered,teched-out Fripp and Eno for the new millenium and beyond! (Think of all the stunning world music,rock and avant garde that has passed under the bridge since their last album together!) Best of the 'Three' and a masterwork of the genre! Gentlemen,please,....Encore!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ambient    2. Electro-Acoustic    3. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    4. Experimental    5. Experimental Ambient    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (11)

A diamond in the rough of transition
Most reviewers have pointed out the presence of upbeat songs, ethereal lyrical explorations, and all out ambience on this album, and it's definitely full of gorgeous examples of all three.Although this is often classified as a transitional album because it houses so many varieties of songs, I think they work stunningly well together; While his first two solo albums are truly wonderful, the constant up-tempo pace was a bit relentless."Another Green World" introduced the ambience to stunning effect, but I think the amalgamation of each style is fully realized on this album.The styles of song are interspersed just enough to balance the album out, and really "take you places".Plus, the songs in each style on this album can certainly rival the best of Eno's previous three albums:"Backwater" and "kurt's Rejoinder" match any highlight off "Warm Jets" or "Tiger Mountain", while "Here he Comes" and "Spider and I" easily match "Another Green World" in pure ethereal aesthetic.Moreover, everything on this album is quite catchy, and almost certainly mood-inducing.Just get it already!

Man in transition.
Brian Eno's "Before and After Science", his last song-based album until the about-to-be-released (June, 2005) "Another Day on Earth" is in many ways the album you would hope it would be, reflective of his past, pointing in some ways to the future, very much texture-oriented music.On the other hand, while it has its moments, it fails to capture the immediacy of "Here Come the Warm Jets" or the beauty of "Discreet Music", but its still a great listen.
Another Eno World
The last in Eno's series of quirky, unique albums from the 70's before he moved totally into ambient music and expored his "rock" side only through production of other artists.
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Subjects:  1. Art-Rock/Experimental    2. Electronic    3. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    4. Experimental    5. Experimental Rock    6. Pop    7. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop    10. Vocal    11. Vocal Music   

Reviews (3)

Ohm... Ohm... Ohm...
Back in 2000, Ellipsis Arts released OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, a fantastic and essential three CD set tracing the evolution of "electronica" from Messiaen, Cage, and Xenakis to Schulze, Eno, and Hassell. This set was recently reissued (as OHM+) along with a bonus DVD (which is thankfully now available separately for those of us who already have the CDs.)You can read plenty of excellent reviews of the original 3CD set on Amazon (and elsewhere), so I'm going to focus on the new DVD in this review.
This and...
An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music, Vol.1 will probably have you set.

The Standard Reference for Electronic Music
This package is mind boggling.The DVD includes over 2 hours of rare footage too.If you want to know about the roots of electronic music, look no further. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ambient    2. Atonal    3. Avant-Garde    4. Avant-Garde Music    5. Computer Music    6. Dance Music    7. Electro-Acoustic    8. Electronic    9. Electronic Collections    10. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    11. Electronic/Computer/Tape Music    12. Experimental    13. Experimental Rock    14. Film    15. Film Music    16. Keyboard    17. Minimalism    18. Miscellaneous    19. Miscellaneous Music    20. Mixed Media   

Editorial Review

The disc is titled Read more

Reviews (9)

Reich's extreme early experiments
Depending on your ears, the early works on this recording will be either complete madness, or trance-like nirvana.My hunch is that many people will vote for the former, at least at first, before Reich's inventive grip helps you to perceive sounds in a way that perhaps you hadn't before. In any case, the works here are given terrific performances.
Timeless Minimalism!!
"Early Works" collects four of composer Steve Reich's earliest examples of minimalist music for both tapeloops and actual musical instruments. Listening to these early pieces is quite fascinating and offers a glimpse of what was to come in the music world more than 35 years later. It's Gonna Rain
Warning, this is a strange CD. It's not going to fit everyone's taste, but if you are the type that likes to explore, or extremely bored with POP music, then this is the CD for you. This was created & recorded before the computer age, yet deals with the process of the computer age. Back then some Classical Experimenters used tape loops to created multi layered repetitions of rhythm & melody. I believe the high light is "It's Gonna Rain" from a recording of a Pentecosta street preacher yelling about Noah's flood. The words "Its Gonna Rain" become rhythm with something like: "Its Its, Its Gonna Its Gonna, Gonna Gonna, Gonna Rain Gonna Rain, Rain Rain...then the piece adds layers of layers of the sermon until it becomes a vast sound effect. Believe it or not I played "It's Gonna Rain" during a Performance Art piece called "Noah's Art" where I gave out water balloons & pistols to an audience while reading & then acting out the 10 commandants. The Tape loop was used to drive everyone into a frenzy to drown me with water. It Worked. Thanks Steve. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber Music    2. Classical    3. Classical Composers    4. Electronic/Computer/Tape Music    5. Jazz Music    6. Keyboard    7. Keyboard Music for More Than One Player    8. Minimalism    9. Modern Composition    10. Tape Music    11. United States of America   

Editorial Review

This new CD of Steve Reich's music pairs two unusually scored pieces. "You Are (Variations)" is set for three sopranos, an alto and two tenors, with flutes, oboe, English horn, two marimbas, clarinets, four pianos, vibraphone and strings. The texts, in Hebrew and English, are philosophical meditations: "You are whoever your thoughts are," "Say little and do much," etc. The resulting work is fascinating, the textures unique and fresh, the experience haunting and captivating, with the voices used as another significant instrumental part. Equally fine is the second work, "Cello Counterpoint," scored for eight cellos (seven pre-recorded and one played "live" by soloist Maya Baiser), which is noteworthy for its complex rhythms, use of counterpoint, and handsome lyrical solo cello line floating above it all. Reich fans will love this; the uninitiated will want to give it a try. Read more

Reviews (12)

arrant garbage
Others who have said that piece is poor and boring are correct.
Still holding out hope
I have to respond to "D. Flynn"'s assessment of current/late Reich.I tend to reluctantly agree with most of it.I've noticed the pattern of several of my favorite composers, notably George Crumb, losing their way and losing the distinct power of their compositional voices late in life.I was hoping Reich was an exception and I still hold out hope.Like you, I've been underwhelmed by most of the post-"Trains" music, though one huge exception is "Proverb" which I find absolutely exquisite, timeless & spell-binding.Likewise, "City Life" excited me, as it represented a major step forward in the style he began with "Trains".I feel that "City Life" works because he finds new aesthetic uses for the "Trains" technique of integrating the sampled voices and sounds compellingly into an instrumental texture, and advances that technique significantly forward, to stunning effect.I find it moving & evocative of its subject.Perhaps not as brutally moving as "Trains" but then again, neither is the subject.
boring, repetitive, unimaginative
i too welcomed steve reich and philip glass in the 1970s, modern composers with something new to say.but the minimalist, variations on a theme, has becometiresome, weary. and to me shows a lack of imagination, creativity, and invention. It is a one trick pony. He has nothing (new) to say. Sit down at a keyboard, pick a sequence of notes, and play them for 20 minutes. bring in a cello or other instrument to help you out, add some variety, and keep playing your sequence. it is sophomoric, simplistic, passing for erudition and complexity. it is not. You want to hear how a genius does this, listen to a few bars from Tristan und Isolde, how Wagner takes a single motive (motif) and weaves it with complexity andinventiveness. Steve could use a few lessons and ideas from the master. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chamber Music & Recitals    2. Choral    3. Classical    4. Classical Artists    5. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    6. Secular Choral Music with Chamber Ensemble   

Subjects:  1. Chamber    2. Character/Single-Movement/Miscellaneous Work for Keyboard    3. Classical    4. Concerto    5. Dance    6. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    7. Etude for Keyboard    8. Keyboard    9. Keyboard Music    10. Marimba    11. Miscellaneous    12. Miscellaneous Music    13. Music for Tape/Electronics and Live Performer(s)    14. Orchestral & Symphonic    15. Percussion    16. Percussion Chamber Music   

Features

• Enhanced
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (9)

Great Album, but. . .
I have always enjoyed this album and Switched on Bach ever since they came out in LP form when I was young.
As good as I remembered it!
I heard "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer" when it was first issued; like many people I was stunned by the strange, beautiful sound created by a "machine".Then I read about the difficulty of making the recordings, which took tremendous time and thoughtfulness, and this made me appreciate the human element more than the technology.
More of the quasi-same
Many people know the first Wendy (then Walter) Carlos album, the more than justly acclaimed Switched-on Bach, a marvellous album representing a sort of Best of Bach but also the first album totally executed on the Moog Synthesizer and the one that helped more than a bit the world to know and embrace the new sounds and peculiarities of what at the time wasn't even considered an instrument. For me it was the album that turned me on to electronic music and to this day is one of my favourite instrumental albums regardless of genres. Funny then that only recently did I find the need to purchase other Carlos' albums! However, The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, while not reaching the heights of its predecessors is a very good album indeed, introducing a welcome variety by adding other musicians to the mighty Bach and Scarlatti's music seem particularly apt to be translated. Quite interesting also Monteverdi's, while Handel's is a bit weak but still pleasant enough. Hats off once again to Bach's, there is a special empathy that makes the performance invigorating and memorable. I'd definitely recommend this one to whoever owns Switched-on Bach and to fans of electronic music in general. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baroque Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard    2. Baroque Suite/Partita for Orchestra    3. Choral    4. Choral Music    5. Classical    6. Classical Artists    7. Classical Music    8. Concerto    9. Concerto Grosso    10. Electronic    11. Electronic & Computer    12. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    13. Keyboard    14. Microtonal    15. Miscellaneous    16. Miscellaneous Music    17. Orchestral   

Reviews (4)

Excellent album
Recently I learned about LAGQ and bought this album. I have been impressed by the arrangements and interpretation, the texture, innovative touches and originality. It is a treat!

This is only a warning
The LAGQ are fine players, and the music here is first rate as a summary of what they do, or for any purpose. HOWEVER, the transfer to CD on my disc was very poorly chosen, so that the top octave and a half was mostly missing (worse on some pieces than others, though). This takes the snap! out of guitar strings and notably attenuates your ability to tell what the 4 are doing with guitar timbre and the like. So, if you have wide-range audio gear, you might want to look elsewhere for an introduction to these players.

Recent Purchase that I'm Joyed to Find and Enjoy
Not until recently did I know about this guitar four.Hearing a number of their songs on internet classical radio, I decided I'd try this one.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Ballet    2. Ballet    3. Band    4. Chamber    5. Chamber Music & Recitals    6. Chamber Music for More than Nine String Instruments    7. Choral    8. Classical    9. Classical Artists    10. Classical Music    11. Concerto    12. Concerto Grosso    13. Electronic/Computer/Tape Music    14. Folk Song    15. Keyboard    16. Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title    17. March for Band    18. Miscellaneous    19. Miscellaneous Music    20. Orchestral   

Editorial Review

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Features

• Soundtrack

Subjects:  1. 20th/21st Century Music for Voice and Keyboard    2. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music    3. 20th/21st Century Orchestral Work with Formal Description    4. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    5. Film Music    6. Keyboard    7. Miscellaneous    8. Miscellaneous Music    9. Music Theater    10. Musical Theater    11. Orchestral    12. Original Cast Recordings    13. Pop    14. Soundtrack    15. Soundtracks & Film Scores    16. Suite for Orchestra    17. Vocal   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (5)

i wanna clear things up for reviewer Ba "Ba"
the Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel part of the cd is an actual intruments, only the first track is done with the reel to reel tape device. maybe people should read more liner notes.

Brian Eno
I simply do not understand how Brian Eno can get credit for running others' music thorugh a fancy FX loop, claim that its "ambient" music and get crdit for it as if people had never lsitened to music in the back ground.

Achingly beautiful.
One of the early masterpieces of ambient music, Eno's "Discreet Music" really defies description.Broken into two halves, the extended "Discreet Music" and "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel", the music is delicate, balanced, beautiful, and stirring.
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Subjects:  1. Ambient    2. Electronic    3. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    4. Experimental    5. Experimental Ambient    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (5)

It seems to work
I've a creativity-demanding job where I must design and implement artificial neural networks. I was seduced by the idea of improving my brain-wave patterns because I've been studying the inner workings of the brain for more than 3 years due my undergraduate thesis about Computational Neuroscience. I agree that the brain mimics all the types of waves that come from reality: light waves, sounds, propioception, body cycles, etc. We live 2 realities: the real reality and the virtual reality created by our brains. I believe that a specific and proved pattern of sounds can synchronize the firings of our neurons and can even fix some malformed brain-wave patterns.
I enjoy this.
I have both The Creative Mind System, and Creative Mind System 2.0 - I enjoy both of them and listen regularly. I could be walking outside, and it's playing on my MP3 player, or I'm working [taking photographs] or editing them. I also lay back, close my eyes and listen at times. I'm always on the look out for others like this. There are certain very uplifting parts, in my opinion.

This Might Actually Work
I just listened to this CD yesterday for the frist time while doing some writing on my laptop. My first impression was that it was just garden-variety new age music, but I did notice that I had a higher-than-average level of concentration while writing. But here's the kicker: last night I had an incredibly vivid dream full of Jungian symbols and I think this CD might have had something to do with it. I'm going to keep on listening and maybe buy a few of the others. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    2. Meditation    3. New Age    4. New Age / Meditation    5. Pop   

Editorial Review

Released shortly after his death in 1993, Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (26)

ZAP!
Trying to define this album to my good friend was hard. "Well it's Zappa's songs done with an orechestra, but's not really classical sounding . . . it's just Zappa." And my friend just simply nodded and said "Sounds awesome." and i realized that if any reviewer would've just said 'It's Zappa!' it wouldn't take much more to sway me. so - It's Zappa! And it's damn near perfect it's so good! Riveting!!!
A Frank Zappa Treasure. Better than many of his CDs
`The Yellow Shark', with words and music by Frank Zappa is a collection of `chamber music' pieces recorded in 1993 in Germany, performed by a German orchestra, `Ensemble Modern', which, I believe, commissioned Herr Zappa to assemble these pieces for their concerts. In the accompanying booklet, Frank is pictured with a baton in hand, but the credits only have him conducting three pieces, those with a very significant spoken word aspect (all spoken in English). He also makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the CD where he introduces the Ensemble Modern conductor, Peter Rundel.
Great musicians push the envelope
Most successful musicians are good at their particular style; what sets the great ones apart is that they can cross over to different styles successfully. It is really admirable for anyone of Zappa's stature to even want to work outside the box. But FZ pretty much lived outside the box, and this CD is proof. If you have an interest in Zappa's chamber or orchestral compositions (and be advised, this isn't "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" with violin accompaniment; these are real chamber music compositions), this is the one to buy. The London Symphony Orchestra sessions worked fine as compositions, but the recordings are rendered unlistenable by FZ's unfortunate choice of using 40-50 PZM's (pressure zone microphones) on the orchestra. I'm a recording engineer so take it from me: other than for a few very esoteric uses, PZM's take "suck" to a whole new level. The Yellow Shark, in addition to featuring performances by fantastic musicians, is very well recorded indeed. I personally would have been a little happier had they cut out at least some of the generous applause between tracks, which becomes tedious after awhile, but hey, it's a small matter. These are very good musical works by one of America's most gifted composers. The tragedy, of course, is that we can only imagine what he would be writing now if he were still with us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Avant-Garde    2. Avant-Garde Music    3. Classical    4. Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music    5. Experimental    6. Experimental Rock    7. Miscellaneous    8. Miscellaneous Music    9. Modern Composition    10. Orchestral    11. Orchestral Music    12. Pop    13. Rock    14. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (12)

Fabulous CD
Being a classical music connoisseur, I often listen to my local public classical radio station to hear the works of the great composers of old and of today.One day the station played "Colors of the Wind" and announced it was from this CD.I fell in love with it.I am a huge Disney fan who has over 350 Disney songs on my iPod.Pretty much the only music I listen to is either classical or Disney.And having them combined makes this CD euphoria for the ears.
sleeping to Disney
I am really pleased that there is a classical music cd that has only Disney classics so that I can play them for my infant daughter while she sleeps.We are big Disney fans and it's fun to play these instead of the regular classical music.They sound just like the original songs. I would have given 5 stars but I wish they would have had all instrumental music, one of the songs has a choir singing, but it still sound good.

this is a treasure
Disney music is always uplifting.Classical music is beautiful.Combine the two - and you get THIS!"Colors of the Wind" is glorious, followed by the enchanting title track."Beauty and the Beast" is true to the romance of the original."The Second Star to the Right" is magical.Everything is awesome - and flawless.I initially bought this because I love The Main Street Electrical Parade music, and that is definiely a highlight here - but so are ALL the other songs!This is GOOD STUFF!It is so excellent that it can be a very beneficial introduction to classical music - for kids AND adults. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Childrens    2. Christmas    3. Classical    4. Classical Collections-Artist Desc.    5. Electronic/Computer/Tape Music    6. Miscellaneous    7. Miscellaneous Music    8. Miscellaneous Vocal Music    9. Vocal    10. Wedding Music   

Editorial Review

For a composer who is (now) recognizably part of the20th-century classical canon, the French émigré Edgard Varèse's output was astoundingly meager. Just 15 compositions from his entire life (he destroyed the compositions from his early years, and was a merciless editor of his own material in general) made it out to the listening world. Varèse was caught in the chasm between the music of yesterday and the music of tomorrow: scoring music for modified theremin, steamboat whistles, or air sirens, all balanced with the force of a large orchestra; writing pieces based on the flows of water and wind because that's what shapes the earth; using the concepts of chemical reactions and specific gravity as a basis for his music. Using extremes of contrast, dissonance, and variety in sound, Varèse's pieces had power in the way he attacked and shaped the sound he imagined. From Read more

Reviews (17)

Go ahead, test your intelligence...
Frank Zappa used to play Varese to test the intelligence of his friends, and most of them used to look at him like he was "out of his f---ing mind" as he put it.As a major Zappa fan, I bought this compliation, and I love every minute of it.This 2 CD set contains all of Varese's work (needless to say, Edgar wasn't very prolific).You really hear Varese's influence in Zappa's work.Some favorite pieces are Deserts, Poem Electronique, and Un Grand Sommeil Noir (Original Version).Varese's music reminds me of universes being created, in all their violence, beauty, and glory.Instruments crashing down upon one another.This music is reminiscent of Zappa's Weasels Ripped My Flesh and his orchestral work especially.Varese is one of the great American composers, like Aaron Copland, John Cage, and Conlon Nancarrow.Superb....
The definitive recordings.
Riccardo Chailly once said Var�se was going to be the Brahms of the XXI Century. I really don't know if he will be right or wrong, specially because of the very conservative auditoriums we have all around the world, but it should be this way, as the french composer has died too many years ago and his music should be understood but most of the public. It's sad to know that composers, like the own Mahler said, use to be years, decades, even centuries in advance to the general public.
Sound Splitting Music
First, let me state that I am a long-time Varese fanatic. I first heard Ionisation live at a contemporary music concert in my town when I was 12, and I was hooked. I immediately bought the old Robert Craft double album on Columbia and played it until there were scratches on the scratches. So I was overjoyed to see a modern "complete" recording with up to date sonics. For the most part, I haven't been too disappointed with the performances either.