V

Varèse, Edgar

Varèse, Edgar 

Orchestral and large ensemble

• Amériques, orch, ?1918-1921

• Arcana, orch, 1925-7

• Déserts, 14 wind, pf, 5 perc, 2-track tape, ?1950-54

• Nocturnal (from A. Nin: The House of Incest, meaningless syllables by Varèse), S, B chorus, small orch, 1961, inc

Vocal music

• Un grand sommeil noir (P. Verlaine), lv, pf (1906) 

• Offrandes, S, small orch, 1921: Chanson de là-haut (V. Huidobro), La croix du sud (J.J. Tablada);

• Ecuatorial (prayer from Popol Vuh of Maya Quiché, trans. Father Jimines), B (solo/unison chorus), 8 brass, pf, org, 2 ondes martenots, 6 perc, 1932-4

• Etude pour Espace, chorus, 2 pf, perc, 1947

Chamber music

• Hyperprism, 9 wind, 7 perc, 1922-3

• Octandre, fl + pic, cl + E cl, ob, bn, hn, tpt, trbn, db, 1923

• Intégrales, 11 wind, 4 perc, 1924-5

• Ionisation, 13 perc, 1929-31

• Déserts, 14 wind, pf, 5 perc, 2-track tape, ?1950-54

Solo instrumental

• Density 21·5, fl, 1936

Electo-acoustic music

• Ecuatorial (prayer from Popol Vuh of Maya Quiché, trans. Father Jimines), B (solo/unison chorus), 8 brass, pf, org, 2 ondes martenots, 6 perc, 1932-4

• Déserts, 14 wind, pf, 5 perc, 2-track tape, ?1950-54

• Poème électronique, 3-track tape, 1957-8; Philips Pavilion, Brussels Exposition, 2 May 1958

Other works

• La procession de Vergès (tape for film Around and About Joan Mirò, dir. T. Bouchard), 1955

Unfinished projects

• The One-All-Alone (stage work, L. Varèse), 1927 

• L'astronome (stage work, writers involved at various times incl. A. Artaud, P. Carpentier, J. Desnos, Giono), 1928-9 [for scenario by Varèse see Ouellette] 

• Espace (A. Malraux involved 1937), chorus, orch, 1929-c1940 [for scenario by Varèse] 
  Metal, S, orch, 1932 

• Dans la nuit (Michaux), chorus, 15 brass, org, 2 ondes martenot, perc, 1955-61 

• Nocturnal II (Nuit) (from Nin: The House of Incest), S, fl, ob, cl, 1/2 tpt, 2 trbn, perc, db, 1961-5 
  

Lost works

• Martin Pas (op, Varèse, after J. Verne), boys' vv, mand, c1895 

• Works of c1905-5: 

  • Apothéose de l'océan, sym. poem; 

  • Chanson des jeunes hommes, orch; Colloque au bord de la fontaine; 

  • Dans le parc; 

  • Poème des brumes; 

  • Prélude à la fin d'un jour, after L. Deubel, orch; 

  • Souvenir (Deubel); 3 Pieces, orch; 

  • 2 rhythmic prose pieces (Deubel) 

  • Rhapsodie romane, orch, 1905-6; pf version perf. Paris, 1906 

  • Bourgogne, sym. poem, 1908;Bluthner Orchestra, cond. Stransky, Berlin, Bluthner Hall, 15 Dec 1910; destroyed by Varèse, c1962 

  • Gargantua, sym. poem, inc. 

  • Mehr Licht, orch, 1911; preworked as Les cycles du nord, orch, 1912 

  • Oedipus und die Sphinx (op, H. von Hofmannsthal), 1909-13 

Principal publishers

• Colfranc/Ricordi