The Complete Works Of Edgard Varese: Vol.1

A 3 disc box set anthology recordings of the compositions of the pioneering twentieth century avant-garde composer Edgard Varese, spanning a period of almost three decades - from the first recording of one of his compositions, the Nicolas Slonimsky conducted Ionisation, in 1933..Igor Stravinsky considered that in the use of percussion and wind instruments Varese was an innovator of the first rank. Like his contemporary, Varese tapped into something that classical composers had been politely sidestepping for centuries: rhythm. The result is an art of extreme individuality; a music singular in its beauty..Our presentation includes all of Robert Craft's celebrated Varese recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and with an ensemble of woodwinds, brass and percussion; originally released as two separate volumes in 1960 and 1962; Leonard Bernstein's performance of Arcana with the New York Philharmonic from 1958, and Frederic Waldman's sessions with the New York Wind Ensemble and Juillard Percussion Orchestra which produced ferocious versions of Integrales, Ionisation and Octandre, released in 1950 as 'Edgard Varese Complete Works Volume 1'.Some of the notoriety of the Waldman sessions derives from the fact that these are the very recordings that introduced Varese to the young Frank Zappa.