This program, first broadcast on November 24, 2013, examines the emergence of music for percussion, focusing on four major composers: Charles Ives, the visionary American master; Darius Milhaud, French innovator who introduced percussion music into European composition; Béla Bartók, Hungarian genius who put percussion on an equal footing with the standard instruments of the modern orchestra; and Edgard Varèse, French-born American revolutionary who developed his own percussion-rich voice and composed the first all-percussion score by any North American or European composer. These works are heard:
CHARLES IVES
Universe Symphony, “Prelude #1: Pulse of the Cosmos” (1915)
DARIUS MILHAUD
Les choéphores, “Présages,” “Exhortation” (1915)
L’homme et son désir (1918)
La mort d’un tyran (1932)
BÉLA BARTÓK
Piano Concerto No. 1, Second Movement (Andante) (1926)
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, First Movement (Assai lento – Allegro molto) (1937)
EDGARD VARÈSE
Hyperprism (1923)
Ionisation (1931)
Link to:
Music: SFCR Radio Shows 2012–2018
For more on percussion music, see:
Music Essay: The Beaten Path: A History of American Percussion Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #19, The Percussion Ensemble
For more on these composers, see:
Music Book: Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music, Second Edition
More Cool Sites To Visit! – Music
For more on Béla Bartók and Charles Ives, see:
Music: SFCR Radio Show #27, 20th-Century Music on the March
For more on Béla Bartók, Charles Ives, and Edgard Varèse, see:
Music Lecture: “Intense Purity of Feeling”: Béla Bartók and American Music
For more on Charles Ives, see:
Music: SFCR Radio Show #16, John J. Becker and the American Five Plus One
For more on Charles Ives and Edgard Varèse, see:
Music Lecture: The Secret of 20th-Century American Music
For more on Edgard Varèse, see:
Music Book: SONIC TRANSPORTS: Glenn Branca Essay, part 9
Music: SFCR Radio Show #29, Electro-Acoustic Music, part 1: New Instruments
Music: SFCR Radio Show #33, Electro-Acoustic Music, part 2: Musicians and Tape
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 