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AASHNA

EDGAR VARESE- AMERIQUES

The composition Ameriques by Edgar Varese is an orchestral composition scored for a romantic orchestra with additional percussion that includes sirens. It plays at a stretch and is a 23 minute long composition that begins slowly and builds in vital power and huge crescendos(increasing) that are similar to works of Igor Stravinsky. The work is known for its fiercely dissonant chords and rhythmically complex polyphonies for percussion and winds. It has become a popular modernist showpiece in the orchestral pool. The work is assembled by placing a number of self-contained blocks against one another. The blocks are marked by texture and timbre with melody and rhythm being much more malleable. Varese uses sirens for structural importance for representing a continuous pitch. It symbolizes “discoveries-new worlds on earth, in the sky, or in the minds of men.” One of the first things that caught my attention while listening to this composition was Edgar’s face as the thumbnail, which when played, almost looks like as if he is staring deep into your soul, reading you, playing with your mind and telling you to focus on him. Here and there at the start of the composition there are instances of a fast, playful type of sound which reminds me of music that used to play in Tom and Jerry. It has a slightly sly, mysterious feel to it, one of those that you would hear in detective movies. The repetition of the music made me think that he was trying to get our attention to it. The sounds similar to that of a police siren at random instances give the feel of a crime scene of criminals being chased by the cops. The playfulness and sudden loud music adds to the mysteriousness like a real life scene. There’s a loud almost drum-like sound at random instances which kept startling me, making me jump. The sudden loud beats in the composition sound almost like the climax scene of a movie. A particular sound which lasted about 2 seconds made me feel like someone was laughing at me, mocking me. The continuous fast music of the violin and trumpets gives it the feel of a dance performance. The last few minutes of the piece are so varying in pitch and loudness, it keeps you busy, listening to it continouously. The repetition of a certain sound in the same time span kept catching my attention. It was as if something was being put an end to. There are loud thuds towards the end of the piece including sounds of a police siren that put a dramatic end to the composition.

STOCKHAUSEN- SONATINE

The sonatine for violin and piano is a chamber-music composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written while he was still a student in 1951. It carries the work-number ⅛ in his catalogue of works. This composition was Stockhausen’s second of two free works that were required for his final examination at the Cologne Conservatory. The piano part of the first movement was originally composed as a separate work titled Praladium and only then was the violin part superimposed. The manuscript of the completed composition is dated 19th March 1951. It was premiered by Wolfgang Marschner, with the composer of the piano, in a broadcast recording transmitted for the first time on 24th August 1951. The first performance of this composition before a live audience happened only 20 years later on 22nd October at a concert of the SMIP in Paris.

The composition with a mixture of fast and slow violin and piano music, following slow only piano bits and then back to both simultaneously. The slow violin tunes gave me the feel of a ballroom atmosphere, with slow dancing in the background. Or maybe that of a ballet performance. It sounds almost like a sad tune, portraying an unfortunate event taking place. The entire duration of me listening to this piece felt as though I was sitting in a hall watching a ballet. There is a pause for about 5 seconds which made me think that the composition was over, turns out it wasn’t and had faster, more rhythmic tunes towards the end of it with dramatic sounds of the piano. Towards the end there are more pauses included which drive your attention towards it because it constantly sounds like the piece should be coming to an end. The end focuses on fast sounds of both the violin and the piano together, ending with the piano, signifying that the composition has ended.