Customer Reviews

Edgard Varese

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The English-speaking music world has been waiting for a comprehensive biography of musical maverick Edgard Varese for nearly a century. Varese is probably the only important contemporary composer who has never been the recipient of scholarly attention. So imagine my delight when I picked up this book on a recent trip to St. Louis. Finally, the English biography of the elusive composer that I'd been waiting for! Unfortunately, after reading the book, I'm still waiting for a good book on the composer.

This book, written by rock biographer Alan Clayson, is the single worst musical biography I've ever read. Clayson is better known for his tomes on the Beatles, including the popular Backbeat, which told the story of the Beatles' early years in Germany. Unfortunately, he brings the same gossipy qualities and rock-magazine journalist prose to this enterprise and the results are really poor. The facts of Varese's life are basically not very exciting. Like most composers, Varese's profession was solitary and, in his case, marked by extended periods of inaction. Clayson is reduced to creating imaginative scenes and undocumented reactions in an effort to "spice" up the biographical skeleton. He also injects his own opinions into the narrative liberally, ascribing to Varese contempt for more popular composers like Copland that is not bourn out by the facts. And he reserves a chapter and a half for Frank Zappa, a figure that, though he was indeed a great proponent of the composer, never met the man.

All of this would be merely annoying but could be justified if Clayson had anything of interest to say about Varese's compositions. After all, the most interesting thing about a composer is always the music. But Clayson is mind-numbingly braindead when it comes to speaking about music. There is no analysis of the works in question. Rather, Clayson is given to speaking in purple prose about his dubious impressions of the compositions. Ameriques in particular is subjected to ridiculous treatment, as Clayson blathers on about "the otherworldly deliberation of a dream's slow motion in its paranormal and fragmented mindscapes of frontier forts and wide white spaces on a map of emptiness." Often, Clayson seems proud of his musical ignorance, as he ridicules theorists subjecting works like Density 21.5 to analysis, as if the desire to study a seminal modern score is somehow base.

The shame of it is that Varese is a composer that is endlessly fascinating, even given his very small surviving output. No follower of the "isms" of the 20th century, Varese made his own way, and indeed proved prophetic. He was an early and enthusiastic pioneer in electronic music and predicted the day when performers would be replaced by machines capable of directly communicating a composer's thought to an audience, something that, for better or worse, is increasingly common in these days of MIDI. And his attitude toward music as organized sound has had wide-ranging influence in the world of 20th century composition and even experimental rock. All of this is makes the composer a fruitful subject for a comprehensive biography. Someday, someone with ability will attempt the biography I've been waiting for. Until that day, Clayson's book is all we've got. My suggestion is to be patient and don't waste your money on this drivel.

Varese urgently deserves a decent and independent biography and an approachable analysis of his musical works.

Clayson is not up to either task. This book is poorly written, full of historical inaccuracies and/or misunderstandings, and devoid of any substantial musical analysis.

I truly regret having spent money on this.

Edgard Varese was one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, but somehow no English-language biography of this titan was ever published, until now. I have been awaiting this publishing event for more than 25 years. That this book fills such a major void accounts for most of the 3 stars I gave it. Alan Clawson is generally known as a rock historian, and his style is probably better suited to that. He gives us the details of Varese's life as well as some glimpses of the private man, and does a decent enough job of it. There is also adequate description of Varese's too-infrequent published compositions. But he refers to himself much too often for the biography of a man he never met - and mostly of the "Yeah, I remember listening to the Beatles on my car radio" variety, transferred onto the avant-garde composer. And such flippant words and phrases as "kinda", "feller", and "Oh, Gawd" serve as a jarring distraction from the subject and call still more unneeded attention to the author. There is also a chapter and a half devoted to Frank Zappa, an admirer of Varese. Nothing wrong with that per se, I guess, but I fail to see how Zappa's arrest on a morals charge falls within the scope of this book. There is virtually nothing on how Varese's influence can be heard in Zappa's music. If you like Varese and have wanted to learn more about him, go ahead and get the book. But if you've waited a quarter-century as I have, you may not find it entirely worth the wait.

Alan Clayson's book on Varèse's life is written in a ludicrously chatty style that owes a lot to bad rock criticism. He is not a real biographer and is simply not worthy of his brilliant subject; it's unfortunate that this is all we have for a Varèse biography in English. The book also scarcely seems to have been proofread or edited at all. However, I don't feel I totally wasted my time by reading the book; it's a useful overview of the important events in Varèse's long, unique career, even if it provides precious little useful insight into his character or musical innovations.

Varese was a genius -- far ahead of his time. One would think that his life and work would have inspired the author of this paltry tome. Alas, no. It is shelved in my library, never to be read again.

The English-speaking music world has been waiting for a comprehensive biography of musical maverick Edgard Varese for nearly a century. Varese is probably the only important contemporary composer who has never been the recipient of scholarly attention. So imagine my delight when I picked up this book on a recent trip to St. Louis. Finally, the English biography of the elusive composer that I'd been waiting for! Unfortunately, after reading the book, I'm no longer waiting for a good book on the composer.

This book, written by rock biographer Alan Clayson, is the single best musical biography I've ever read. Clayson is better known for his tomes on the Beatles, including the popular Backbeat, which told the story of the Beatles' early years in Germany. Fortunately, he brings the same gossipy qualities and rock-magazine journalist prose to this enterprise and the results are really great. The facts of Varese's life are basically very exciting, although, like most composers, Varese's profession was solitary and, in his case, marked by extended periods of inaction. Clayson adds to this by creating imaginative scenes and undocumented reactions in a successful effort to "spice" up the biographical skeleton. He also injects his own opinions into the narrative liberally, ascribing to Varese contempt for more popular composers like Copland that is bourn out by the facts. And he reserves a chapter and a half for Frank Zappa, a figure that was indeed a great proponent of the composer.

All of this would be merely intriguing but is further justified by Clayson's interesting opinions about Varese's compositions. After all, the most interesting thing about a composer is always the music. And Clayson is scintillatingly intelligent when it comes to speaking about music. There is much analysis of the works in question. Clayson is also given to speaking poetically about his impressions of the compositions. Ameriques in particular is subjected to thought-provoking treatment, as Clayson reveals "the otherworldly deliberation of a dream's slow motion in its paranormal and fragmented mindscapes of frontier forts and wide white spaces on a map of emptiness." Often, Clayson seems modest about his musical knowledge, as he questions theorists subjecting works like Density 21.5 to analysis, as if the desire to study a seminal modern score is somehow base.

The beauty of it is that Varese is a composer that is endlessly fascinating, even given his very small surviving output. No follower of the "isms" of the 20th century, Varese made his own way, and indeed proved prophetic. He was an early and enthusiastic pioneer in electronic music and predicted the day when performers would be replaced by machines capable of directly communicating a composer's thought to an audience, something that, for better or worse, is increasingly common in these days of MIDI. And his attitude toward music as organized sound has had wide-ranging influence in the world of 20th century composition and even experimental rock. All of this is makes the composer a fruitful subject for a comprehensive biography. Someday, someone with less ability will attempt the biography I am no longer waiting for. Let's hope that day will never come - because Clayson's book is everything. My suggestion is to cast aside hesitation and buy this magnificent tome immediately.

Composer's lives are not ALL they are cracked up to be,most live in squalor,neglect and un-recognition most of their lives, the ones that begin by winning prizes are easily corruptible and will prostitute their art if the $$$ is right.We have numerous "composer-hookers" around,no need to worry, great abundances, but knowing some minutae, (mine U-Shah)on a composer's boring uneventful life may serve to shed light on his primary works. In that Varese sought a truth, truth of sound or timbre of construction unpretenciously in his aesthetic, one that should conform with the burgeoning vigours of the modern, the metropolis, flat surfaces, and electronic imports into music, all point toward a fascinating subject.

There is no doubt on Varese's influence WAS, in the PAST tense, I do not know what his influence may be right now, Composers of any philosophic stripe seem to be drawn to the power of his music, the unrelenting-ness of it, the innovative experimental side, all things quickly forgotten, and now with the "comfort zone" of years, Varese is fairly a safe predictable subject.When he began all his works he was largely ignored and thought insignificant, inconsequential. In retrospect we can glibly see all this now, everyone knows everything about everybody, there are no more mysteries or paradigms in the Neo-Liberal order colonizing the hearts and minds of today's populace.

Writing about all this has indeed become problematic for if you do not have an academic perspective of analysis pummeling a work into the ground, tracing evolutions,differences, continuities, paradigms, dead-ends, densities, and complexities what's left??. Pure writing and that's where Clayson falls here, an aspect overlooked by those who find nothing of inherent value herein.
The revolution is over, Mickey Mouse and Bill Gates won it, so the vigours of modernity is merely now today something to be practiced,and thought about,Creators are isolated, marginalized,censored through neglect( like Spinoza who ground Lens for a supportive means)while his philosophic visions were largely ignored in his time ,Varese had always more ideas than he could practically realize,so he was fortunate to hear his primary works during his lifetime largely with gifted conductors as Ralph Shapey.
Clayson's work here is not academic by any means but remains a good read.We need more literary excursions on music;You will never be invited to a seminar of the American Musicological Society to present it, but who cares? all we want is our writers to satisfy the "knowledge" card bringing "16 Wheeler" Tone-Pitch analysis and technical detail to their work, this is their one productive value that makes them part of the working class I suppose,"knowledge (You read Lacan's "Four Discourses") so when it is missing or avoided because others have so vigourously covered the subject we find fault.
Poor Mr. Clayson doesn't get no Respect ! !. Any interest generated in Varese I think is a positive move,He changed contemporary expression in music and ingluenced a generation of composers; good writing is good reading, and Who knows perhaps there is an aspect of Varese work you would never have thought of unless you read Clayson's plagued error-prone account here. READ, Thinkers READ. . .