Bernard Chasan wrote:

>In a moment of elderly exuberance I bought the complete works of Varese.
>Bad mistake!!  I can conceive of no circumstance when I want to play it
>again.  If yhis marks me as pedestrian or mediocre so be it.  A lot of
>damage is being done and has been done to contemporary music by composers
>who are not particularly interested in listeners.

I'm sorry Bernard didn't enjoy what I consider one of the top releases
of 1998.  For me, Varese is a totally original voice - and some of his
electronic music shows how he was interested in creating a sound world
which is totally different to that inhabited by other composers.  I would
hope that he will give Varese a second chance.

I do feel, however, that the implication that Varese has somehow done a
disservice to contemporary music is misplaced.  His relatively limited
oeuvre shows a variety and inventiveness which is all too lacking in lesser
composers.  And certainly Varese was very concerned about the audience -
take his electronic tape for the Philips stand at the World Exhibition in
Brussels in the fifties.  The sounds "lead" the visitor around the stand
which was, incidentally, designed by another great of this century: Le
Corbusier.

All in all, there is, for me, a richness in Varese which is highly
satisfying.  That Bernard doesn't react to it is regrettable, but no
reason, whatsoever, to mark him down as pedestrian.

Jonathan