Varèse's Amériques

This piece definitely has elements of the more contemporary pieces studied so far, such as a hard to detect tonal center (if one even exists?) and uneven rhythms, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear more than expected similarities to turn-of-the-century works. It has some ideas in common with Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring, such as bold use of the timpani, dark harmonies and big contrasts in dynamics. In contrast to Varèse's later, more electronic focused works, Amériques also uses a traditional if oversized orchestral setup, with an especially large percussion section. There is more than an element of melody in this work, which I find is often missing from newer works of a similar nature. It came as no surprise to me when reading that Varèse had attended the premiere of Rite Of Spring, as I feel I can hear an influence.

The purpose of Amériques is to recreate the sounds of a busy city, specifically New York. This is something undertaken by Steve Reich decades later for his piece City Life, composed in 1995. In that piece, Reich uses prerecorded sounds of car horns, car alarms, subway chimes, pneumatic drills, boat horns and sirens. From what I can gather from a little research into Varèse, at the time of writing Amériques he was already envisioning the possibilities of the electronic medium, but technology had yet to catch up to his vision. If the technology had have been there, I've no doubt that his piece may have sounded very much like Reich's.

Varèse used what he had at the time, which was a traditional orchestra, and as well as expanding it's size, also implemented some other more seldom used instruments and devices, such as lion's roar, crow call, whip, sleigh bells and wind machine. I enjoyed listening out for these unusual instruments and trying to identify them.

I think this piece actually fits quite well into the Concise Oxford Dictionary's definition of music. Although I wasn't able to identify the form after such a short listening time, I did feel there was some kind of form and structure in place as it didn't feel as disorganised as some more modern works I have listened to. There is also expression of emotion; the piece to me feels like there is a transition from somber to furious in a gradual crescendo. In conclusion, I believe the dictionary definition (and my own from part one) fits Amériques just fine.