![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Slonimsky_dirigeant_Ionisation.jpg/640px-Slonimsky_dirigeant_Ionisation.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Ionisation (Varèse)
Musical composition by Edgard Varèse / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ionisation (Varèse)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Ionisation (1929–1931) is a musical composition by Edgard Varèse written for thirteen percussionists. It was among the first concert hall compositions for percussion ensemble alone, although Alexander Tcherepnin had composed an entire movement for percussion alone in his Symphony No. 1 from 1927.[1] In the journal Tempo, percussionist Brian Holder writes, "The work presented the important notion that unpitched percussion (with piano and other pitched instruments coming in at the end) could stand alone as a serious form of concert music – a relatively unexplored concept at the time."[2]
Ionisation | |
---|---|
by Edgard Varèse | |
![]() Nicolas Slonimsky conducting Ionisation in Havana | |
Composed | 1929–1931 |
Duration | About 6 minutes |
Scoring | Percussion ensemble |
Premiere | |
Date | March 6, 1933 (1933-03-06) |
Location | Carnegie Chapter Hall |
Conductor | Nicolas Slonimsky |
Audio sample | |
A 30-second sample from Ionisation | |
The premiere was at Carnegie Chapter Hall, an annex to New York City's Carnegie Hall, on March 6, 1933, conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky, to whom the piece was later dedicated. One critic described the performance as "a sock in the jaw".[3]