Edgard Varèse, “Poème èlectroniqueâ€, performed by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
“Poème èlectronique†consists of electronic sounds (blips, bleeps, etc.) and conventional instruments or sounds (a church bell, drumming, and the human voice) that are electronically altered.
Again, as with “Ionisationâ€, I can’t hear any real structure in this piece (although some parts sound like call-and-response between the left and right stereo speakers). It has a kind of nice “gee whiz†effect, and I’m sure it had even more of such an effect when it was originally composed. But I’m not sure I’d want to listen to this piece repeatedly (other than the 6 or 8 times I’ve listened to it already). If this is a “poèmeâ€, then it’s definitely in free verse and I’m not sure that it rhymes. This piece reminds me a little of Frank Zappa’s “Pedro’s Dowry†and maybe some of Zappa’s other stuff, but, frankly, I’d rather hear Zappa, because it’s more dense and often has a good beat. I hope I’m not being too critical, but I like “Poème èlectronique†in the same sense that I like the Beatles’ “Revolution 9â€: I’m glad it was recorded and I enjoy listening to it when I’m in the mood for it, but I’m not in the mood for it all that often.