PRODUCER'S NOTE
For many composers of the second half of the twentieth century Edgard Varèse was, and is, if not a starting point, at least a liberator. His sonic sculptures have inspired a whole range of musicians, from the most avant garde classical composers to the pop icon Frank Zappa.
The starting point for this venture was a recording of Arcana which Riccardo Chailly made with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1992. Chailly's fascination with Varèse's music was long standing, and he appreciated that at their core these were passionate works with elemental emotions built into their very structure. This fascination took a further step through his association with the ASKO Ensemble (who have long championed Varèse) when he included Déserts in one of his concerts with them. But the spur for the idea of these recordings came when he programmed Amériques in his 1996 97 season and at the same time proposed to make a whole disc devoted to Varèse's music. In December 1995 Chailly and I went to record with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the orchestra that gave the first performance of Amériques in 1925 under Leopold Stokowski. Knowing only the later revised version, we were interested to know if anything of the original version existed in the orchestra's archives or in Stokowski's archive at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and whether it would be suitable or available for performance. Sadly there was nothing, but I proceeded with an arrangement to meet the Varèse expert, Professor Chou Wen chung, in New York.
Professor Chou was a close friend and collaborator of Varèse from the late 1940s till Varèse's death, and, as I am a Varèse devotee myself, this meeting was the first of many absorbing hours spent in discussion with him as our project progressed. This initial meeting ranged widely over Varèse's published and unpublished output and the problems and opportunities that the proposed project offered. Towards the end of it Professor Chou took me into Varèse's old workroom where Chou himself now works on his own compositions. Here he showed me the original manuscript of Amériques and the unpublished sketches of Tuning Up. The revelation of the great sonic and textual differences between the original version of Amériques and the revised version convinced me that we should record only the original. Similarly, reviewing the sketches of Tuning Up gave me an even stronger realisation that the basis of our project must be to make as complete a survey of Varèse's output as possible, including both published and unpublished works. Professor Chou became a willing participant in these ideas and proposals, even though giving his help would cut down the time available for his own compositions and his many other activities.
Specifically for this project, Professor Chou has provided us with a performing version of the original version of Amériques based on the composer's own manuscript, reconstructed and edited the sketches of Tuning Up, revived the score for Dance for Burgess and provided us with corrections to the published score of Ecuatorial. Other than these editorial duties, further thanks must go to him for his help and advice throughout the project and for his provision of much material for the booklet. We have included Varèse's tapes of 'organised sound' and the early song Un grand sommeil noir both in its original version for voice and piano, and in a transcription by Antony Beaumont for large orchestra, commissioned by Riccardo Chailly – a homage to Varèse's early music which has not survived.
In addition to the great textual care taken over the scores themselves, both the ASKO Ensemble and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as investing the project with their virtuosity and musicianship, took great care (with Maestro Chailly's encouragement) in researching the type of sound Varèse was searching for from the percussion instruments   the sound world which forms the foundation of so much of his music.
Through the support of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the ASKO Ensemble and Casa Ricordi, the work of Professor Chou Wen chung and, above all, the immense personal commitment of Riccardo Chailly, we are able to present this unique overview of the work of a unique composer.

Andrew Cornall