Hyperprism (Varèse)

Edgard Varèse, 1915

Hyperprism is a work for wind, brass, and percussion instruments by Edgard Varèse, composed in 1922 and revised in 1923.

Background

The work was first performed at an International Composers' Guild concert during their second series at the Klaw Theatre on March 4, 1923. The audience laughed throughout the performance and hissed during the ovation.^[1] Someone, perhaps Carlos Salzedo, got on the stage and urged the audience to take the work seriously. It was repeated to no better effect on the crowd. There was one report of a fistfight between two men who were exiting the hall.^[2]

"It remained for Edgard Varese (to whom all honor) to shatter the calm of a Sabbath night, to cause peaceful lovers of music to scream out their agony, to arouse angry emotions and tempt men to retire to the back of the theater and perform tympani concertos on each other's faces." (William James Henderson)^[2]

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet in E♭, 3 horns, 2 trumpets in C, tenor and bass trombones, and percussion. The percussion parts call for snare drum, Indian drum, bass drum, tambourine, Chinese cymbal, 2 cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, anvil, slapstick, 2 Chinese blocks (high and low), lion's roar, rattle, big rattle, sleigh bells, and siren.

References

1. "Taxi Toots Sound Sweet After Music By Composers Guild: Many Hisses Greet Conclusion of 'Hyperprism'; Dissenters Told to Leave and Piece Is Played Over Again", New York Tribune, March 5, 1923.
2. Lott, R. Allen (1983). ""New Music for New Ears": The International Composers' Guild". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 36 (2): 266–286. doi:10.2307/831066. ISSN 0003-0139. JSTOR 831066.