A Musical Tribute to Edgar Varèse, April 17, 1981

In the archives world, sometimes the least expected finds are somehow the most rewarding. The satisfaction of unearthing a rare gem derives not from the serendipity (or luck) of it all, but rather from the feeling of having been working in your field long enough to have earned the reward –much like gold prospecting.

So it was in 2012, while transferring audio for Q2 Music’s collaboration with Carnegie Hall, American Mavericks. One of the requested items, stored in an offsite vault in New Jersey, was a set of three open reel tapes in boxes which were scarcely labeled as "Varèse 4/17/81." After a quick turn in the oven (the tapes are of an era and type which require this special treatment), we put the tapes on the reel-to-reel machines.

But wait: this crowd noise…this reaction… this sound… surely this was not a concert of classical music –much less of music by the notorious enfant terrible of the avant-garde, Edgard Varèse? Had a rock concert recording somehow been placed in the wrong tape box?

Further research was necessary. Was this… could this be… the legendary 1981 tribute to Varèse at New York City’s Palladium? The concert famously hosted by Frank Zappa (a longtime Varèse fanatic) and performed by Joel Thome’s Orchestra of Our Time, bootlegs of which had been circulating for decades?

Indeed it was: a complete, pristine recording of a remarkable show that has not been forgotten by those who participated or attended –a “curious but appropriate meeting of music and milieu,” as the New York Times put it (mildly). When else has there been a concert of decidedly uncompromising music been performed in a 3000-seat rock venue for an enthusiastic, young audience?

• Revering Varèse

It is unclear how or why these tapes were recorded, but we are thrilled to present this concert in full. If you were at that concert, tell us about it in the comments section.

PLEASE NOTE: There are several obscenities uttered in this recording.

The program:

Ionisation, for percussion ensemble
Density 21.5, for solo flute
Intégrales, for Small Orchestra
Offrandes, for soprano and chamber orchestra
Déserts, for 15 Instruments. Percussion and Magnetic Tape of Electronically Organized Sounds

BONUS: Listen to John Schaefer and Joel Thome speak about Zappa and the concert in 1993.