| Arcana | |
|---|---|
| by Edgard Varèse | |
 Edgard Varèse | |
| Catalogue | IEV 2 |
| Period | Contemporary music |
| Form | Symphonic poem |
| Composed | 1927 (rev. 1932) |
| Performed | 8 April 1927 (1927-04-08): Academy of Music (Philadelphia) |
| Published | 1931 (rev. version 1964) |
| Publisher | Max Eschig Colfranc Ricordi |
| Duration | 16 minutes |
| Scoring | Orchestra |
Arcana is a symphonic poem for large orchestra by French composer Edgard Varèse. It was composed between 1925 and 1927, with a later revision in 1931–32.
Background
As stated in letters to his wife, Louise Varèse, in New York, Varèse first conceived a few motifs that would later be used in Arcana in a dream on 9 October 1925, while on a visit to Île Saint-Louis. He originally intended for it to be ready for early 1926, as Leopold Stokowski was ready to include it in a program at Carnegie Hall. However, the complicated musical language used in Arcana forced him to postpone its premiere, until Stokowski conducted it with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 8 April 1927 at the Academy of Music (Philadelphia).
As explained in his letter, the title 'arcana' refers to the mysteries of alchemy and a quote from Paracelsus's Hermetic Astronomy. Varèse explored the realm of dreams with the musical language present in Arcana, since he believed that the birth of art came from the unconscious and not from reason. The score is preceded by the following text, in Latin, English, and French:
One star exists, higher than all the rest. This is the apocalyptic star. The second star is that of the ascendant. The third star is that of the elements—of these there are four, so that six stars are established. Besides these there is still another star, imagination, which begets a new star and a new heaven.
— Paracelsus
The 1927 score was published by Max Eschig in 1931. On the occasion of the French premiere, Varèse revised the piece again in 1932. The revised version was premiered by Nicolas Slonimsky on 25 February 1932, in Paris. In 1964, one year before Varèse's death, the revised version was published by Colfranc. It has been available under Ricordi since the year 2000.
Structure
Often described as a passacaglia, Arcana is a sixteen-minute symphonic poem in one movement scored for a large orchestra. It is scored for three piccolos, two flutes, three oboes, one English horn, one heckelphone, two clarinets in E-flat, two clarinets in B-flat, one contrabass clarinet, three bassoons, two contrabassoons, eight horns in F, five trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone, one contrabass trombone, one tuba, one contrabass tuba, sixteen first violins, sixteen second violins, fourteen violas, twelve cellos, ten double basses, one timpanist with six pedal timpani and six additional percussionists.
The percussion scoring is particularly large, as in most other pieces for orchestra by Varèse.
| Percussionist | Instruments |
|---|---|
| I | medium-sized gong, Chinese cymbal (or a crash cymbal), high tam-tam, bass drum, triangle |
| II | low tam-tam, slapstick, bass drum, triangle, tambourine |
| III | snare drum, guiro, triangle, two Chinese blocks (high and low with drum sticks) |
| IV | side drum, tambourine, suspended cymbal (with drum sticks) |
| V | cymbals, string drum (also called a lion's roar, a single-headed drum with a piece of heavy twine attached to the center of the membrane), and two coconuts (hollow cylinders of wood, 2 inches in height and 2½ in diameter, covered at one end, one in each hand, to be played by striking the open ends of the instruments against a wooden board covered with felt) |
| VI | xylophone, glockenspiel, two Chinese blocks (high and low with metal sticks), a rattle, a tambourine, a guiro, cymbals, a triangle, and three bells |
Some percussionists are required to trade places along the piece to play specific instruments from other performers.
References
- ^ Tual, François-Gildas. "Edgard Varèse: Arcana, performed by the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Pascal Rophé". France Musique. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- Bernard, Jonathan W. (13 November 1992). "Edgard Varése's Arcana". American Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Arcana, Edgard Varèse" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM.
- Quinn, Peter. "Varèse: Orchestral Works, vol. 1 – Arcana / Offrandes / Intégrales / Déserts". naxos.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2020. (album details at Naxos)
- Mancini, Donato. Arcana, for orchestra at AllMusic
- ^ Varèse, Edgard (2010). Arcana (for orchestra – full score – 135311). Ricordi. pp. III–V. ISMN 9790041353111. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
External links
- Arcana: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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