Ionisation (Varèse)
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Ionisation (1929 - 1931) is a musical composition by Edgard Varèse written for thirteen percussionists playing the following instruments:
3 Bass Drums, 2 Side Drums, 2 Snare Drums, Tarole, 2 Bongos, Tambourine, Tambour militaire, crash cymbal, suspended cymbals, 3 tam-tams, gong, 2 anvils, 2 trinagles, sleigh bells, chimes, celesta, piano, Chinese blocks, claves, maracas, castanets, slapstick, guiro, high & low sirens,and a lion's roar.
It was first performed at Carnegie Hall, on March 6, 1933, conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky, to whom the piece was later dedicated. The performance was described by a critic as "a sock in the jaw."
Ionisation features the expansion and variation of rhythmic cells, and the title refers to the ionization of molecules. As the composer later described, "I was not influenced by composers as much as by natural objects and physical phenomena." (Schuller 1965, p.34)
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