Dance for Burgess
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| Dance for Burgess | |
|---|---|
| by Edgard Varèse | |
| Genre | Orchestral |
| Form | Dance |
| Commissioned by | Burgess Meredith |
| Composed | 1949 |
| Performed | 1950 |
| Published | 1998 (Chou Wen-chung's completion) |
| Movements | 1 |
| Scoring | Chamber orchestra and percussion |
| Completed by Chou Wen-Chung | |
Dance for Burgess is a lesser-known composition for chamber orchestra and percussion written by French composer Edgard Varèse. Composed for choreographer and dancer Burgess Meredith, it was completed in 1949, but was not published until 1998.
Dance for Burgess is largely based on a short study entitled Étude pour Espace, which was, in turn, part of Espace, a large-scale yet unrealized project that began in 1932. In 1947, however, after a public performance of a reduction for two pianos of the Étude, Varèse decided to discard the project altogether and focus on a new idea, which would later become Déserts and would include much of the unused material from Espace.[1][2] He then came in contact with Burgess Meredith and proposed an idea of making a short film with sound and images based on Déserts. Even though this project would also never get off the ground, Meredith commissioned a different small piece for the musical Happy as Larry, which he was set to direct and act in.[1] The piece, which would later be called Dance for Burgess, was meant to be an unconventional dance to be played in the musical. The musical closed down immediately after the first performance due to poor reception by critics and audiences on January 6, 1950, which led Varèse not to attempt to get the piece published or performed again.[1][2][3]
The writing process of the Dance was done really hastily, as Varèse was pressed for time. Collaborator Chou Wen-chung wrote the original manuscript, which was copied from Varèse's own drafts and with very little revision. The score, completed and reproduced on December 9, 1949, was finished only two weeks and a half before the preview, which took place on December 27, in New York City.[4] A total of three black-and-white copies of the original manuscript still remain, only one of them bearing Varèse's own handwriting (the other two being Wen-chung's).[1][2]
It wasn't until 1998 that Wen-chung decided to publish an edited version of a series of works by Varèse, among which was the Dance. This composition, as well as other Varèse works republished in 1998, were all commissioned jointly by Casa Ricordi, the Decca Record Company, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The score included a series of revisions incorporated from the corrections and additions in the original manuscripts. It was published by Casa Ricordi in 1998 and republished in 2002.[1][2]
