Sounds of New Music

Various Artists FW06160 / FX 6160

Sounds of New Music is a collection of 18 compositions from the 1920s to the mid-1950s representing attempts at a "new means of musical expression." Some use familiar instruments in new ways, while others experiment with new instruments; the formats of the compositions range from structured musical scores written for orchestra to electronically altered music using tape-recording devices. Composers include Edgard Varèse, Henry Cowell, and John Cage, whose "Dance" is played on a transformed Steinway piano that gives the music an almost primitive quality. Liner notes describing the new music feature a substantial article on Concrete Music.