Quote:
Originally Posted by HarmanKardon
I hate generalizations. They are not ignorant, they are insane. The French are this and that, the Germans are this and that - but the USA (according to the stubborn Americans) are the greatest beyond reproach.
Once upon a time a young fifteen years old boy went into a record store and noticed a record which seemed to be interesting. The cover presented a man who looked like a "crazy scientist". He wanted to buy the record but it was too expensive. After some negociations with the seller ("I will probably never sell this strange thing") the boy got it for some three dollars. It was his very first record: Edgard , Complete Works Vol.1, EMS 401. He went home and wanted to listen to it instantly in the living room. But Mom was ironing there so he had to move into another room with the record player to listen to the record. "I can tell you folks - I almost peed my pants!" he told later in an interview. This man was Frank Zappa.
Everybody who is familar with the IMHO greatest artist of the 20th century knows what an immense impact this music had on his own musical future. I am grateful that this French composer Edgard Varese triggered once what became later the genius Frank Zappa. France meet USA at it's best.
Picture shows Madame Varèse together with Frank.
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Ah, you must also be a fan of Ensemble Modern! Me too, and "Yellow Shark", perhaps my favorite album of FZ's music.
Also, don't forget Pierre Boulez, another French composer with "Zappa connections".
John