Ecuatorial is a secular cantata for bass or male chorus and ensemble by French composer Edgard Varèse. Finished in 1934, it was revised in 1961.
Ecuatorial, written between 1932 and 1934, marked Varèse's first composition to feature both acoustic and electronic instruments.[1] The title comes from the area of land where pre-Columbian art flourished. It was dedicated to Louise Varèse, his wife, and premiered on April 15, 1934, in New York's Town Hall.[2] The premiere was given by bass Chase Baromeo and conductor Nicolas Slonimsky. In 1961, Edgard Varèse revised the composition, making several modifications to the scoring to facilitate its publication. The revised version was published by Colfranc Music Publishing in 1961 and, later, by Casa Ricordi.
This cantata has a total playing time of 11 minutes. It is scored for a solo bass (or male chorus in the revised version) and an atypical ensemble: four trumpets, four trombones, a piano, an organ, two theremins (changed to two ondes Martenot in the revised version), and a large percussion section for six percussionists, consisting of timpani, two snare drums, two tenor drums, three bass drums, two tam-tams, a gong, cymbals, a suspended cymbal, temple blocks, and a tambourine. Even though Leon Theremin designed a special theremin specifically for Varèse, the composer later chose the ondes Martenot, which had become much more popular in France in the 40s and was generally easier for play for keyboard players. These two instruments would allow the composer to use notes as high-pitched as the E7, which is above the piccolo range.
The text used for the bass or male chorus is translated into Spanish by Francisco Ximénez from the original Mayan Kʼicheʼ book Popol Vuh. It was included in Miguel Ángel Asturias's Leyendas de Guatemala, which is where the quotations were extracted from. According to Varèse, the text is part of the invocation of the tribe lost in the mountains, having left the City of Abundance. For this reason, Varèse specifies that a typical performance "should be dramatic and incantatory, guided by the imploring fervor of the text, and should follow the dynamic indications of the score."[3] Varèse also emphasizes the importance of "primitive rude[ness]" when performing Ecuatorial. Varèse explores the contradiction, or rather juxtaposition of opposites, that involves using most primitive instruments, like percussion, together with most advanced instruments, such as the ondes Martenot.