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A stunner of dramatic orchestrations from the earlyish part of the past millenium – bookended by a couple of the most mindblowingly influential pieces from the great Edgard Varese in the late 20s & early 30s – plus exceptional orchestrations by Carlos Chavez, Silvestre Revueltas, Oliver Messaen and Lou Harrison. The compilation opens with Varese's triumphant 17+ minute, dramatic and exciting "Arcana" from 1927, conducted by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and closes with his Varese's revelatory "Ionisation", conducted by Paul Price with the American Percussion society, opening with a cry as chilling as an emergency siren, and full of riveting percussion. Other pieces in this packed compilation of pioneering compositions is Carlos Chavez's "Toccata For Percussion" from 1942, "Sensemaya" by Silverstre Revueltas from 1937, Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus" from '44, plus his "Preludes For Piano" from the late 20s, and Lou Harrison's "Canticle No 3" from 1942.