Music and Time Annotation << Back Role of Percussion Instruments in E. Varese`s Compositions M.S. Krivitskiy The article focuses on the role of percussion instruments in the works of the French-American composer of the first half of the twentieth century E. Varese. The article provides a brief overview of the history of percussion as an independent orchestral group. In the Baroque and Classical era percussion instruments did not fit into the clear, balanced orchestra system, based on natural tone scale. They were perceived just as useless noise, violating harmony. But already in the XIX century there were attempts to expand the function of percussion instruments. Those attempts were fully realized only in the XX century. The methodology of this article is based on analyzing the key parameters of Varese’s compositions – rhythm, timbre and texture. «Ionisation» is the central subject of the article. It is the most famous work of Edgard Varese, written for percussion instruments only. The article discusses the compositional structure, thematic development and remarkable achievements in the areas of rhythm, timbre and texture. The purpose of this article is to acquaint readers with the less-studied and less-known by Russian musicology composer, who largely forestalled some of the trends in twentieth century music (such as heavy use of percussion instruments, rhythmic and timbral experiments). Keywords: Edgar Varèse, France, America, percussion instruments, «Ionisation», orchestra, rhythm, timbre, texture. Contacts: E-mail: krivitsky-m@yandex.ru Pp. 25-30.