aworks :: "new" american classical music

Intégrales (1925). Edgard Varèse

uTopianTurtleTop enthuses about the music of Varèse:

Not dramatic or angsty like Schoenberg, not showy and splendid like Stravinsky, no echoes of pop or folk music as in much of Ives -- "Integrales" slabs the sound up straight.

I even like the Boulez recording.

Amériques (1926). Edgar Varèse

In the middle of a year-end recap of the worst of classical music for 2003 in the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini likes how Lorin Maazel challenged the New York Philharmonic audience by playing Amériques by Edgar Varèse. "...it was just one hell of a din. It was really terrific." The concert was complete with some patrons walking out during the performance.
The critic Norman Lebrecht says "the 22-minute monstrosity conveys something of the noisy energy of a new society."
Music Mavericks has a full Real recording.