Which musical, written by a French-born composer, is written for thirteen percussionists?
Ionisation (Varèse) Ionisation (1929–1931) is a musical composition by Edgard Varèse written for thirteen percussionists. It was among the first concert hall compositions for percussion ensemble alone, although Alexander Tcherepnin had composed an entire movement for percussion alone in his Symphony No. 1 from 1927. The premiere was at Carnegie Chapter Hall, an annex to New York City's Carnegie Hall, on March 6, 1933, conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky, to whom the piece was later dedicated. One critic described the performance as "a sock in the jaw."
Edmond Dédé Edmond Dédé (November 27, 1827, New Orleans, Louisiana – January 5, 1901, Paris, France) was a free-born Creole musician and composer. He moved to Europe to study in Paris in 1855 and settled in France. His compositions include "Quasimodo Symphony", "Le Palmier Overture", "Le Serment de L'Arabe" and "Patriotisme". For more than forty years, he worked as assistant conductor at the Grand Théâtre and subsequently as conductor as the orchestras at the Théâtre l'Alcazar and the Folies bordelaises in Bordeaux.