VARESE, Edgard
b Paris, 22 December 1885
d New York, 6 November 1965, aged seventy-nine

He studied mathematics and natural history at the École Polytechnique, but at the age of nineteen decided on a musical career against his father's wishes. He went to the Schola Cantorum from 1904 to 1906 and entered the Paris Conservatory in 1907. From 1909 to 1914 he lived in Berlin, where he became friends with Busoni. He was guest conductor for the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in 1914, then returned to France and went into the Army, from which he was discharged after an illness in 1915. He went to America in 1916 and stayed there the rest of his life

 

1905 onwards (works lost or destroyed)

La Chanson des jeunes hommes

Le Prélude a la fin d'un jour

Rhapsodie romance

Bourgoyne

Gargantua

Mehr Licht

Les Cycles du Nord

Oedipus and the Sphynx, opera

1921 (36)

Offrandes, for soprano, chorus and orchestra

1923 (38)

Hyperprism, for small orchestra and percussion

Octandre, for small orchestra and percussion

Intégrales, for chamber orchestra and percussion

1926 (41)

Amériques, for orchestra

1927 (42)

Arcana, for orchestra

1931 (46)

Ionisation, for forty-one percussion and two sirens

1932 (47)

Metal (unfinished or lost)

1936 (51)

Density 21.5, for flute solo

1937 (52)

Espace, for orchestra

1943 (58)

Ecuatorial, for bass voice and orchestra

1947 (62)

Etude pour espace, for two pianos and percussion

1953-4 (68-9)

Déserts, for orchestra

1955-6 (70-1)

Good Friday Procession in Verges, electronic composition for film

1957-8 (72-3)

Poeme electronique

1961 (76)

Nocturnal, for soprano and orchestra