Varèse, Edgard (värĕz`), 1883–1965, French-American composer. In Paris he first studied mathematics and science but became more interested in music. He then studied composition with Roussel and D'Indy at the Schola Cantorum and with Widor at the Conservatory. After composing in Paris and Berlin, he went (1915) to the United States, where he founded (1921) the International Composers' Guild for the advancement of experimental music. A bold innovator whose early works aroused angry protests, Varèse explored entirely new rhythms and sounds in such compositions as Hyperprism (1923); Intégrales (1925), both for wind instruments and percussion; Ionisation (1931), a sonata for percussion instruments and sirens; and Poème Electronique (1958), which was performed at the Brussels Exposition. Varèse achieved highly dissonant effects by using the extreme registers of orchestral instruments in combination with electronically produced sounds. In his later years he completely rejected traditional rhythms, sonorities, and instruments and became a leading proponent of modern electronic music electronic music or electro-acoustic music, term for compositions that utilize the capacities of electronic media for creating and altering sounds.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See biographies by F. Ouellette (tr. 1968) and his wife, Louise (1972); study by J. Bernard (1987).

Varèse, Edgard (-Victor-Achille-Charles)

Edgard Varèse.

(credit: The Bettmann Archive)

(born Dec. 22, 1883, Paris, France—died Nov. 8, 1965, New York, N.Y., U.S.) French-born U.S. composer. Forbidden to study music by his father, he secretly continued his studies and entered the Schola Cantorum with the help of his cousin, the pianist Alfred Cortot (1877–1962). He soon moved to Berlin, where he met Ferruccio Busoni and Richard Strauss, musicians in tune with his forward-looking ideas. His Bourgogne (1907) caused a scandal because of its dissonance. His budding conducting career was interrupted by World War I, and he moved to the U.S. In 1921 he cofounded the International Composers Guild. His output was small, but every piece became a classic, including Offrandes, Amériques (both 1921), Hyperprism, Octandre (both 1923), Arcana (1927), and Ionisation (1931), works remarkable for the way they used instruments, especially percussion, to create blocks of sound. After the early 1950s, when he finally gained access to the electronic sound equipment he desired, he concentrated on electronic music.