S9.com / Biographies /
1883 - Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, born on the 22nd of December in in Paris, but after only a few weeks was sent to be raised by his great-uncle's family in the small town of Villars in Burgundy. He was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the USA.
1893 - He was forced to relocate to Turin, Italy. It was here that he had his first real musical lessons, with the long-time director of Turin's conservatory, Giovanni Bolzoni.
1904 - He was a student at the Schola Cantorum (founded by pupils of César Franck), where his teachers included Albert Roussel; afterwards he went to study composition with Charles Widor at the Paris Conservatoire.
1905 - He composed a number of ambitious orchestral works, but these were only performed by Varèse in piano transcriptions, such as his Rhapsodie romane.
1907 - He moved to Berlin and in the same year married the actress Suzanne Bing. They had one child, a daughter.
1910 - His first performance of his symphonic poem Bourgogne in Berlin, the only one of his early orchestral works to be properly performed, caused a scandal.
1917 - Made his debut in America conducting the Grand Messe des Morts by Berlioz.
1921 - Began work on his first composition in the United States, Amériques, which was finished.
1922 - Visited Berlin where he founded a similar German organisation with Busoni.
1927 - He took American citizenship in October.
1928 - Returned to Paris to alter one of the parts in Amériques to include the recently constructed Ondes Martenot.
1930 - He composed his most famous non-electronic piece entitled Ionisation, the first to feature solely percussion instruments. Although it was composed with pre-existing instruments, Ionisation was an exploration of new sounds and methods to create them.
1933 - He wrote to the Guggenheim Foundation and Bell Laboratories in an attempt to receive a grant to develop an electronic music studio.
1934 - His next composition, Ecuatorial, was completed, contained parts for fingerboard theremin cellos, and Varèse, anticipating the successful receipt of one of his grants, eagerly returned to the United States to finally realize his electronic music.
1936 - He wrote Density 21.5.
1962 - He was asked to join the Royal Swedish Academy.
1963 - He received the premier Koussevitzky International Recording Award.
1965 - Died on the 8th of November in New York City.
1893 - He was forced to relocate to Turin, Italy. It was here that he had his first real musical lessons, with the long-time director of Turin's conservatory, Giovanni Bolzoni.
1904 - He was a student at the Schola Cantorum (founded by pupils of César Franck), where his teachers included Albert Roussel; afterwards he went to study composition with Charles Widor at the Paris Conservatoire.
1905 - He composed a number of ambitious orchestral works, but these were only performed by Varèse in piano transcriptions, such as his Rhapsodie romane.
1907 - He moved to Berlin and in the same year married the actress Suzanne Bing. They had one child, a daughter.
1910 - His first performance of his symphonic poem Bourgogne in Berlin, the only one of his early orchestral works to be properly performed, caused a scandal.
1917 - Made his debut in America conducting the Grand Messe des Morts by Berlioz.
1921 - Began work on his first composition in the United States, Amériques, which was finished.
1922 - Visited Berlin where he founded a similar German organisation with Busoni.
1927 - He took American citizenship in October.
1928 - Returned to Paris to alter one of the parts in Amériques to include the recently constructed Ondes Martenot.
1930 - He composed his most famous non-electronic piece entitled Ionisation, the first to feature solely percussion instruments. Although it was composed with pre-existing instruments, Ionisation was an exploration of new sounds and methods to create them.
1933 - He wrote to the Guggenheim Foundation and Bell Laboratories in an attempt to receive a grant to develop an electronic music studio.
1934 - His next composition, Ecuatorial, was completed, contained parts for fingerboard theremin cellos, and Varèse, anticipating the successful receipt of one of his grants, eagerly returned to the United States to finally realize his electronic music.
1936 - He wrote Density 21.5.
1962 - He was asked to join the Royal Swedish Academy.
1963 - He received the premier Koussevitzky International Recording Award.
1965 - Died on the 8th of November in New York City.
  | Page last updated: 11:34am, 25th May '07 |
Related Books
  |
Space Calculated in Seconds by Marc Treib (Hardcover - Nov 11, 1996) The pavilion designed by Le Corbusier for the Philips Company at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair showcased a spectacle that remains a landmark in multimedia production. The pavilion's nearly two...  |
 |
  |
The Music of Edgard Varese (Composers of the Twentieth Century) by Jonathan W. Bernard (Hardcover - Jun 18, 1987) |
|
 |
New Worlds of Edgard Varese: Papers and Discussion from a Varese Symposium at the City University of New York (I.S.a.M. Monographs, No. 11.) (Paperback - Feb 18, 1979) |
|
 |
Ameriques for Orchestra (1922): Full Score (Paperback - Jun 1, 2001) Revised in 1997 by Chou Wen-chung... Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks |
|
 |
Twentieth-Century Music: The Sense Behind the Sound by Joan Peyser (Paperback - Oct 18, 1980) |
|
  |
Ionisation for Percussion Ensemble of 13 Players: Full Score (Paperback - Aug 1, 1989) Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
Related DVDs
  |
Dr. Jekyll&Mr. Hyde (DVD) It took John Barrymore to bring class to the American horror film, at least in the eyes of the industry. Dignified and virtuous as Dr. Henry Jekyll in this 1920 silent, Barrymore transforms into id...  Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
  |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (DVD) It took John Barrymore to bring class to the American horror film, at least in the eyes of the industry. Dignified and virtuous as Dr. Henry Jekyll in this 1920 silent, Barrymore transforms into id... Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
  |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (DVD) It took John Barrymore to bring class to the American horror film, at least in the eyes of the industry. Dignified and virtuous as Dr. Henry Jekyll in this 1920 silent, Barrymore transforms into id... |
|
