Edgard Varèse (or “Edgar,” as he is known in the anglophone world) was born in Paris to a French mother; however, the radical identity that Varèse would go on to develop is undoubtedly, at least in part, the result of his relationship with his father, an Italian engineer. The young Edgard was optimistic about the future rewards that humanity would reap from the scientific progress that was taking place during hs childhood, leading him to be somewhat detached from the present. Engineering was a scientific discipline which would remain a focus of the composer throughout his career. Nonetheless, in 1903, at the age of 20, upon abandoning his studies at the Polytechnic University of Turin and returning to Paris, Varèse broke off his relationship with his father, just as he would come to do with the musical tradition which surrounded him in his youth. He nonetheless retained his father’s admiration for the scientific luminaries of the day, as well as his disregard for authority and national patrimony.

Upon his return to Paris, Varèse undertook study with Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum (until 1905), which was, at that time, a newly-opened school for “free-spirited students”. Subsequently, he attended classes with Widor at the Paris Conservatoire (1905 to 1907). A period spent in Berlin allowed him to study with Busoni, who advised the young composer “to prioritise the development of his own musical forms.” In 1913, Varèse attended the premiere of The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, a work whose powerful use of ostinati would have a lasting influence.

Discouraged by the “stylistic timidity of his native France,” on 29 December 1915, Varèse immigrated to the United States. His work Amériques (first version composed between 1918 and 1921), while still under the influence of Stravinsky, symbolised the cultural rupture that Varèse experienced upon his arrival in the “new world.” For Varèse, far from being a mere refuge from his Parisian life, the USA was a place of radically new aesthetics and new career opportunities. In 1919, propelled by an indefatigable enthusiasm, Varèse founded and conducted the New Symphony Orchestra, which presented modern masterpieces to American audiences. He also co-founded the PanAmerican Association of Composers, and established the International Composers’ Guild, an organisation which allowed him to oversee the premieres of his Offrandes in 1922, Hyperprism in 1923, Octandre in 1924, and Intégrales in 1925. He retained his passion for science and technology, and was an ardent follower of new developments in musical instruments.

During time spent back in Paris (1928-1933), Varèse quickly found himself among the city’s cultural elite (Cocteau, Stravinsky, Picasso, etc.). Beyond this new-found avant gardist atmosphere, it was then that Varèse was introduced to the ondes Martenot (an instrument which he went on to use in an updated version of Amériques) and the theremin (Varèse included two theremin parts in the first version (1932-1934) of Ecuatorial, although in a subsequent version (1961), these were replaced with an ondes Martenot).

His return to the United States in 1934 marked the beginning of a long period of relative isolation. Shortly after a meeting with Varèse in 1938, Leon Theremin was kidnapped by the Soviet secret service and forcibly repatriated to the USSR, leaving him unable to continue work on his eponymous instrument as Varèse and others had hoped; this incident is perhaps representative of the series of disappointments that marked this time. For sixteen years, Varèse composed relatively little, embarking instead upon a period of experimentation (notably in the field of film music) which led him to the West Coast (Santa Fe, Los Angeles, San Francisco), but which failed to yield tangible results. He returned to New York in 1941.

In the 1950s, progress in the development of electronic instruments and studio equipment, to which Varèse himself made frequent contributions, once again buoyed the composer’s optimism. Déserts (1950-54), for orchestra and tape, marks one of Varèse’s first completed works of “mixed music.” It was also at this time that he composed the famous Poème électronique (1958), in harmony with the work of Le Corbusier and Xenakis for the Brussels Exposition; the presentation of Varèse’s work in this setting represents one of the first examples of a sound installation.

Before his death in 1965, Varèse was awarded a number of accolades in the United States, and was invited to teach at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. Thus, the European avant garde, with Boulez being among the first, finally recognised Varèse, in the final days of his life, as a major historical figure.