Andre Jolivet was a French modernist composer of the 20th century. He was known for his balance of experimentation and accessibility and was an influential personality in contemporary music. He was born in 1905 in Paris and started playing the piano when he was four years old, initially learning from his mother. Later he studied piano and solfeggio with Francis Casadesus, and harmony with Abbé Théodas at the Notre-Dame de Clignancourt church. He began composing his first works when he was 13, and the following year he received cello lessons from Louis Feuillard. From 1921 to 1924, he attended a teachers' college, and he continued studying music independently. He spent the following three years serving in the French military before beginning a career as a primary school teacher in Paris. In 1927 he became a student of Paul Le Flem, who taught him composition and music theory. Two years later, Jolivet began studying composition and orchestration with Edgard Varese, with a special emphasis on atonal music. Also in 1929, he married the violinist Martine Barbillon and in 1930 they had a daughter, Francoise-Martine. It was around this time that he composed his Suite for String Trio and Trois Temps. Jolivet discontinued his studies with Varese in 1933, when his teacher returned to the United States. Varese left six objects behind for Jolivet, which he regarded as fetish objects that he thought gave him good luck, protection, or had some other similar effect. They inspired him to compose Mana, for piano in 1935, which led to a phase where he became interested in esoteric concepts such as mortality, magic, and the unknown. During World War II, he was called into military service a second time, which inspired his Trois Complaintes du soldat in 1940. Throughout the '40s, his style became simpler and more refined with the use of modal tonalities and lyrical melodies. He held an appointment as musical director of the Comédie Française from 1945 to 1959, where he composed incidental music for plays by Shakespeare, Molière, and several other important playwrights. Of the 14 plays that he scored, five of them were dramatic works by Jean-Baptiste Lully, which he updated with new arrangements and orchestrations. His position at the Comédie Française also fulfilled his childhood dream of a career in theater, and he developed a new balance of accessibility and experimentation in his works. In 1961 he began teaching composition at the Paris Conservatory, and he remained there until his death in Paris in 1974. His works have been recorded by several leading artists including Håkan Hardenberger, Hélène Boulègue, and Maurice André. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi