Charles Koechlin

Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl lwi øʒɛn keˈklɛ̃]; 27 November 1867 – 31 December 1950) was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars (especially Lilian Harvey and Ginger Rogers), travelling, stereoscopic photography and socialism. He once said: "The artist needs an ivory tower, not as an escape from the world, but as a place where he can view the world and be himself. This tower is for the artist like a lighthouse shining out across the world." Koechlin was born in Paris, and was the youngest child of a large family. His...