(b. Paris, May 27, 1888), composer, did not begin his musical studies until 1910, when he took private lessons in harmony, counterpoint and fugue from Leon Saint-Requier, one of the professors of the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Durey, although never entering any musical institution, studied seriously until 1914, when, on the outbreak of the European War, he enlisted in the French army. By that time he had already written some immature but promising works, including two unaccompanied choruses, sets of songs on poems by Paul Verlaine and Francis Jammes, and an ' Offrande lyrique * to words by Tagore. I t was not until 1916, when on leave, that Louis Durey found another opportunity for composition. The setting of three poems from the Voyage d'Urien by Andre Gide, written at that time, marked a distinct advance in style and individuality. To this succeeded a pianoforte trio and two pieces for four hands, ' Carillon * and ' Neige.' At this point the influence of Erik Satie and Stravinsky began to make itself felt in the music of Durey, who by this time had joined the group of young composers known as ' Les Six.' Their tendencies, directed against romanticism and impressionism in music, found expression in Durey's ' Scenes de cirque.' Before long, however, he found it incompatible with artistic honesty to remain subjected to the arbitrary views of the association. From that momec/ he ignored the doctrines laid dovm by the group as resolutely as they themselves defied academic principles, and he found that his style h a i become clarified by this temporary aberration and its attendant reaction. The immediate outcome of this phase was a string quartet, to which succeeded, in 1918, the ' Images a Crusoe,' a song-cycle with accompaniment for several instruments to poems by Saint-Leger Leger. Both works represent the composer's art at its best. The ' Images a Crusoe ' were succeeded by several sets of songs of an idyllic character, including the ' Epigrammes de Theocrite ' and the ' Trois Poemes de Petrone,' and these were in their turn followed by a string trio. Another important work is ' Le Bestiaire,' where Durey has set a number of diminutive poems on animals by Guillaume Apollinaire with a mixture of irony and poignancy which fits them perfectly. In 1921 Durey seceded formally from the group of ' Les Six.' He lives (1923) in comparative seclusion in the south of France, where he continues to write with great deliberation and unconcerned with considerations of success. In 1922 a second string quartet was finished, and in 1923 a sonatina for flute and piano. AmongDurey'sunpublished works are an opera in one act, based on Merimee's L'Occasion, incidental music for Hebbel's Judith, ' Eloges ' for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, a ' Pastorale ' for orchestra, a quartet for wind instruments, and several sets of songs and piano pieces. The art of Durey is modern, not from any aggressive repudiation of established rules, but from a natural taste and a feeling for form which enable him to dispense with them. Although he does not shrink from harmonic harshness and rhythmic complexities when he requires them, his music is often almost classical in its simplicity and balance. Where he is at his best, his sensitive restraint is engaging and even touching, but it is sometimes carried to such lengths as to produce a feeling of emotional aridity. The undoubted poetry of his work is often ultra-refined and precious, and cannot appeal to humanity at large, but Durey's limitations are at any rate those of a distinctive personality. E. B.