charles koechlin, baptized charles-louis-eugène koechlin (; 27 november 186731 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), traveling, 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."