Edgard Varèse insisted that the same poetic impulse could move the composer and the scientist, and he strongly advocated the synergy between art and science. Music has been at the forefront of many advances in the field of science and technology - including the implementation of new uses of the computer. In this article, the author recalls historical instances where music was an influential inspiration for the developments of science and technology, rather than a mere field of application. He discusses how Varèse pioneered the extension of compositional activity to the elaboration of sound - composing the sounds themselves, rather than merely composing with sounds; he then relates this trend to the context of 20th-century music. He then offers some recollections of meetings and discussions with Varèse, and after the evocation of two evenings in tribute to Varèse and his living ideas, he concludes with reflections on art-science and music research, activities called for by Varèse, in the context of present day society.