Background
Albert Roussel was born on April 5, 1869 in Tourcoing, a town close to the Belgian border, where his grandfather was mayor.
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(Tracks 1. - 3. are Evocations, Op. 15. Track 4 is Resurre...)
Tracks 1. - 3. are Evocations, Op. 15. Track 4 is Resurrection, Op. 4.
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(Rapsodie flamande Op.56 Flemish Rhapsody Orchestral Score...)
Rapsodie flamande Op.56 Flemish Rhapsody Orchestral Score by Albert Roussel Student Facsimile Edition LOOSE LEAF UNBOUND EDITION NO BINDER.
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Concertino Op. 57 (Cello and Piano) Editions Durand Series Composed by Albert Roussel Print music.
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(One of Roussel' most performed orchestral works, The Spid...)
One of Roussel' most performed orchestral works, The Spider' Banquet was composed during his earlier impressionistic period, and depicts the beauty and violence of insect life in a garden. Roussel' experiences as a lieutenant in the French Navy first intr
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( The stimulus for this work, composed in 1924, was given...)
The stimulus for this work, composed in 1924, was given by the French flautist Louis Fleury, who also gave the first performance of the work. The four single pieces "Pan", "Tityre", "Krishna" and "Monsieur de la Péjaudie" (a character of a novel by Henri de Régnier) attempt to depict the nature of these imaginary flautists from mythology, religion and literature. Their specific cast is given by the sophisticated rhythm and striking harmony. It is fitting that this charming work has recently been enjoying increasing popularity. Publisher ID: HN1092
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Albert Roussel was born on April 5, 1869 in Tourcoing, a town close to the Belgian border, where his grandfather was mayor.
Destined for a career in the navy, he studied at the Colle‧ge Stanislas in Paris and joined the service in 1887. After he was commissioned, he served several years at sea, mostly in the Far East.
Roussel started composing while on his long voyages, and when he received encouragement for his efforts, he resigned his commission in 1894 and went to Paris to study composition at the relatively advanced age of 25. He entered the newly established Schola Cantorum, where he studied with Vincent d'Indy, its founder. D'Indy was conservative in that he held out against Claude Debussy's impressionism and based his instruction on a thorough knowledge of earlier musical styles.
Roussel's first published composition, a piano piece, appeared in 1898. In 1902 he became a teacher of counterpoint at the Schola, a post he held until 1914, when he resigned to enter the French army during World War I. He served as a transportation officer and saw duty at Verdun and the Battle of the Marne. When his health broke down, he returned to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life.
The best known of Roussel's early works is the ballet Le Festin de l'araignée (1912; The Spider's Feast), a skillfully orchestrated tone poem, somewhat reminiscent of Camille Saint-Saëns's music in the transparency of the writing. This was followed by a large ballet-opera, Padmavati (1914-1918), based on an Indian legend and employing Indian melodies and scales, a result of Roussel's visits to the East as a naval officer. His ballet Bacchus et Ariane (1930) reflects the sumptuousness of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes that influenced so many composers of the time. This rich score shows Roussel's mastery of the impressionist idiom.
Roussel's later compositions reveal other ideals. Already in the Suite in F (1926) and in his Third and Fourth Symphonies (1930 and 1934) he wrote neoclassic pieces, shown in their avoidance of programs, economy of means, clarity of form, 18th-century textures, and driving rhythms. Igor Stravinsky was the chief exponent of neoclassicism, and Roussel was one of its principal exponents. In these compositions the astringent harmonies, wide-ranging melodies, strong rhythms, and bitonality bring Roussel close to the younger composers of the time.
His sixtieth birthday was marked by a series of three concerts of his works in Paris that also included the performance of a collection of piano pieces, Homage à Albert Roussel, written by several composers, including Ibert, Poulenc, and Honegger.
Roussel died in the village (commune) of Royan (Charente-Maritime), in western France, in 1937.
Albert Roussel was one of the most important French composers of his time. His early compositions reflect the main styles of the day; his later works were more advanced than those of his contemporaries.
It has been said that Roussel "possessed every quality but that of spontaneous invention. " Even though he was not a pathbreaker, he was one of the most important French composers of the first half of the 20th century.
The association Les Amis belges d'Albert Roussel (Albert Roussel's Belgian friends) was founded in 1979 by André Peeters. In 1986 the association donated a collection of Roussel-linked documents to the Music Division of the Royal Library of Belgium, thus creating the most important collection of archival sources on the composer outside of France. The collection contains many unique documents including a dozen musical manuscripts, autographs, around 250 letters (100 of them unpublished), a travel diary, recordings (including most of the early recordings of his compositions), iconography, a large collection of press clippings, programs and other documents linked to the Roussel's works and life.
(One of Roussel' most performed orchestral works, The Spid...)
( The stimulus for this work, composed in 1924, was given...)
(Rapsodie flamande Op.56 Flemish Rhapsody Orchestral Score...)
(Concertino Op. 57 (Cello and Piano) Editions Durand Serie...)
(Tracks 1. - 3. are Evocations, Op. 15. Track 4 is Resurre...)
