Albert Roussel Facts for Kids

Albert Roussel

Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (born April 5, 1869 – died August 23, 1937) was a famous French composer. He spent seven years working as a midshipman in the French Navy. Later, as an adult, he decided to study music. He became one of the most important French composers between World War I and World War II.

At first, his music sounded a lot like Impressionism. This style was popular with composers like Debussy and Ravel. But later, Roussel changed his style. He started writing music that was more like Neoclassicism. This style focused on clear forms and strong rhythms.

About Albert Roussel
His Music Style
The Albert Roussel Collection
Works
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About Albert Roussel

Albert Roussel was born in Tourcoing, France. When he was young, he was more interested in mathematics than music.

He joined the French Navy. In 1889 and 1890, he sailed on a ship called the Iphigénie. He spent several years in Cochinchina, which is now part of southern Vietnam. His travels had a big effect on his music. Many of his pieces show his interest in faraway, exotic places.

In 1894, Roussel left the Navy. He began to study music in Roubaix. His first teacher was Julien Koszul. Koszul encouraged him to study more in Paris with Eugène Gigout. Roussel then continued his studies until 1908 at the Schola Cantorum de Paris. One of his teachers there was Vincent d'Indy.

While he was studying, Roussel also taught music. Some of his famous students included Erik Satie and Edgard Varèse.

During World War I, Roussel helped as an ambulance driver. He worked on the Western Front. After the war, he bought a summer house in Normandy. He spent most of his time there writing music.

Starting in 1923, another one of Roussel's students was Bohuslav Martinů. Martinů later wrote a piece called Serenade for Chamber Orchestra and dedicated it to Roussel.

When Roussel turned sixty, Paris held three concerts of his music. These concerts also featured a collection of piano pieces. These pieces were called Homage to Albert Roussel. Many composers wrote them, including Ibert, Poulenc, and Honegger.

Roussel passed away in Royan in 1937. He was buried in the churchyard of Saint Valery in Varengeville-sur-Mer.

His Music Style

Albert Roussel was mostly a classicist at heart. This means he liked clear forms and balanced structures in his music.

His early music was very much like impressionism in music. But over time, he developed his own unique style. This style had a more formal design. It also had a strong, driving rhythm. His music often used functional tonality, which is a way of organizing notes around a main key. This was different from some other famous composers of his time, like Debussy and Ravel.

Roussel's training at the Schola Cantorum was very strict. It focused on older, formal music styles. This training influenced his later music. His pieces often had many different musical lines playing at the same time. This is called "contrapuntal textures."

Compared to other French composers like Debussy, Roussel's orchestral music often sounded quite full and powerful. He kept some of the emotional style of the Romantic period in his orchestral works. This made him different from composers like Stravinsky.

Roussel was also interested in jazz music. This led him to write a piano and voice piece called Jazz dans la nuit. Other composers also wrote jazz-inspired pieces, like Ravel's Violin Sonata.

Roussel's most important works include his ballets. These are Le festin de l'araignée, Bacchus et Ariane, and Aeneas. He also wrote four symphonies. His Third and Fourth symphonies are especially well-known. They show his mature neoclassical style.

He wrote many other pieces too. These include more ballets, orchestral suites, a piano concerto, and a concertino for cello. He also wrote a psalm for choir and orchestra. He created incidental music for plays, and lots of chamber music, solo piano music, and songs.

The Albert Roussel Collection

A group called Les Amis belges d'Albert Roussel (The Belgian Friends of Albert Roussel) was started in 1979. In 1986, this group gave a collection of Roussel's documents to the Music Division of the Royal Library of Belgium. This created the most important collection of information about the composer outside of France.

The collection has many special documents. These include musical manuscripts written by Roussel himself. There are also about 250 letters, a travel diary, and old recordings of his music. It also has many newspaper clippings, programs, and other items about Roussel's life and works.

Works

Stage Music

Le marchand de sable qui passe [fr] (The Sandman), music for a play (1908), Op. 13
Le festin de l'araignée, a ballet (1913), Op. 17
Padmâvatî, an opera (1913–18), Op. 18
La naissance de la lyre, an opera (1925), Op. 24
Sarabande (1927; for the children's ballet L'éventail de Jeanne)
Bacchus and Ariadne (ballet), a ballet (1931), Op. 43
Aeneas, a ballet for chorus and orchestra (1935), Op. 54
Le testament de la tante Caroline, an opera (1936)
Prelude to Act 2 of Le Quatorze juillet by Romain Rolland (1936)
Elpénor, for chamber group, radio music (1947), Op. 59 (his last finished work)

Orchestral Music

Résurrection, Prelude for orchestra Op. 4 (1903)
Symphony No. 1 in D minor The Poem of the Forest, Op. 7 (1904–1906)
Evocations, for orchestra, singers, and chorus, Op. 15 (1910–11)
Padmâvatî Suites (Nº 1 & 2), Op. 18 (1918)
Pour une fête de printemps, Op. 22, a symphonic poem (1920)
Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 23 (1919–1921)
Suite for Orchestra in F major, Op. 33 (1926)
Concert for small orchestra, Op. 34 (1926–1927)
Petite Suite, Op. 39 (1929)
Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 42 (1929–30), written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 50th anniversary
Sinfonietta for String Orchestra, Op. 52 (1934)
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 53 (1934)
Rapsodie flamande, Op. 56 (1936)

Music for Solo Instrument and Orchestra

Piano Concerto in G major, Op. 36 (1927)
Cello Concertino, Op. 57 (1936)

Choral Music

Psalm 80 for tenor, choir, and orchestra, Op. 37 (1928)

Solo Vocal Works

Quatre poèmes, Op. 3 (1903)
Quatre poèmes, Op. 8 (1907)
La Ménace, Op. 9 (1907–1908)
Flammes, Op. 10 (1908)
Deux Poèmes chinoises, Op. 12 (1908)
Deux Mélodies, Op. 19 (1918)
Deux Mélodies, Op. 20 (1919)
Deux Poèmes de Ronsard, Op. 26 (1924)
Odes anacréontiques, Op. 31 (1926)
Odes anacréontiques, Op. 32 (1926)
Deux poèmes chinoises, Op. 35 (1927)
Vocalise (1927)
Jazz dans la nuit, Op. 38 (1928)
Vocalise-étude (1928)
A Flower Given to My Daughter (1931)
Deux Idylles, Op. 44 (1932)
Deux Poèmes chinoises, Op. 47 (1932)
Deux Mmélodies, Op. 50 (1934)
Deux Mélodies, Op. 55 (1935)

Chamber and Instrumental Music

Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 2 (1902, revised 1927)
Divertissement for piano and wind quintet, Op. 6 (1906)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 11 (1907–1908)
Impromptu, for harp, Op. 21 (1919)
Joueurs de flûte, for flute and piano, Op. 27 (1924)
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 28 (1924)
Segovia, for guitar, Op. 29 (1925)
Duo, for bassoon and contrabass (1925)
Serenade for flute, string trio, and harp, Op. 30 (1925)
Trio, for flute, viola, and cello, Op. 40 (1929)
String Quartet, Op. 45 (1931–1932)
Andante and Scherzo, for flute and piano, Op. 51 (1934)
Pipe, for piccolo & piano (1934)
String Trio, Op. 58 (1937)
Andante from an unfinished wind trio, for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon (1937)

Piano Solo Music

Des heures passent, Op. 1 (1898)
Conte à la poupée (1904)
Rustiques, Op. 5 (1906)
Suite in F-sharp minor, Op. 14 (1910)
Petite canon perpetuel (1913)
Sonatine, Op. 16 (1914)
Doute (1919)
L'Accueil des Muses [in memory of Debussy] (1920)
Prelude and Fugue, Op. 46 (1932)
Three Pieces, Op. 49 (1933)

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Albert Roussel

Albert Roussel facts for kids

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