Roussel, Albert

All

Roussel, Albert

Sinfonietta for String Orchestra, Op.52

SKU: 1982 Category:

14,00 

Albert Roussel

(geb. Tourcoing, 5. April 1869 — gest. Royan, 23. August 1937)

Sinfonietta for String Orchestra, Op.52 (1934)

Preface
Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was born into a wealthy family in Tourcoing (Northern France). Music was part of his education at an early age, however when it came time to opt for a career, he chose to become a naval officer. He entered the Naval Academy at age 18, spending the good part of seven years as a midshipman and later as an officer on various ships, including tours to Asia. His love of music never left him and he actually did some composing while in the Navy. Roussel resigned his commission in 1894, deciding on a career as a composer. Having had little advanced tuition, he began by studying privately and then was accepted into the newly opened Schola Cantorum de Paris. It offered composers a rigorous curriculum based on the study of Baroque and Classical works, Gregorian chant, and Renaissance polyphony. He studied at the Schola until 1908 where one of his most influential teachers was one of the leading composers of the day, Vincent d’Indy. The war years (1914-18) were spent as a volunteer, serving with the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. Following the war, he settled in Normandy and aside from various travels, devoted most of his time to composition. Gradually his music began to gain more public and critical recognition with numerous commissions and distinguished conductors programming his works. Roussel’s early compositions owe a debt of gratitude to the sound worlds of Vincent d’Indy, less so to Cesar Franck and later the impressionism of Claude Debussy. He continued to grow and evolve, never completely adapting the non-functional harmonies and pristine orchestrations of the impressionists. Later the music of Stravinsky and the neo-classical composers were a great influence in the use of ostinati, rhythmic drive and jazz gestures. However in Roussel there is still some of the romantic (Chopin was one of his favorite composers) that is not normally found in the neo-classic composers. So all these influences and mixtures led to a rich and highly personal language.

For his sixtieth birthday in 1929, there was a festival in Paris of three concerts devoted to his music. One of the concerts included of a collection of commissioned piano pieces, Homage à Albert Roussel, written by several prominent composers, including Jacques Ibert, Francis Poulenc and Arthur Honegger. He considered this a singular honor and listed it as a highpoint of his career. Roussel never attained the acclaim and lasting popularity of some of his contemporaries, but he was an important composer, with an international reputation. A good deal of his music continues to be performed and enjoyed, never having left the repertoire.

 

Read full preface > HERE

Score No.

Edition

Genre

Size

Printing

Pages

Go to Top