Symphony 1, Poème de la Forét, Opus 7| Written: 1904-06 | Premiered: Brussels, March 22, 1908 conducted by Silvain Dupuis |
| Length: 34 minutes | Four movements: Foret d'hiver Renouveau Soir d'ete Faunes et Dryades |
| Publisher: Rouart, Lerolle & Co | Dedication: Alfred Cortot |
About this Work:|
This pastorale symphony brought Roussel his first considerable
success, although critics were already complaining of "cruel
dissonances that pierce the ear-drum like a screwdriver." It is
one of the principal products of the first period of Roussel's
output when he was, in his own words, "slightly influenced by
Debussy, but mindful above all of the solid architecture taught by
Vincent d'Indy."
Poème de la forét is a gathering of four previously written movements depicting the forest's moods through the seasons. There are elements of impressionism in the symphony, such as lush harmonies, modal melodies, and even some use of Debussy's whole- tone scale; but the very designation of the piece as a symphony runs contrary to impressionism's repudiation of classical forms. Indeed, the movements are essentially traditional in structure. Although an early work that is little played today, this symphony has sufficient quality that the young Bohuslav Martinu fell in love with it after performing it as a second violinist in an orchestra in Czechoslovakia. He borrowed the score from the conductor and poured over it to the point of obsessesion. A few years later he moved to Paris to study with Roussel.
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How does it sound?| In his early music, Roussel tended to be much more pictorial than in his later, neo-classical phase. The First Symphony has a vivid sound image (94K WAV file) of snow blowing through a winter forest |
Other opinions:|
Impressionist in style, [Poème de la Forét] clearly reflected
the composer's intense love of nature. [??]
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...he quickly outgrew impressionism, as one could see in Le Poème
de la Forét, a sort of pastoral symphony in fairly free form.
[James Lyons]
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There are signs of individuality in the melodic and harmonic ideas,
but the inflated compositional apparatus inhibits the composer's
self-expression. It is in the shorter pieces and the songs that
Roussel's personality began to emerge more clearly. [Basil
Deane]
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This large orchestral piece may yet take its place as the third
panel in the great nature triptych painted in those years by three
different French composers, the other two panels being Debussy's La
Mer and d'Indy's Jour d'ete a la Montagne. Roussel's work has
neither the technical mastery nor the strongly individual character
of the other two, but it combines traits of both with a distinctly
personal note.... [Martin Cooper]
...Roussel has allowed himself, one of many, to be tempted by the cosmical topic of the Seasons. But the composer innovates strikingly: not only does he use the "cyclical form" to combine the different seasons of the forest, but after the last season (Fauns and Dryads as Autumn), comes again the theme of Winter, reminding [us] of the infinite turn of time. [Gérard Gefen]
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