Born at Tourcoing in French Flanders, Albert Roussel is without doubt the greatest French composer of the first half of the 20th century after Debussy and Ravel. Do you know, however, that he eagerly claimed Flemish ancestry?

Every year, his uncle brought the young Albert with his family to pass the months of August and September at Heyst, on the Flemish coast, and there he developed a love of the sea that led to his first vocation, the navy. Roussel told Rosati when he was awarded the Rose d'Or, "If I think back over the first years of my life, it is the infinitely sweet visage of your old land of Flanders that appears."

Many of his works first saw the light of day in Belgium, where Roussel often returned (for example, in August, 1935, to Brussels, Ostend, Bruges, Gand, Bergues and Cassel). These works include the Third Trio, the string quartet, Psalm 80 (under the direction of Louis de Vocht whose qualities as conductor Roussel appreciated very much), the Flemish Rhapsody, and Aeneas. Amongst his friends were the Belgians René Bernier, Flor Alpaerts, Auguste de Boeck, Henri LeBoeuf, Albert Huybrechts, Theo van Hamberg, Alexandre Vormoolen, etc.

On the subject of a book by Charles de Coster, Roussel wrote, "This admirable legend of Eulenspiegel, which makes beat our Flemish hearts."

Paul Collaer states that in 1935, "Roussel told me of his intention to write a Flemish rhapsody. He explained to me that he was Flemish from French Flanders and that he attributed the rhythmic vigor of his works to his Flemish origins. At his request, I sent him some collections of popular Flemish songs published by the Willemsfonds and another collection by Ernest Closson. In homage to the people who won the battle of Eperons d'Or, of which he often spoke, he composed his Flemish Rhapsody (1935).

The study of these songs reinforced Roussel's interest in Flemish culture to the point that, impressed by the workers' chorales he heard at the "Songs of the People" contest at the Brussels Exposition, he began the composition of a grand opera, "Le Téméraire", which he wished to evoke the agitation of the revolt and birth of the Flemish people. His death interrupted this project.