In 1909, Jules Ecorcheville, the founder of the Parisian review S.I.M., decided to use the musical scale to honor the centenary of Haydn's death. His means were simple: extend the alphabet up the keyboard and use the resulting notes H-A-Y-D-N as a leitmotive. Since 'H' was already in use, 'I' became the note A, 'J' became C, after which the letters followed the white notes.

Ecorcheville then asked a number of French musicians to write a piece on Haydn's name (B-A-D-D-G). Many refused, including Faure who considered the whole exercise a ridiculous enterprise. Still, the idea hung around and was later picked up by the editor of Paris's Revue Musicale, Henri Prunieres, who solicited compositions in honor of Faure, Bach (to which Roussel contributed the fugue that he incorporated into the Prelude et fugue, opus 46) — and, to honor the composer's 60th birthday in 1929, Albert Roussel.

The April, 1929 issue of the Revue Musicale was devoted entirely to Roussel. In that issue were seven compositions on Roussel's name:

• A. Roussel, for flute, voice and piano, by Maurice Delage; poem by Rene Chalupt
• Sur le nom d'Albert Roussel for piano, by Arthur Honegger
• Piece breve sur le nom d'Albert Roussel for piano, by Francis Poulenc
• Berceuse for piano, by Alexandre Tansman
• Fox-Trot for piano, by Conrad Beck (a student of Roussel's)
• Fanfare for piano, by Arthur Hoerée (a friend and, later, biographer of Roussel)
• Quatrain à Albert Roussel for voice and piano by Darius Milhaud, verse by Francis Jammes

Poulenc wrote a modal d-minor piece, while Honegger ingeniously turned his music into a sinuously chromatic work that quotes Roussel's Le festin de l'araignée and the Piano Concerto. The song by Maurice Delage is noteworthy in several respects. First of all, it is set to words by a long-time friend of Roussel's, the poet Rene Chalupt; Roussel wrote several songs to Chalupt's poems, and Chalupt returned the favor with this poem and with glowing reminisences of Roussel the man. Second, Delage had studied music in India; he and Roussel were unique in that regard. Delage's music was influenced by the orient more strongly than was Roussel's, and thus the song has an oriental flavor that is entirely appropriate.

These musical tributes are short; together, the seven works last only sixteen minutes. They are, however, sincere. Roussel functioned at this time as the elder statesman of the younger generation of French composers such as Poulenc, Honegger, Milhaud and Ibert, providing support and encouragement. Poulenc was a particular admirer of Roussel's work.

Roussel's 60th birthday spawned a week-long festival of his music that brought much-deserved honor and recognition. These musical hommages from the pages of the Revue Musicale were part of that tribute, and show the esteem in which Roussel was held by his musical peers.