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This section uses sound clips to illustrate a variety of typical
features of Albert Roussel's music, including:
For the majority of these elements of Roussel's style I am indebted to Basil Deane, the composer's biographer. The remaining elements are no one's fault but mine. Please keep in mind that the stylistic elements discussed here are generalizations; for every work that follows these conventions, it would be easy to find another that doesn't.
the sound files, see the About page! |
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Stylistic Influences
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Although he has been called a solitary figure in French music,
Roussel was in fact influenced by a number of styles and trends.
The following influences can be heard in his music:
ImpressionismThe heavily atmospheric, shimmering harmonies and loosely-defined structures of impressionism were the prevailing style when Roussel arrived on the musical scene. Although his teacher, Vincent d'Indy, was a staunch critic of Debussy and Ravel, Roussel nonetheless used some features of impressionism — at least prior to 1914. Among Roussel's works most influenced by impressionism are:
Tonal picturesMuch of Roussel's early music paints delicate tonal pictures. Interestingly, he later repudiated illustrative music and strove for pure music, saying, "I always forcefully free my mind from the memory of objects or forms susceptible of translation into musical effect."
OrientalismEarly in this century, music from exotic lands enjoyed quite a vogue. Roussel was better equipped than most composers to follow this trend, as his naval journeys had taken him to India and Indo-China (Viet Nam), and he later made an extended trip to India with his wife. Roussel's orientalism is not a literal translation of Eastern music, but a capturing of impressions. Works influenced by orientalism include:
Neo-classicismRoussel came into his own as a composer after he adopted neo-classicism. Although the term neo-classicism is sometimes used pejoratively to label music as dry and formal, Roussel never abandoned emotion — and if anything, after adopting this style he heightened the emotional content of his slow movements, in particular. The list of works influenced by neo-classicism is too long to bother including; in general, it includes anything written after the Suite in F, opus 33 (1926).
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Texture and Harmony
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There are certain harmonic and textural features that are typical
of Roussel's music. These include:
Strong motor rhythmsIn many of Roussel's works, especially in his third stylistic period, is strong motor rhythms that have a foot-stomping, peasant quality to them reminiscent of certain pictures of Peter Breugel. Often, these motor rhythms are established in the opening bars of a movement. The temporary withdrawal of motor rhythms often emphasizes the differences between sections of a movement.
CounterpointAt a time when counterpoint had fallen into disrepute, Roussel kept the art alive in French music. He was, after all, a professor of counterpoint. Roussel's counterpoint is far from heavy; it is usually two voices carrying contrasting melodies, transparently scored so as to emphasize the two voices.
Single melody with ostinato accompanimentWhen Roussel is not using counterpoint, the predominant texture is a principal melodic line over an ostinato accompaniment — ostinato being a rhythmic motif repeated continuously.
Tonality and bitonalityRoussel's harmonic language is essentially tonal. However, in his day he was considered something of an experimentalist, and even today his music sounds astringent, though not excessively dissonant. Within a tonal framework, he freely inserted chromatic inflection, producing dissonant chords containing flattened 2nds, raised 4ths and major 7ths.He ventured occasionally into bitonality — the use of two different keys simultaneously. Usually this occurred when a melody in a different key wove around a primary melody in the fundamental key of the music. The overall effect is much less dissonant than, say, Stravinsky's polytonality in The Rite of Spring.
Harmonic texture only at climaxesRoussel rarely used thick masses of chords. Instead, he preferred to weave together melodic lines. However, at emotional climaxes he often used a texture that was predominantly harmonic instead of melodic.
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Structural Concerns|
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In a previous section we touched on Roussel's use of classical
forms. Other structural trends that can be seen in his music
include:
Cyclic structureRoussel was Vincent d'Indy's pupil, and d'Indy was the pre-eminent exponent of the cyclical structure used by Cesar Franck. In the music of both Franck and d'Indy, a theme recurs in every movement of a piece, uniting it. While Roussel used this structural principle primarily while he was d'Indy's student, he did return to it from time to time.
Ever-increasing tersenessRoussel was a remarkably terse composer; for example, the Sinfonietta compresses the essentials of a symphony into just 10 minutes. However, he didn't start out being quite so taciturn. Taking a sampling of his music that omits songs (which are by nature short), the first twenty years worth of compositions, up to 1918, average 28.5 minutes. Over the last nineteen years, from 1919 to 1937, the compositions average just 12.7 minutes.
Classical formsFor Roussel, neo-classicism was reflected primarily in the adoption of classical forms and the use of "pure" (i.e., non-programmatic, non-pictorial) music. No more symphonic preludes, tone poems or piano works with evocative names like Rustiques or Doute (Doubt); instead, there were suites, concerti and symphonies.One format that Roussel was particularly fond of was the three-movement piece in which the slow middle movement predominates with the intensity of its emotion. A sound clip cannot illustrate Roussel's fondness for this format as effectively as can a list of the works that follow this convention. Between 1925 and 1929 — a period of just five years — Roussel wrote the following fast-slow-fast pieces:
Several of the melodic conventions discussed in the following section refer to this particular format. Did he over-use this particular convention? Well, as much as I like Roussel, I'd have to admit that few of his later compositions in this format have quite the vitality and freshness of, say, the first three pieces on the list above.
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Typical Melodic Elements
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Certain elements are typical of Roussel's melodies, particularly in
his final, neo-classical phase. These elements include:
Angular themes in opening movementsThe themes in the opening movements of many of Roussel's works are wide-ranging and angular themes. Combined with strong rhythms, this angularity gives the music a robust, peasant-dance quality that is far removed from the stately, civilized dances so typical of French music in general.
Long, chromatic themes in slow movementsIn contrast to the peasant vigor of the themes in opening movements, the slow middle movements of Roussel's works use long-breathed, oscillatory, chromatic themes. These themes are thinly scored, often for just two or three instruments at a time, communicating a feeling of melancholy loneliness; a compositional device that Shosktakovich was later to exploit in his symphonies.
Short, epigrammatic motifs in scherzosRoussel used scherzos — the third movements of many of his later works — to dispel the gloom or melancholy of the slow movements. These movements often open with short, witty motifs that quickly evolve into a melody. Usually, these motifs are diatonic, without chromatic components.
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Here is Roussel himself conducting the garden theme from his
impressionistic ballet