Piano Music Des heures passent, Opus 1 Conte a la poupee Rustiques, Opus 5 Suite pour piano, Opus 14 Sonatine, Opus 16 Petit canon perpetuel Doute L'accueil des muses Prelude et fugue, Opus 46 Trois pieces, Opus 49
|
Roussel did not write much for solo piano, perhaps because he
himself was a competent but not virtuoso pianist. Still, much of
what did write for the keyboard was carefully crafted — but
also, it was often difficult without being showy, a combination
that doesn't recommend itself to concert pianists.
An example of Roussel's pianistic ability is available in a recording of his song, Le jardin mouille (opus 3), in which he accompanies the soloist. Click here to listen to Roussel himself playing the piano (140K WAV file). In addition to the solo piano works listed here, Roussel made an arrangement of Segovia, opus 29, for piano solo. He also wrote a piano concerto, opus 36. |
Other opinions:|
His style is awkward to play, but "meaty," vigorous, and individual, with a rugged quality. It is French to the core, but not Parisian. Roussel is a composer who wears well, but will never be as popular as, say, Debussy, Ravel, or Poulenc. [David Dubal]
His piano music is discordant, but not extravagantly so, and is usually centred on a particular key, although other key-centres may be super-imposed, giving an overall effect which has been described as 'polytonal'. [Charles Cudworth] His music for piano occupies a minor place in his production. Its value may nevertheless be underestimated.... Apparent awkwardness, however, is often, if not always, the legitimate and inevitable expression of his musical thought, and no less eminent an authority than Cortot has pointed out that what may appear unduly complicated to the performer of Roussel's works is quite clear to the listener. [Basil Deane] |
Des heures passent, Opus 1for piano
| Written: 1898 | Premiered: (none noted) |
| Length: 12 minutes |
Four movements Graves, legeres Joyeuses Tragiques Champetres |
| Publisher: Hamelle | Dedication: 1. Mme Ricour de Bourgies 2. Mme E. Henry-Baudot 3. Mlle Leontine Wattel 4. Mlle J. Taravent |
|
This suite features movements depicting the mood of each "hour". The only work in Roussel's catalog from the 19th century, it shows that even at 29, he was not truly ready for the permanency of print.
Nonetheless, Les heures allows us to judge the state of the budding composer's technique. Most notably, and unsurprisingly, he had not yet found his "voice"; this suite could have been written by anyone. Several of the pieces — e.g., Joyeuses and Tragiques — have quite remarkable beginings, but they don't fulfill the promise of their opening bars. Interestingly, this same defect, of being unable to sustain an interesting musical idea, still mars Roussel's first orchestral work, Resurrection, written five years later in 1903. From this we can infer that perhaps his musical imagination was already developed, but his command of the musical syntax was not. |
Other opinions:|
Contains some forced and pedantic writing. [Maurice Hinson]
These pieces have considerable charm, not least for their economy; each one is a minature in which the composer makes his musical points quickly and moves on. Perhaps the high point of the set is "Tragiques" — its elegiac melody evokes the sense of longing that would recur often in Roussel's music. [Robert Haskins] An initial, amateurish exercise. [Wilfrid Mellers] There is nothing at all unconventional about the style of Roussel's Opus 1.... This early attempt at musical impressionism does not fulfill the promise of its comprehensive title, for the student composer hardly ventures beyond the confines of a pallid and academic idiom. [Basil Deane] |
Conte a la poupeefor piano
| Written: 1904 | Premiere: none noted |
| Length: 3 minutes | |
| Publisher: originally published in an album of the Schola Cantorum | Dedication: none |
|
This song to a doll comes from Roussel's student notebooks at the Schola Cantorum. It is a student work in more ways than one, as it is also a simple piece for students to play — the only such didactic piece, other than the short Pipe, in Roussel's output. |
Other opinions:|
The title of the piece and its duration support the inference that it is of slender content. [Basil Deane]
A work of fondness and love. [Catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Albert Roussel] |
Rustiques, Opus 5for piano
| Written: 1904-06 | Premiered: Paris, Feb. 17, 1906 Mlle Blanche Selva |
| Length: 18 minutes | Three movements Danse au bord de l'eau Promenade sentimentale en foret Retour de fete |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Mme Serieyx Taravent |
| An interesting early piece that is the closest Roussel came to Debussy's piano music, especially in the hauntingly evocative Danse au bord de l'eau (Dance at the Water's Edge). As was common with Impressionist music — and this is one of Roussel's most Impressionist pieces — it was inspired by nature. In many ways, Rustiques is the piano equivalent of the First Symphony (Le poeme de la foret), written during the same period. Both were inspired by the same setting, the forest of Fontainbleu near Paris, a place beloved of the Impressionist painters. |
How does it sound?| Here's the opening of the dreamlike, melancholy Danse au bord de l'eau (70K WAV file). |
Other opinions:|
In Danse au bord de l'eau, the repeated rhythmic pattern in 5/8 and fugitive, kaleidoscopic textures suggest both water and dancing, leaving the listener's imagination to fill in details (who are the — apparently somewhat melancholy — dancers, and what kind of dance do they perform?) [Christopher Palmer]
Of the three Rustiques, the Danse au bord de l'eau has without doubt the most metric surprises; by alternating between 5/4, 4/4 and 3/4, it destroys all hint of squareness. [Michelle Biget] Naively sincere writing. Advanced pianism for its period. [Maurice Hinson] Rustiques is imaginative and poetic in conception; but it is weakened by some technical uncertainty, in particular by the abrupt changes of style within the several movements. [Basil Deane] |
Suite in f# minor, Opus 14for piano
| Written: 1909-10 | Premiered: Paris, Jan. 28, 1911 Mlle Blanche Selva |
| Length: 22 minutes | Four movements Prelude Sicilienne Bourree Ronde |
| Publisher: Rouart, Lerolle & Co |
Dedication: Mlle Blanche Selva |
|
In 1908, at the age of 39, Roussel finally finished his course of studies at the Schola Cantorum; he also got married. Freed from Vincent d'Indy's sometimes dogmatic influence, the next few years were one of Roussel's most fertile periods. In succession he wrote the great symphonic triptych, Evocations, his most popular ballet, Le festin de l'araignée, his greatest opera, Padmavati, and his most successful piano work, the Suite in f# — all of which were better than anything he'd written before.
At 22 minutes, the Suite in f# is an uncharacteristically long piece for Roussel; almost by its length alone you can tell that is early Roussel. The movements are named for 18th Century dances, but Roussel could have used his more typical Italian nomenclature (e.g., moderato, adagio) just as easily; the music is less of a dance than it is "pure" pianism. The slow opening of the prelude is deeply felt, introspective and somber. When the temp accelerates, the conflict becomes external, almost warlike; Roussel's biographer, Basil Deane, saw in the somber violence of the Prelude the first hints of the opera Padmavati. I don't know how you'd dance to this music, but it is strong stuff, and among the most powerful of the music from Roussel's first stylistic period. |
Other opinions:|
The Suite pour piano, Op. 14, in F sharp minor... is not only good
Roussel, but also good pianism. [Charles Cudworth]
Though the titles of the movements suggest the 18th Century, the music itself could scarcely be more contemporary. It is probably the richest and most full-blooded of his piano works and the one most likely to make an impression on the listener or would-be performer.... The Sicilienne is particularly beautiful. [Christopher Palmer] There is no adherence to formula in Roussel's suite though the pat titles of movements two and three ("Sicilienne" and "Bourree") lead one to expect it.... The point is that Roussel's music remains always dignified and serious, even when the tempo is accelerated. [Arthur Cohn] The Ronde is a "tour de force", highly effective. Requires thorough pianistic equipment and skills. [Maurice Hinson] The final Ronde is the least satisfactory movement in the work. [Basil Deane] In the Suite, Op. 14, one may hear Roussel's mastery of dance forms.... The last [movement] is a masterly virtuoso piece. [David Dubal] |
Sonatine, Opus 16for piano
| Written: 1912 | Premiered: Paris, Jan. 18, 1913 Mlle Marthe Dron |
| Length: 11 minutes | Two movements labeled roman numeral "I" and "II" |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Mlle Marthe Dron |
|
The title "sontine" means "little sonata". Roussel means the term in an unusual sense, however; he combines the common four movements in two, each of which contains two internal movements.
The pyrotechnics that mark the first movements are short-lived but vivid. Then the first movement settles into a personification of Roussel's serious side, with even the scherzo-like second half sounding somewhat serious — compared, at least, to some of Roussel's later scherzos such as those in the Third and Fourth Symphonies. |
Other opinions:|
Roussel was always interested in formal schemes and this is one of
his various solutions of the problems of instrumental form. At the
same time, the work whole work is cyclic, that is to say, the
themes of the opening Modere appear more or less disguised in the
other `movements'." [Charles Cudworth]
The Sonatine remains an isolated work in Roussel's oeuvre, and the composer may have considered his formal experiment to be unsatisfactory, as he did not subsequently enlarge upon it. Nevertheless, the piece is attractive; its ideas are fresh and memorable, and the absence of a d'Indy-type development is a matter for gratitude rather than disappointment. [Basil Deane] Its square pianism becomes more interesting with repeated hearings. [David Dubal] Roussel's aim is to be intelligible, and he is. The perspicuity reminds one of Mozart speaking in today's language. Pianists would do well to consider this music of tenderness, wit, and rhythmic bravura. [Arthur Cohn] Contains some awkward pianistic spots. Cyclic form, a transitional work. [Maurice Hinson] |
Petit canon perpetual, no opus numberfor piano
| Written: 1913 | Premiere: none listed |
| Length: | One movement |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Mme la Comtesse de Chaumont- Quitry |
Other opinions:|
A work of charm and spirit. [Catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Albert Roussel]
In the Canon perpetuel, he tries the skills of even ambitious pianists, because each reprise finds the canon an octave higher, up to the very limits of the piano. [Michelle Biget] The Petit Canon Perpetuel, dating from 1913, is slight, but well written. [Basil Deane] |
Doute, no opus numberfor piano
| Written: 1919 | Premiered: Paris, May 15, 1920 Mme. Grovlez |
| Length: 4 minutes | One movement |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Claude Dubosq |
| This ominous, enigmatic piece lives up to its title: Doubt. The rhythm never ceases, never slackens, propelling the listener from beginning to end. It's quite interesting, but unlike Roussel's typical music; but then it is from his second, exploratory stylistic phase. |
Other opinions:|
The word in French implies something rather stronger that 'doubt' — it has overtones of suspicion and even of fear, both of which are hinted at in this strange atonal or rather non-tonal piece (apart from the opening and closing suggestion of C, the texture is too consistently chromatic to create any sense of key). [Christopher Palmer]
The tortuous chromatic lines and semi-tonal dissonances of this short piece illustrate the title, and the concluding augmented fourth leaves the uncertainty unresolved. It is characteristic of the composer that the chromaticisms are firmly related to a tonal background by the outline of the bass progression. [Basil Deane] |
Prelude et fugue, Opus 46for piano
| Written: 1932-34 | Premiered: Paris, Feb. 23, 1935 Henri Gil-Marchez |
| Length: 4 minutes | One movement |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Henri Gil-Marchez |
|
An entertaining little number. The prelude is fierce, almost savage; compared to it, the fugue seems almost lighthearted and playful (if "fugue" and lighthearted aren't contradictory). It also sounds very contemporary, and is thus a good example of how Roussel breathed contemporary life into forms hundreds of years old.
This is one of several fugues Roussel wrote in the space of a few years. Others include the Prelude and Fughetta (opus 41), the Adagio of the Third Symphony (opus 42), and the finale of the String Quartet (opus 45). They are all marvelously done, as if to remind us that Roussel had, after all, been a professor of counterpoint. |
Other opinions:|
The Prelude and Fugue is a splendid edifice from 1932, comprising a somewhat savage prelude and a fugue built on the letters of Bach's name. [David Dubal]
The fugue on B-A-C-H takes the final "H" up a 7th, an unusual approach. Uncompromising in its angularity; a model of contrapuntal skill. [Maurice Hinson] The Prelude has the motoric energy and pungent harmonies we associate with better-known late Roussel (Third and Fourth Symphonies, the ballet Bacchus et Ariane) while in the Fugue he turns the B.A.C.H. motif into a charming and wholly Roussellian tune, so much so the piece hardly sounds like a fugue in the academic sense at all! The final cadence, which moves imperceptibly from Roussel into the purest J.S.B., is a delightful touch. [Christopher Palmer] This composition as a whole suffers from an inconsistency of style. [Basil Deane] |
Trois Pieces, Opus 49for piano
| Written: 1933 | Premiered: Paris, April 14, 1934 Robert Casadesus |
| Length: 8 minutes | Three movements Toccata Valse lent Scherzo et trio |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Robert Casadesus |
|
The work that immediately precedes the Trois pieces in Roussel's oeuvre is the opera-bouffe, Le testament de la tante Caroline, a typically lighthearted French romp. Some of the feeling of that work carries over into the Trois pieces, which is grand old dance hall music.
The Trois pieces differ from Roussel's typical mature output in that there is no slow middle movement. Instead we have three short, fast pieces with a modern, jaunty feel to them. The second piece has a middle section that sounds as though it could come out of a dance hall; the third piece has a touch of the delightful "introspective" Roussel commonly found in his slow movements. |
Other opinions:|
Music of different inclination from the deep emotional content found in most of this composer's output. Roussel seasons his neo-classicism with plenty of paprika. In taking over the lighter Parisian franchise, Roussel refuses to relinquish a single delight.... It is all quite satisfying. [Arthur Cohn]
The Trois Pieces, dedicated to Robert Casadesus, are more conducive to performance than some of Roussel's other piano music. [David Dubal] He was one of the greatest French composers for the ballet, and his balletic sense of rhythm and movement and (melodic) gesture is as much in evidence here as in the ballets themselves. [Christopher Palmer] Each of the pieces is a neoclassical confection with pungent, kaleidoscopically changing rhythmic patterns as well as bright melodies and harmonies that recall the cheerful manner of Les Six. [Robert Haskins] |
|
|
|
|
|
| Home | Works | Life | Essays | About |
Search for this and other great music at
