Contents
First Stylistic Period
Second Period
Third Period
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Roussel has been variously labeled an impressionist, a romantic, an
avant-gardist, an orientalist and a neoclassicist. All the labels
are true to some extent; yet in the end they are merely labels that
don't capture the essence of the man's music.
Like any composer, Roussel's style went through changes during his lifetime. He himself divided his artistic life into three periods: |
First Period|
The first period, from 1898 to 1913, includes many
years when Roussel was still a student. His music was, he said,
"Slightly influenced by Debussy, but mindful above all of the solid
architecture taught by Vincent d'Indy". Indeed, there is very
little of Debussy about Roussel's work; in general, he borrowed
freely from various schools of composition without becoming
identified with any of them — despite the seemingly
overpowering urges of later commentators to pigeon hole his work as
impressionistic.
Interestingly, Roussel was influenced nearly as much by the music of the orient as by impressionism — meaning that in certain pieces (e.g., Padmavati, Impromptu, Evocations) he translated the scales and styles into something uniquely his own. Principal works from this period include:
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Second Period|
The second period, Roussel tells us, began in 1918
after a hiatus because of his service as an ambulance driver in
World War I. There is no longer a Debussy-like atmosphere but a
more adventurous and personal style of writing with "a return to
clearer lines". The rhythms are stronger, though less so than in his final phase, and Roussel experiments with structure without losing his strong formal foundations garnered under d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum.
After the lukewarm reception received by the Second Symphony, his most complicated orchestral work, he began striving toward a more simple, direct mode of expression. The second period is, in effect, a transition period during which Roussel was experimenting and developing his mature style. Principal works from this period include:
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Third Period|
The third period lasted from 1926 until Roussel's
death in 1937, during which time Roussel found his "definitive mode
of expression." He remained progressive, and was generally
regarded as a powerful avant-gardist, although his work may, to our
ears, seem too tame for that. This, however, is an indication of
how much Roussel's development was in the mainstream of musical
development. Even Chopin was considered radical at one time, but
no longer; whereas composers whose style has been less absorbed
into the mainstream, such as serial composers, still tend to sound
avant-garde.
In Roussel's third period, there were no more (relatively) loosely structured works such as The Spider's Feast, Pour une fete de printemps, and the Second Symphony. Instead, there were solid, traditionally-based structure, a tendency toward polyphony and even bitonality, sober orchestration, and cultured expression — characteristics that could be labeled neo-classical. Roussel's brand of neo-classicism ran parallel to, rather than being derived from, Stravinsky's (the best known neo-classicist); and unlike Stravinsky, Roussel never eschewed emotion in his work. I would add, as a footnote, a subdivision that I perceive in Roussel's third period: namely, in the last few years of his life, the neo-classicism became more uncompromising, more stringent. This corresponds to a slightly lowered level of popularity of later works, however much these works plumb great depths and exhibit great mastery. Thus the Fourth Symphony tends to be less popular than the Third, though no less a masterpiece; the late ballet Aeneas is virtually unknown compared to its brethren, Bacchus et Ariane; the Third Trio is harder to grasp than its lighthearted elder sibling, the Second Trio. Principal works from this period include: |
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