Roussel: Pour une fête de printemps, Op. 22 - CD

The three works included here outline the transitional phase in which Roussel’s mature idiom took shape. Most important of these is his Second Symphony, with its densely intricate orchestration and its wide range of expression, while Pour une fête de printemps is a symphonic poem that could be thought of as preparation for the larger work.

With the Suite in F, Roussel arrived at his mature style; the piece is taut and economical in design, with a distinctly ‘contemporary’ feel.

Albert Roussel only began to study music seriously after his resignation from the French Marine in 1894. He was a pupil of Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum. He became Professor of Counterpoint there in 1902 and remained in the post until 1914. His pupils included Satie and Varèse. In his first great orchestral score, Poème de la forêt (Symphony nr. 1) (1908), however, he followed the impressionist aesthetic of Debussy, abandoning the principles taught by d'Indy (firm structure, melody, thematic development, or recurring themes), in favour of delicate scoring with transparent timbres. His Piano Concerto dates from 1928. He was then living in seclusion in Normandy and developing a purely personnel style which was harsh, intransigent and rigorous, although that did not preclude extremely sensitive lyrical passages. Pour une fête de printemps was originally the iridescent sensuous scherzo of his 2nd Symphony. Roussel turned it into an independent composition and symphonic poem without any real literary programme. The works are impeccably played by the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, under the baton of their young conductor, Fabrice Bollon from France.