Influences of Classical Indian Music in Albert Roussel’s Evocations

"An important figure of early 20th century music, the French composer Albert Roussel was deeply influenced by his encounter with India, which led to the composition of several orientalist works. The present paper aims to disclose the influences of classical Indian music in the orchestral work Evocations. Despite the Impressionist sound of the musical discourse, a careful analysis reveals the incorporation of several scalar structures in which Hindu rāgas can be recognized. Roussel goes beyond the musical representation of India: his goal is not the creation of a musical work with powerful oriental sound, but the evocation of the impact this encounter had on his creation. Situated at the crossroad of several stylistic orientations, Roussel incorporates Impressionist, Neo-classical and Post-romantic influences in rigorously devised structures, aiming to create an unusual and novel sound. Keywords: Albert Roussel, orientalism, Impressionism, India, rāga "

Albert Roussel

“In expressing my thought clearly, I sought only to serve my art. I hope I have succeeded. That’s the only recompense I desire” (Hoérée 1938, p. 119, cited under Studies by Roussel’s Contemporaries). So spoke Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (b. 1869–d. 1937) near the end of his life, and most contemporaries agreed that he achieved his goal. From an unlikely beginning, he rose to become the most celebrated elder composer for the interwar generation. Born in Tourcoing in northeastern France, the composer was orphaned by age eight and raised by relatives. After a seven-year naval career, he began serious music lessons at age twenty-five. Following private lessons in counterpoint and harmony with Eugène Gigout (b. 1844–d. 1925), Roussel enrolled in the composition program taught by Vincent d’Indy (b. 1851–d. 1931) at the Schola Cantorum; in 1902, while still a student, he became its Professor of Counterpoint. In 1908 he married Blanche Preisach (b. 1880–d. 1962), and for their honeymoon they took a four-month journey to India and the Far East. He resigned from the Schola in 1914, served as a transport officer in the First World War, and after hostilities ended he and his wife moved to Varengeville-sur-mer on the Norman coast (the sea entranced Roussel throughout his life). His musical voice changed markedly over his career: from a prewar style that combined scholiste methods of construction with chords and colors drawn from Debussy and India (to 1918), he moved to a harmonically astringent language (1918–1926), and ultimately to a personal neoclassicism that united austere “classical” structures and nondescriptive content with “romantic” feeling expressed through harmony and rhythm. As Nicole Labelle puts it in her article on Roussel for the New Grove Dictionary, “He forged a personal, unique style in a modern idiom resting on the foundations of traditional music” (Labelle 2001, cited under General Overviews and Reference Sources). Commentators repeatedly praised Roussel’s “independent spirit” that “constantly renews itself.” The price of such individuality was that Roussel was often more respected than heard; as his former student Jean Cartan testily wrote, “The public doesn’t know Albert Roussel—or worse, it thinks it knows him and is grossly mistaken—and this state of affairs is entirely the fault of our esteemed artists [messieurs les artistes]” (Labelle 1985, p. 21, cited under Roussel’s Students). Nevertheless, Roussel enjoyed the deep respect of many of his fellow musicians, both in France and abroad—as the items in Memorial Tributes demonstrate—and continues to do so today.

Martinů, Bohuslav (1890–1959)

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959). Czech composer of Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and American citizenship. He left his native Polička in Eastern Bohemia in 1906 to study violin at the Prague Conservatory. Although initially expelled for negligence, he transferred to the organ department and passed his state examinations in 1912. He continued residing in Prague until 1923, playing as a deputy violinist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1913 and then as a full member under Václav Talich during the years 1920–23. Largely self-taught in composition, he studied briefly with Josef Suk during the years 1922–23 and with Albert Roussel from the time of his arrival in Paris in 1923; he remained in the French capital until 1940.

La conception en tant que transmission: L'antiquité grecque selon Albert Roussel

(fra)L'antiquit? grecque occupe dans la production musicale fran?aise du d?but du XXe si?cle une place importante. Le recours aux sujets grecs - qui se manifeste d?j? depuis la seconde moiti? du XIXe si?cle - constitue un ph?nom?ne complexe, impliquant plusieurs ?l?ments li?s au contexte historique, social et culturel de l'?poque. Dans ce contexte, le cas d'Albert Roussel pr?sente un grand int?r?t, ?tant une figure transitoire dans l'histoire de la musique fran?aise, ayant lui-m?me eu plusieurs fois recours aux sujets grecs. Examinant les traits principaux de la conception de l'antiquit? grecque par Roussel, nous insisterons, d'une part, sur sa vision personnelle du monde antique, par le biais de son ?ducation humaniste, ses voyages, etc., ainsi qu'? ses id?es esth?tiques sur l'art, et de l'autre part, sur les reflets de sa conception dans les oeuvres telles que Joueurs de fl?te, Odes anacr?ontiques, Bacchus et Ariane et La naissance de la Lyre.