Rue de Roussel

[The new erato]

I think Rue should be reserved for Pierre de la Rue, Rue's Rue is a thread we are lacking.

[lescamil]

Rue and Roussel technically don't rhyme anyhow, since the vowel in the first syllable in Roussel is pronounced as a "u" in English, but the vowel in Rue is pronounced roughly as a "ü" in German. We should just come up with a different title for the thread.

[snyprrr]

What is Roussel's greatest work?

Hmm, I don't know. I find the Piano Concerto original, though it has a French-Bartok thing about it. I think I just wanted to bring up one of my fav PCs.

[snyprrr]

Symphony No.1

I hear Segerstam's the only game in town. I haven't heard this piece.

[Mirror Image]

Symphony No.1

I hear Segerstam's the only game in town. I haven't heard this piece.

Are you sure about that? Segerstam didn't even record Roussel's 1st. Anyway, check out Dutoit, Deneve, or Eschenbach. All fine performances.

[kyjo]

What is Roussel's greatest work?

Tough question, snyprrr. I'm torn between Symphonies 2 and 3, Bacchus et Ariadne, Le festin d'araignee and Evocations.

[snyprrr]

Must we do battle? We must!

Symphony 1 = Segerstam
Symphony 2 = EMI GEMIni
Symphony 3-4 = EMI GEMIni

[Karl Henning]

Must we do battle? We must!

Symphony 1 = Segerstam
Symphony 2 = EMI GEMIni [Dervaux]
Symphony 3-4 = EMI GEMIni [Cluytens]

Just filling in some of the blanks . . . .

[pjme]

It does exist.

But is quite old and OOP : a Cybelia/Musique Française CD with Segerstam conducting Roussel: Résurrection / Rapsodie Flamande / Le Poème de la Forêt (symph. 1) .

P.

[snyprrr]

It does exist.

But is quite old and OOP : a Cybelia/Musique Française CD with Segerstam conducting Roussel: Résurrection / Rapsodie Flamande / Le Poème de la Forêt (symph. 1) .

P.

I'm chubbin'! Haven't check the availability lately...

[snyprrr]

Violin Sonata No.2

VS1 is early, long, and rambling. This No.2 is concise Neo-Classicism that should appeal to anyone interested. It's rare, but I have it on a wonderful REM disc (OOP of course) with Enescu and Janacek. Yes, it fits well in present company.

Serenade
Trio
String Trio

These three are on a pungent Erato disc, OOP. The Serenade is definitely Roussel's most popular Chamber Work, and may be the most heard by the novice (figuring on many issues). Most will remember the bit with the string glissandi, and the whole piece is wonderfully busy and melodic in Roussel's  mature style. The flute Trio (with strings) and the String Trio are two good examples of how Roussel re-interpreted the Mozartean Classicism. The String Trio in particular is quite rigorous and astringent, but is certainly one of the top STs of the early revival of Classicism after 1920.

String Quartet

I don't know how much I really like this work, in the context of all other SQs of the general era. It is a perfect example of astringent Neo-Classicism, perhaps very Stravinskian, seeming a lot like the "wrong note tonality" popular with Martinu and perhaps Milhaud or Poulenc. I have it on the old Loewenguth Quartet recording on VoxBox, which is a great performance (along with an equally intriguing Faure- really a must have for fans of the Faure (their take is their own)), making the best case for a very spiky work. Sometimes, Roussel is someone I respect, but I have to be in that post-rainstorm-mood- clean, brisk air- to really appreciate and enjoy him. Still, for those Schnittke-maniacs, Roussel should provide all the requisite sauciness.





I know you can get the Complete Chamber Works on Olympia/Brilliant (pick up the Ebert too, btw!), but I'm pretty sure you won't be coming back to most of it. Get the VoxBox, the Erato disc, and maybe see if VS2 is on a disc somewhere. Otherwise, I'm sure the Brilliant is cheap. The third disc of the Olympia/Brilliant set has most of the late works, which is really what you want.

[lescamil]

A performance of Roussel's 3rd Symphony was done recently, and it is now available for viewing on the YLE Areena, an invaluable resource.

http://areena.yle.fi/tv/2093762

[snyprrr]

What is Roussel's greatest work?

Hmm, I don't know. I find the Piano Concerto original, though it has a French-Bartok thing about it. I think I just wanted to bring up one of my fav PCs.

Love it!

[Ghost Sonata]

Just a snippet about Roussel from Michael Dregni's Django biography I've been reading : "Still, it was hot and it was new, and Arnold's band inspired Django and other French musicians - dance hall musicians, proto-jazzmen, and even classical musicians like pianist Jean Wiener and composer Darius Milhaud.  Wiener organized a concert in 1921 including Arnold's band playing jazz tunes in between works by Stravinsky, Milhaud and Bach; whereas Roussel stalked out of the concert, slamming the door behind him, Maurice Ravel complimented Wiener for his audacity." (p.40)

[snyprrr]

Just a snippet about Roussel from Michael Dregni's Django biography I've been reading : "Still, it was hot and it was new, and Arnold's band inspired Django and other French musicians - dance hall musicians, proto-jazzmen, and even classical musicians like pianist Jean Wiener and composer Darius Milhaud.  Wiener organized a concert in 1921 including Arnold's band playing jazz tunes in between works by Stravinsky, Milhaud and Bach; whereas Roussel stalked out of the concert, slamming the door behind him, Maurice Ravel complimented Wiener for his audacity." (p.40)

poor Roussel

[snyprrr]

Suite in Fa


I had totally neglected this piece, and was bowled over when I listened the other day. Here we have stringent Neo-Classicism, like Stravinsky, but with a personality much more rigorous and harsh. Not that it's "harsh"...

but, it showed Roussel's art very clearly to me, one of his best, decisive, works.


I also broke out the Violin Sonata No.2, which is quite astringent, indeed! I wasn't really warming to it until the finale, which I found a perfect example of the perfection of Roussel. Do check it out and let me know. I have an old OOP minor label CD from the early '90s, don't have it handy... would love to hear FP Zimmermann...