Born in Tourcoing on 5 April 1869, died in Royan on 23 August 1937; Albert Roussel was a composer. He first took up a career as a naval officer and resigned in 1894 in order to study music; at the Schola Cantorum in Paris he was a pupil of Vincent d’Indy and later taught counterpoint there himself, among others to Erik Satie and Edgard Varese. A journey to India and Indochina in 1909 had an aftereffect in works such as the opera Padmavati and the suite Evocations. His output comprises four symphonies, the ballet Bacchus et Ariane, chamber music, piano and vocal works; his style developed from an impressionist beginning to a terse, rhythmically sharp manner of writing. In the Cybele catalogue his music is heard on Il Ritratto dell’amore (1999), played by Jeremias Schwarzer and Egon Mihajlovic.
Albert Roussel
Composer
