Obscure Music Monday: Roussel's Divertissement

Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (April 5, 1869 - Aug. 23, 1937) was a French composer, who started his musical journey as an adult. As a child, Roussel was interested in mathematics, and then went went in to the French Navy. After resigning in 1894, he turned to music, and attended the Scholar Cantorum de Paris until 1908. He worked under Vincent d'Indy, and he also taught while at school; his pupils included Erik Satie, and Edgar Varése. (Bohuslav Martinu was another one of his students later on.) During World War I, he drove an ambulance, and afterwards moved to Normandy, where he spent the majority of his time composing.

Roussel was influenced by Impressionism, but also enjoyed more formal structures and functional tonality. His sound is an intriguing mixture of Impressionism and Neo-Classical, which you can hear in his Divertissement, for wind quintet and piano. The beginning might remind you slightly of Stravinsky's Petrushka with its rhythm and mood; it's quite clear to hear the Neo-Classical influences in his writing, complete with smatterings of Impressionism here and there. The combination of the two keep the listener on their toes! You'll notice that though it's only written for six instruments, Roussel has an uncanny ability to write very thick textures. Each instrument's part is integral and generally kept busy, and no one is left out in the cold.