Poulenc, Francis : Hommage a Albert Roussel d-moll
Work Overview
Instrumentation:Piano Solo
Genre:character pieces
Total Playing Time:2 min 00 sec
Copyright:Under Copyright Protection
Commentary (1)
Author : PTNA Piano Encyclopedia Editorial Department
Last Updated: March 12, 2018
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Author : PTNA Piano Encyclopedia Editorial Department
A work from 1929. It was composed as the third piece in the collection of short works, Hommage à Albert Roussel, compiled as a tribute to the French composer Albert Roussel, who turned 60 in April of the same year. A total of eight composers participated in this project: Maurice Delage, Honegger, Poulenc, Alexandre Tansman, Ibert, Conrad Beck, Arthur Hoérée, and Milhaud.
Although Poulenc never received composition lessons from Roussel, Roussel, who favorably regarded the activities of the members of Les Six, was a reliable senior figure for Poulenc. Indeed, it is said that Poulenc frequently visited Roussel at his country house in Normandy during the summer of 1920, showing him published scores of his own works and receiving advice. Behind these events lies the fact that Satie, who greatly influenced the young Poulenc, had studied under Roussel at the Schola Cantorum.
The premiere took place on April 18, 1929, at the Roussel Festival in Salle Gaveau, and the collection was published as a supplement to the Revue Musicale in 1929. Twenty years later, Poulenc arranged this work for a small orchestra, but both his autograph manuscript for this arrangement and the original autograph manuscript for the piano solo version are now missing. As the title suggests, it is a short work lasting about two minutes, but Poulenc's tendency to frequently quote from his own works is evident throughout, with phrases reminiscent of the overture to Les mamelles de Tirésias, premiered in 1947, heard in the middle.