Roussel, Albert. (1869–1937)
Signed Photograph
Halftone photograph with a mounted signature and inscription from the important French composer whose students included Satie, Golestan, Roland-Manuel and Varèse. He has signed and inscribed to French musicologist and composer Jacques Chailley on a small slip tipped to the foot of the photograph. The verso indicates that the photograph is taken from a supplement to a 1970 the journal L'Education Musicale. Light toning and soiling to the mounted slip; otherwise in fine condition. 6.5 x 9.5 inches (16.4 x 24.1 cm).Albert Roussel spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His early works were strongly influenced by the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, while he later turned toward neoclassicism. "Though he was touched by the successive waves of impressionism and neo-classicism in French music, he was an independent figure, his music harmonically spiced and rhythmically vigorous." (Nicole Labelle, Grove Online)
The son of pianist Céliny Chailley-Richez and violinist Marcel Chailley, Jacques Chailley (1910–1999) studied with Nadia Boulanger and Willem Mengelberg, among others, and served as the director of the Sorbonne's Institute for Musicology and of the Schola Cantorum of Paris. A prolific composer, his output included chamber and orchestral music as well as an opera and a ballet. His musicological works included studies of medieval music and the Passions of J. S. Bach. Chailley was also among the members of the Front National des Musiciens, a resistance organization for music professionals formed around the Communist Party and established in May 1941. (15437)
Signed Photograph Classical Music