Evening star., 1940-04-07

" (No. 49," Bachs "Passacaglia,"
in the furnishings, q blue OF the
sea and the sky on cloudless days.
The only touch Of other color was
to be found In the flashes Of pink
and yellow in the Chinese en-
broideries and prints that abounded
in this rather austere room. A
grand piano was there. but other
wise there was no evidence of the
presence Of great musician, for the
taste Of the travelled man Of the
sea was to be found In the Chinese
cabinet, Allied with rare curios and
other priceless collections of his
travels, all set in rare surroundings
of lovely blue.
In appearance Albert Roussel
was distinguished, with nothing
about him to indicate the musician.
There were the slender lines of the
face. the pointed beard, the high
forehead and the thin nose of a
Velasquez portrait, and his cour-
teous and ceremonious manners
were of the old school. His modesty
regarding his work was excessive,
and it was difficult to draw him into
conversation about it. He spoke of
it dif11dently, giving no inkling of
what must have passed in his mind
as he paced the deck of his ship and
planned his first composition. Nor
would he expand on his reaction to
the vividness of life in the Far East
that had been the inspiration Of
several of his most important works.
Birthday Celebration.
During this visit he made us
present of a collection of songs
and piano numbers that had been |
written by prominent composers of
today and put together in q little
volume entitled Homage a AL
bert Roussel," in celebration of his
60th birthday. Among these COM
positions were three written on the
name of Alber- Roussel.' One by
Arthur Honegger was entitled Sur
lie nom de Albert Roussel," Francis
Poulenc had written Piece breve'
on the same theme and Jacques
Ibert "Toccata." Darius Milhaud
had written "Quatrain" to words
by Francis Jammes, and Maurice
Delage another song. Alexandra
Tansman's contribution was "Ber-
ceuse," Conrad Beck's Fox Trot"
and Arthur Hoeree's fanfare
In an article which M. Roussel
wrote after a visit to this country
he made several pertinent obser-
vations. He said:
1T is interesting to note that
in a country dominated by the
fever of business, the handling of
money. the love of power and the
taste for risks, the most immaterial
of arts, music, finds the most
efhcacious support and the most
sumptuous hospitality.
Results Assured.
Zone knows that the great Amer
ican orchestras receive, not from
the Government, but from private
individuals. subsidies that assure
their functioning under the most
favorable conditions. Now. the
members of these committees for
guarantees are not all amateur
musicians. but they esteem it an
honor for their city to possess
fine orchestra and that their social
duty is to contribute to the develop
ment of the artistic understanding
of their co-citizens.
zone will answer me by saying
that America has at its disposal
resources that we do not possess.
If we were richer we would support
more officials, and that would suffice
us. Because 1t is necessary before
everything that there be in the
very spirit of a nation this faith
in art, without which money is
powerless, there is this conviction
that music is a communal richness
of which it is necessary to protect
the existence and to assist the de-
velopment."
During his lifetime Roussel labored
increasingly for the music and
musicians of his own country, di-
recting many with his composing
knowledge and encouraging them to
be sincere in their convictions. Yet
he himself remained something of
a mystery with his quiet retiring
manner and the exotic quality of
his music. Perhaps his apparent /
detachment was in sympathy with |
the Oriental scenes and subjects
from which he drew his greatest
inspiration as we'll as the loneliness
of the sea where his first creative
thoughts came into being. At any
rate, he was an important figure in
the musical life and a lasting in
fluence on the best modern trends
in cOmpOSition.