ALBERT ROUSSEL : Complete Chamber Music (Jet Röling · Irene Maessen · Schönberg Quartet · Paul Verheij) 3-CD SET (2007) APE (image+.cue) lossless

A rare collection: all of Roussel’s music for small ensembles. It is a mix of varied combinations; sometimes highly unusual ones like piccolo and piano. A late starter, Roussel’s compositions mainly date from the first decades of the twentieth century.

Composer Albert Roussel has written a relatively limited oeuvre of delightful music. His works sound typically French and increasingly impressionistic. Then a neo-classical period followed. Somehow Roussel has not benefited from the popularity of music by contemporary French composers.

Recordings on this release include rarely performed music like the Aria no. 2 for Oboe and Piano, and Music from Elpénor, Poème radiophonique for flute and string quartet (1937). Also included are the Deux poèmes de Ronsard, Op. 26, for flute and soprano.

Great performances by prominent Dutch musicians like Paul Verhey on the flute, horn player Herman Jeurissen and cellist Herre-Jan Stegenga. brilliantclassics.com