Frederik van Rossum was born in Brussels in 1939. His
early works made it clear that he was one of the most personal Belgian
composers of his generation. His regularly expanding output (now over
fifty opus numbers) includes works in every genre: orchestral music,
three symphonies, four concertos, chamber music, vocal and choral music
(e.g. the superb Threni for soprano and orchestra
Op.22 of 1969 and one of his finest works so far), a television
opera De Soldaat Johan Op.33 (1976/7) and many works for
his own instrument, i.e. piano. He has been fairly well served as far
as commercial recordings are concerned though a number of major works,
e.g. Threni and his second symphony Amnesty Symphony
Op.38, are hitherto unrecorded. He once described himself as
an expressionist composer for whom communication is paramount, no matter
how complex or straightforward his music may be. His idiom is clearly
20th Century and not afraid of relying – always for expression’s
sake – on various "modern" techniques including controlled
aleatory as in Réquisitoire Op.28 of 1973, about
which more later.
The present release, actually a re-issue in CD format
of recordings published in 1973 and 1982, focuses on some of his best-known
piano works, such as his Twelve Miniatures Op.10 completed
in 1964. As may be expected, this substantial suite of twelve short
pieces evoking a huge variety of moods is highly contrasted, each movement
being neatly and concisely characterised. Van Rossum is an excellent
pianist, so little wonder that his piano works suit the instrument so
well. In this fairly early work, most of van Rossum’s fingerprints are
clearly evident: strong formal grip, rhythmic variety, sureness of touch
and remarkable instrumental flair. Later, in 1996, at the request of
the Jeunesses Musicales, he orchestrated the whole set as Twelve
Miniatures for orchestra Op.13 with the self-explanatory subtitle
of Initiation à l’orchestration. Van Rossum nevertheless
sees the orchestral version as a totally different piece in which the
scoring is the result of the musical ideas, whereas the original work
was clearly conceived for the keyboard. The Twelve Miniatures
quickly became one of his most popular works (it has even been used
as a ballet score) and it was heartily championed by the late André
Vandernoot who recorded it in the 1970s (ALPHA 3075 F-1, re-issued here).
The small-scale diptych Eglogue et Conte bleu
Op.24 (1971) shows another facet of van Rossum’s music: gently
lyrical, almost impressionist at times. Van Rossum often played it as
an encore at his recitals.
Three Short Pieces for the White Keys Op.31
(1974) pay homage respectively to Stravinsky, Gorecki and Prokofiev
without actually quoting any of these composers but rather by alluding
to some characteristic of their music. Later, van Rossum orchestrated
these short pieces while adding a newly-composed introduction as Petite
suite réactionnaire Op.32 (1975).
The Little Style-Studies Op.41, completed
in 1983, are exactly that, i.e. five short movements each of which explores
some technical aspect of musical composition.
As already mentioned, all these recordings, but that
of the Little Style-Studies Op.41, were made during the
LP era, that of the orchestral Miniatures dating back
to the 1970s. Nevertheless they still sound well and the performances
could not be bettered. So, this welcome and recommended release is,
to my mind, the best introduction possible to van Rossum’s music.
Hubert Culot
Frederik van Rossum (piano)a;
National Orchestra of Belgiumb; André Vandernootb