# Masterpiece Theatre: Part Sixteen - Roussel's Le Festin de l'araignée



## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Masterpiece Theatre: Part Sixteen - Roussel's _Le Festin de l'araignée_


















The first of Albert Roussel's three ballets, Festin de l'araignée (The Spider's Feast), was the culmination of his first period as a composer when, as he wrote, he was "slightly influenced by Debussy, but concerned above all with the solid architecture taught by Vincent d'Indy." His mentor at the Schola Cantorum, d'Indy, inculcated in Roussel an appreciation of muscular counterpoint and strong structures. But Roussel's appreciation of the sounds and colors of the later Debussy and the younger Ravel and of what one might call a catchy tune proved just as powerful as d'Indy's. As well as being full of strong structures, powerful counterpoint, and brilliant colors, Festin de l'araignée is full of catchy tunes. Roussel wrote it in 1912 to a libretto by Gilbert de Voisins about insect life in a country garden, and the ballet-pantomime in two parts was premiered in the Theatre des Arts on April 3, 1913. The principal characters are a butterfly; an ephemera; one pair each of ants, preying mantises, and dung beetles; and the spider of the title. Roussel sets this to music as clear as the summer sky and as evocative as a summer breeze. If the dances are more tuneful and more memorable than the pantomime's, the color and characterization of the orchestra are at their most brilliant in the pantomimes. If the music sounds distinctly conservative compared with Debussy's Jeux or Stravinsky's La Sacre du printemps, it is still superbly written, full of catchy tunes, and thoroughly danceable. If the music sounds distinctly silly compared with La Sacre's fury, it does sound like a likely double-bill with Debussy's La boîte à joujoux. Roussel prepared a fragmente symphoniques from Festin de l'araignée that retains most of its ballets, but few of its pantomimes.

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It's high time we give Roussel the attention he deserves and I hope this thread gets the ball rolling in that regard. Anyway, _Le Festin de l'araignée_ comes from this composer's middle period when he was starting to blend Impressionism with Neoclassicism, which he would later master in the highly acclaimed 3rd symphony. There have been several fantastic performances of _Le_ _Festin de l'araignée_ on record, but I always seem to come back to the Martinon recording on Erato. Simply superb in every way. What do you guys think of this ballet?


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

His symphonies are wonderful, as his solo piano pieces. Sill getting to know his music. It is interesting that The Spider's Feast is his most popular. For me it is a bit dull.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I don't think it's the least bit "dull ". Roussel's spiky harmonies and. incisive, pounding rhythms are never dull in any of his major works, such as the symphonies , the Ballet "Bacchus & Ariane , the sadly neglected opera "Padmavati" which is probably the greatest French opera you've never heard and others . Roussel's music never became as popular as the works of his two French contemporaries , probably because it's something of an acquired taste . It's altogether quirky and DIFFERENT .


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

I've always loved The Spider's Feast. Ansermet's LP has been on my shelf for many, many years, and has even survived the ruthless recent culls of my LP collection.


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