The composing career of Albert Roussel got off to a wayward start, and received one of its biggest boosts from a lie.

Roussel was orphaned at the age of eight and went to live with his grandfather. He built on the music he had learned from his mother, entertaining himself by reading through the family music collection and playing operatic selections and popular songs on the piano.

Three years later Roussel’s grandfather died, and his mother’s sister took him in . Her husband arranged for young Albert to take piano lessons. Summer vacations at a Belgian seaside resort added a second love to his life—the sea. He studied to be a naval cadet, but still made time to study music.

In the French Navy, while he was stationed on a cruiser based at Cherbourg, he and two friends found the time to play the piano trios of Beethoven and other composers. Roussel also began composing. At the Church of the Trinity in Cherbourg on Christmas Day 1892, he had his debut as a composer with the performance of his Andante for string trio and organ.

That success encouraged Roussel to write a wedding march, and one of his fellow naval officers offered to show it to a prominent conductor, Edouard Colonne. When Roussel’s friend returned with the manuscript, he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to give up his naval career and devote his life to music.

Not long afterward, at the age of 25, Roussel did just that. He applied the self-discipline, conciseness, and spirituality that he had developed in the navy to his composing and became a major force in twentieth century French music. As for Eduoard Colonne’s inspiring advice that Roussel devote his life to music—Roussel’s navy friend later admitted that he had made it up and that he had never even shown Roussel’s manuscript to the conductor.