Of Lekeu's completed works, Andromède is the most extensive, ambitious, and disappointing. By the time of its composition in the summer of 1891, for the Belgian Prix de Rome competition, his studies with Franck had been cut short by the latter's death in November and, apart from occasional coaching from d'Indy, his compositional technique was in place. D'Indy, in fact, encouraged him to compete. Lekeu had already taken on the mantle of self-doubt, despite—or because of—cosseting within the family orbit, easy acceptance by Franck and his circle, and the awareness of large powers as yet unfocused. After the obligatory fugue—for which Lekeu was preternaturally talented—and a chorus with orchestra, he was accepted and given the cantata text by one Jules Sauvenière, to which he soon warmed. Preliminary to the events of the cantata, a monster ravages the Ethiopian countryside. To his friend, Marcel Guimbaud, Lekeu describes the action—"First part: Lament of the Ethiopians—Religious march; the priests of Ammon beg the god to designate a victim to appease Neptunes's anger… Response of the god: Andromeda must die. Incited by the priests, the people rush Andromeda to the rock, heedless of the victim's lament. Part two: Monologue of Andromeda—her mockery by the Nereids—Perseus then arrives and frees Andromeda—the heavens are filled with music…Perseus and Andromeda sing a triumphant wedding hymn…." En loge, the contestants shared their efforts. Another candidate, Leopold Charlier, confided to his mother after hearing parts of Lekeu's work, "It goes without saying that he will take First Prize… Smulders [another candidate]… told Lekeu, ‘Sir, you are a great artist. I came to this competition in the hope of gaining the First Prize, as you well know. If they offer it to me now, I will refuse it!" Lekeu's mortification when Andromède was awarded Second Prize on September 12th is understandable—in his disappointment he at first declined it—and commentators, following the composer, have located the cause of this relative failure in the politics of competing conservatories and Lekeu's "advanced" idiom. In fact, Lekeu's music is conventional even by the standards of its day, while numerous opportunities for dramatic highlighting throughout Part One are trodden under by steady plodding in common time, relieved only by occasional crescendi. Part Two exhibits greater animation but attempts at extraversion are unconvincingly perfunctory. Curiously, it was a hearing of Andromeda's Lament, warmed by Lekeu's melodic gift, that prompted Ysaÿe to commission Lekeu's Violin Sonata.

© Adrian Corleonis, All Music Guide