150 summers have passed since the birth of Déodat de Séverac. I suppose it’s only appropriate that the composer best known for “En vacances” be born in the season of vacations.

Musically speaking, there are two types of getaways: (1) actual travel music, inspired by a journey to a particular locale; and (2) the flight of fancy, a vacation of the creative mind. Either lends itself to compiling collections of miniatures, after the fashion, perhaps, of some of the great keyboard works of Robert Schumann.

Séverac studied in Paris with Vincent d’Indy and Albéric Magnard. He also acted as an assistant to Isaac Albéniz, whose character pieces certainly influenced some of his own evocative regionalisms for the keyboard.

Séverac himself composed two sets of piano pieces, which he collected under the title “En vacances” (“On Vacation”). The second of these, sadly, was left incomplete at the time of his death at the age of 48.

These sketches suggest the experiences of his children, Mimi and Toto, in particular, with individual movements titled “Invocation to Schumann,” “Grandmother’s caresses,” “Visit from the little girls next door,” “Toto pretends to be a verger,” “Mimi dresses up as a Marquise,” “In the park,” “On listening to a musical box,” and “Romantic Waltz.”

Enjoy both sets, performed here by Aldo Ciccolini:

Happy birthday, Déodat de Séverac, born 150 years ago!

PHOTO: For Déodat de Séverac, a good smoke is like a vacation