Messiaen Organ Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Olivier Messiaen
Label: Unicorn-Kanchana
Magazine Review Date: 10/1987
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 129
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DKPCD9067/8
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Livre du Saint-Sacrement |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
Jennifer Bate, Organ Olivier Messiaen, Composer |
Composer or Director: Olivier Messiaen
Label: Unicorn-Kanchana
Magazine Review Date: 10/1987
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DKPC9067/8
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Livre du Saint-Sacrement |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
Jennifer Bate, Organ Olivier Messiaen, Composer |
Author:
Jennifer Bate wrote in the Organists' Review, ''After the British premiere at Westminster Cathedral last October, Olivier Messiaen invited me to make the world premiere recording with him at the Trinity Church in Paris, which would allow everyone a unique opportunity to hear every sound exactly as he envisaged'' and in an interview on page 534 describes making this record. I was sorry to miss the Cathedral event, which was widely praised, but feel that these records, the fruit of more discussion between composer and performer are perhaps even more valuable. We hear this immense work played where it first came to life, in Messiaen's own organ loft.
Though it's true that every work by this composer is intensely personal, the Livre, a many-sided evocation of the Blessed Sacrament which is his anchor of faith, seems to be a summing up in musical terms of all he has tried to say over the years. We are used to those musical terms, the shattering discords of horror and evil, often held unbearably when depicting unbearable things, the exotic rhythms, which beguile the ear quite smoothly despite the problems they pose for the player, the meticulously-noted birdsongs, the distant comforting voices, the piling up of glory upon glory using superimposed harmonies glittering with mixtures, the blazoned heraldry of the King of Kings.
It is hard to imagine how all this could be more faithfully offered than it is here. Jennifer Bate makes this musical pilgrimage flow so naturally that it is difficult to believe it takes two hours. The rich sonority of the Trinity organ, backed by fertile reverberation is absolutely real. It would be idle to pretend, however, that such detailed music, whose technical construction merits detailed study, could yield many of its secrets without the aid of an outline plan and some explanation of the devices employed. The first 11 pieces are chornological, ending with the appearance of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene. The remaining eight concern the worship of Jesus in the Sacrament. The booklet is a helpful guide. ''Manna and the Bread of Life'' (No. 6) represents the desert, its silence, its wind and the song of two birds noted in the desert of Judaea. In ''The Two Walls of Water'', the parting of the Red Sea and the breaking of the Host, we need verbal help to appreciate the musical symbolism. Only a fragment of the Livre's value will be gained from haphazard listening. But we are well served. This is a monumental achievement.'
Though it's true that every work by this composer is intensely personal, the Livre, a many-sided evocation of the Blessed Sacrament which is his anchor of faith, seems to be a summing up in musical terms of all he has tried to say over the years. We are used to those musical terms, the shattering discords of horror and evil, often held unbearably when depicting unbearable things, the exotic rhythms, which beguile the ear quite smoothly despite the problems they pose for the player, the meticulously-noted birdsongs, the distant comforting voices, the piling up of glory upon glory using superimposed harmonies glittering with mixtures, the blazoned heraldry of the King of Kings.
It is hard to imagine how all this could be more faithfully offered than it is here. Jennifer Bate makes this musical pilgrimage flow so naturally that it is difficult to believe it takes two hours. The rich sonority of the Trinity organ, backed by fertile reverberation is absolutely real. It would be idle to pretend, however, that such detailed music, whose technical construction merits detailed study, could yield many of its secrets without the aid of an outline plan and some explanation of the devices employed. The first 11 pieces are chornological, ending with the appearance of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene. The remaining eight concern the worship of Jesus in the Sacrament. The booklet is a helpful guide. ''Manna and the Bread of Life'' (No. 6) represents the desert, its silence, its wind and the song of two birds noted in the desert of Judaea. In ''The Two Walls of Water'', the parting of the Red Sea and the breaking of the Host, we need verbal help to appreciate the musical symbolism. Only a fragment of the Livre's value will be gained from haphazard listening. But we are well served. This is a monumental achievement.'
Messiaen Organ Works
Messiaen Organ Works
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