messiaen

i'm getting into this guy but it's kind of overwhelming because he has so much work out. i want to hear some of his ondes martenot work, but i don't know where to begin. i'm liking what i've heard of his piano stuff, especially catalogue d'oiseaux.

any suggestions?

  On 11/18/2009 at 9:07 AM, ieafs said:

 

weirdly enough it was some of the organ things that got me into him first... l'ascension, la nativite du seigneur and messe de la pentecote. the long decay and stuff just really seems to suit that weird static timelessness of his music... and it kind of sounds doubly weird hearing those really exotic colourful harmonies on an organ given the sort of music you generally hear for organs.

 

Just last weekend I picked up a couple of messiaen organ LPs, la nativite du seigneur and livre d'orgue.. Quite heavy-going stuff, particularly livre d'orgue, but rewarding. Never heard tones like that coming from an organ!

maybe the actual messiaen(watmmer) could suggest some stuff

I'd definitely go with a recording of his 'Turangalila Symphony'. The best performance/recording I've found is the Simon Rattle conducting the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. I've listened to about four other versions and Simon's conducting seems to have the best balance in regards to pacing, dynamics, and aggressiveness. Plus the piano just cuts through in a really great way on the recording. This should also meet your Ondes Martenot requirement. That CD package will also come with a decent recording of his 'Quartet For the End of Time' which is another famous piece of his, though I cant act as an authority on it's quality compared to others out there.

possibly the most beautiful, original music ive ever heard. his music inspires my life.

basically get yvonne loriot (his second wife) playing his music in a set of his entire catalogue called messiaen edition. you can consider her playing the authorative version of it, he wrote it for her to play.

i have a few classes with peter hill next term on messiaen. i cannot wait.

im learning 'la baiser du l'enfant jesus' at the moment. its bitchin'

his grave is equally bitchin'

  On 11/20/2009 at 9:14 AM, messiaen said:

i have a few classes with peter hill next term on messiaen. i cannot wait.

 

im learning 'la baiser du l'enfant jesus' at the moment. its bitchin'

 

his grave is equally bitchin'

 

LE baiser DE l'enfant Jésus

couldnt be arsed looking it up

fuck you

check out his O Sacrum Convivium - it's a choral piece. one of my favorite in the universe.

included for reference. . please try to find a higher quality version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVLsIIlbO-Y&fmt=18

quatour pour la fin du temps.