CHAN 9678 front.qxd 26/10/07 11:32 am Page 1 Chan 9678 MM ESSIAENESSIAEN CHANDOS Turangalîla-symphonie Yan Pascal Tortelier HOWARD SHELLEY piano VALERIE HARTMANN-CLAVERIE ondes martenot Yan Pascal Tortelier CHAN 9678 BOOK.qxd 26/10/07 11:38 am Page 2 Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) Turangalîla-symphonie (rev. 1990) 1 1 Introduction 6:15 2 2 Chant d’amour I 8:09 3 3 Turangalîla I 5:08 4 4 Chant d’amour II 10:19 AKG 5 5 Joie du sang des étoiles 6:31 6 6 Jardin du sommeil d’amour 11:33 7 7 Turangalîla II 3:43 8 8 Développement de l’amour 11:20 9 9 Turangalîla III 5:03 10 10 Final 7:11 TT 76:06 Howard Shelley piano Valérie Hartmann-Claverie ondes martenot BBC Philharmonic Yan Pascal Tortelier Olivier Messiaen 3 CHAN 9678 BOOK.qxd 26/10/07 11:38 am Page 4 cannot be fully understood apart from The composer uses four cyclic themes. The Messiaen: Turangalîla-symphonie Messiaen’s religious beliefs. first, the ‘statue’ theme, is heavy and brutal, He was born into the Roman Catholic faith heard nearly always on trombones; for and remained a believer all his life. The Messiaen it recalled one of those implacable, Turangalîla, a work of Messiaen’s late thirties, The title is made up of two Sanskrit words: majority of his works are commentaries on the prehistoric Mexican heads carved in volcanic was one of the earliest of his commissioned ‘turanga’ signifies ‘time’, in the sense of time Scriptures – a fact which in itself is rare rock. The second, the ‘flower’ theme, is made works and for him one of the most passing, rhythm, movement; ‘lîla’ means ‘play’, enough in the twentieth century. Messiaen up of three phrases, gently unfolding on two satisfactory, in that Koussevitsky asked him to and includes the notions of opposition, compounded this strangeness by employing clarinets. Together they represent one of the write something for the Boston Symphony resistance, creation, destruction and love. many sounds and procedures that have few traditionally symphonic attributes of Orchestra and allowed him total freedom as to Where ‘turanga’ urges ever onward, ‘lîla’ holds nothing to do with the cosy ecclesiasticism of Turangalîla – the contrast of ‘masculine’ and the kind of work, its length, the forces up or at least articulates the flow of time with a Gounod; he has thus managed to outrage ‘feminine’ themes. The third, the ‘love’ theme, involved and – ultimate generosity – gave him dramatic incident. Each depends on the other non-believers and believers alike by, is not heard until the sixth movement; it is as much time as he wanted to complete it. for its significance, as death gives meaning to respectively, his attachment to Roman developed from the first two, symbolizing the Messiaen took Koussevitsky at his word over life, or as an ocean is defined by its Catholicism, and his willingness to incorporate spiritual union of the two lovers. The fourth the first three clauses, but needed only just surrounding continents. into religious music what had hitherto been ‘theme’ is not a melody but a ‘theme of over two years to complete this enormous The Symphony stands as the second part of regarded as mundane, even vulgar elements. chords’ – four seven-note chords that serve a score. Not that he was generally a fast what Messiaen called his ‘Tristan trilogy’, His approach to composition is also catholic purely musical function. The following outline composer, but the ideas behind the Symphony between the song-cycle Harawi and Cinq with a small ‘c’: in his own words, he came to of the ten movements may be helpful. were already gestating, and it may be that the rechants for mixed chorus. The opposition of possess ‘a very rich, well-supplied ensemble of 1. Introduction. Two sections linked by a relaxed terms of the commission removed any love and death is central to all three; although, materials which is growing all the time, but piano cadenza. In the first section we hear the inhibitions there might have been. as already explained, opposition here includes without renouncing what has been in the past first two cyclic themes; the second section is ‘Uninhibited’ is certainly one of the epithets justification. Messiaen is not concerned with or ignoring what will be in the future’. This built on super-imposed rhythmic patterns. that springs to mind, all the more so since the ‘eternal triangle’ aspect of the Tristan ensemble in Turangalîla includes not only 2. Song of love I. Sharp contrasts between immediately after it Messiaen turned to story. What drew him to it was the portrayal of diatonic chords, but also systematically derived passionate outbursts on trumpets and slow, exploring even more radical and often a love that was willing to sacrifice everything: chromatic modes and rhythms taken from tender passages on ondes martenot and abstruse-seeming elements of musical he regarded the Tristan story as the legend ancient Indian music, while the orchestra strings. (The ‘love’ movements all have even language in works such as Mode de valeurs et that comes nearest to depicting the love of includes a piano, ondes martenot, and a large numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8.) d’intensités for piano, and the organ suites God – even if, as he said, it would be percussion section. The piano, the pitched 3. Turangalîla. Six sections, with ‘lîla’ Messe de la Pentecôte and Livre d’orgue. blasphemous to see it as any more than the percussion and the metal percussion – triangle, promoting many complex rhythmic games, Leonard Bernstein conducted the first palest reflection of that love. So although the cymbals, tam-tam, and bells – form a small mainly among unpitched percussion. (The performance of the Turangalîla-symphonie in score itself gives only the vaguest intimation orchestra within the whole, its sound being ‘Turangalîla’ movements all have odd numbers: Boston in December 1949. that this is not a purely secular work, in fact it modelled on that of the Balinese gamelan. 3, 7, 9.) 4 5 CHAN 9678 BOOK.qxd 26/10/07 11:38 am Page 6 4. Song of love II. Scherzo with two trios; international career takes him each season to teaches the ondes martenot at the Paris featuring artists such as Gennady the trios appear successively and are then Europe, Scandinavia, North America and the Conservatoire. Rozhdestvensky, Matthias Bamert and Richard superimposed. Nine sections in all. Far East both as solo pianist and, since 1985 Hickox as well as its own conductors. 5. Joy of the blood of the stars. The also as conductor. Based in Manchester, the BBC Philharmonic composer wrote: ‘In order to understand the Howard Shelley has especially been has established an international reputation, Hailed as one of the most exciting conductors extravagance of this piece, it must be associated with the music of Rachmaninov and having travelled extensively to the USA, the to emerge from France in recent years, Yan understood that the union of true lovers is for has performed and recorded complete cycles Far East, South America and all over Europe. Pascal Tortelier has been Principal Conductor them a transformation, and a transformation of his solo piano works and concertos. As Its Principal Conductor is Yan Pascal Tortelier, of the BBC Philharmonic since July 1992. Son on a cosmic scale.’ Principal Guest Conductor of the London Sir Edward Downes is Conductor Emeritus and of the late Paul Tortelier, he studied piano and 6. Garden of the sleep of love. The two Mozart Players he has recorded the first six Vassily Sinaisky (Music Director of the Moscow violin at the Paris Conservatoire. Following lovers are themselves in the garden, full of volumes of a much praised Mozart concerto Philharmonic) is Principal Guest Conductor. general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, light, shade, and birdsong. ‘The lovers are cycle, the Mendelssohn concertos and now The Orchestra records over one hundred Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara outside time; let us not wake them…’ Hummel, forming part of a series of classical programmes annually for BBC Radio 3 and in Siena. He now appears with leading 7. Turangalîla II. A terrifying movement, concertos. BBC Television both in the studio and in orchestras throughout Europe, the USA, Japan recalling the tortures of the prisoner in Poe’s public concerts all over Britain. Under its and Australia and also in Britain where he has story The Pit and the Pendulum. Valérie Hartmann-Claverie studied piano, exclusive Chandos contract the BBC worked with all the major symphony orchestras. 8. Development of love. Musical harp, ondes martenot and chamber music at Philharmonic displays an extensive repertoire He records exclusively for Chandos. development also, involving all the cyclic college followed by further study of the ondes themes, especially the third. martenot at the Paris Conservatoire with Jean 9. Turangalîla III. Theme and variations. Loriod. Further rhythmic games on unpitched In 1973 she gave her debut concert in percussion. Vienna, and now performs throughout Europe 10. Finale ‘….with great joy’. It leads to a with prestigious orchestras such as the triumphant version of the ‘love’ theme from London Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic and the sixth movement and a well-earned final Boston Symphony, and with illustrious chord of F sharp major. conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Kurt Masur and Marek Janowski. © 1998 Roger Nichols Valérie Hartmann-Claverie was a member of the Loriod Sextet from its foundation in Howard Shelley’s career as one of Britain’s 1974 until 1995, and in 1996 she founded most outstanding musicians began with his the quartet Ondes de Choc. As well as highly acclaimed recital debut in 1971.