On the Centennial of the Birth of Olivier Messiaen
"Quatour Pour la Fin du Temps" was written by Messiaen on pencil and paper provided to him by his Nazi prison guards while prisoner of war in Gorlitz in 1940. It was first performed on January 15, 1941 for an audience of guards and 5000 prisoners.
The work consists of eight movements, the fifth of which is entitled "Louange a L'eternite de Jesus." If you YouTube "messiaen" you'll find this piece.
I happened upon Messiaen over Christmas in a NY Times article about a holiday concert that included his work. Prodded by the description of his work as "mystical," I searched further. There will be celebrations and performances around the world in commemoration of his 100th birthday, including some gigs by the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in March.
Messiaen was a renowned ornithologist (birds) and you can hear various bird calls throughout his music. He also "suffered from" synesthesia (hearing colors as sounds) and this phenomenon bears upon his work.
If you hear "Louange," you will be touched by it. It is maddeningly familiar and strange, heartbreaking and foreboding. I don't know what "color" it is, but it certainly belongs as a movement within a piece written for the end of time. Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) cites Messiaen as a seminal influence on his music. Perhaps that's why Messiaen's work rings such sublime bells.
Bloomsday
Cleveland, OH
January 2004
JAN 08, 2008 03:54 AM