Messiaen - La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus-Christ

Gerard Bouwhuis - piano
Adam Walker - flute
Julian Bliss - clarinet
Sonia Wieder-Atherton - cello
Colin Currie - xylophone
Adrian Spillett - marimba
Richard Benjafield - vibraphone
Philharmonia Voices
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thierry Fischer - conductor

[@lw393]

All the classic Messiaen touches - the huge blocks of sound, percussive piano, rarely-seen instruments, and the occasional jazz touch. One of the notable composers of the 20th century. I'm grateful that this is available to watch.

[@jppitman1]

I was going to watch some science videos this fine Sunday morning, but my recent listening to his Turangalila got me thinking about this other “T” work of his and I was going to just watch 10 minutes of it given it’s long length. I stayed for the entire performance! The sonorities and orchestral colors are so unusual and indescribably delicious that I could not retreat from the performance. They rope me in every time. How on earth do you come up with this stuff and apply it as a code to a piece of paper to be later interpreted by proficient musicians in order to bring the composer’s mind to life. That’s a “transfiguration” in itself.

[@user-es8yl1tf9f]

Как хорошо Вы написали!

[@paulamrod537]

The technique of his harmony through symmetrical scales is of a most distinct and glorious mastery.

[@muslit]

whatever

[@maestrodanielepasini]

Bach e Messiaen sono i due più grandi compositori della storia della musica. Nessuno come loro.

[@scriabinismydog2439]

Concordo, ma a mio parere dovrebbe esserci anche Mahler.

[@DavidEzequielPerez]

absolutamente de acuerdo!

[@DanielePasini_flute]

Non sono ascoltatore di Mahler, ma oggettivamente Messiaen ha uno stile talmente particolare che è impossibile da imitare, anche perché il suo amore per la natura è profondamente legato alla fede cattolica.@@scriabinismydog2439

[@Dieubussy]

La musique de Messiaen tient du vitrail : lumière, couleurs, mais sans épaisseur et dessin sommaire. En dépit de saint François laTransfiguration est bien son chef d’œuvre . J’ai assisté à sa création à Paris avec Serge Baudo. Je me souviens de ma gratitude de le voir revenir au langage de la Turangalila après des années d’égarement du côté du Domaine Musical.

[@davidponce4122]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4LQi3iYd79gbtE

[@cordeiropascoal]

*reposting the movement markers (updated and working): First Septenary (1/2) 00:12 I. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 03:30 II. Configuration corpori claritatis suae (To be like his glorified body); 10:05 III. Christus Jesus, splendor Patris (Jesus, reflection of the Father); 17:51 IV. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 20:42 V. Quam dilecta tabernacula tua (How lovely are your tabernacles); 31:50 VI. Candor est lucis aeternae (She is the reflection of eternal light); 33:20 VII. Choral de la sainte montaigne (Chorale of the holy mountain). Second Septenary (2/2) 41:05 VIII. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 45:05 IX. Perfecte conscius illius perfectae generationis (Perfectly conscious of that perfect generation); 1:02:33 X. Adoptionem filiorum perfectam (The perfect adoption of sons); 1:12:12 XI. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 1:16:55 XII. Terribilis est locus iste (How awesome is this place); 1:25:10 XIII. Tota Trinitas apparuit (The whole Trinity appears); 1:40:13 XIV. Choral de la lumière de gloire (Chorale of the light of glory)

[@MagnanimousDominion]

Very interesting and strange but fascinating how this piece of music appears to be reflecting, in general, the Latin version of the word “awesome” meaning, not only “great”, but awe inspiring, in a manner which may also inspire terror. This is the only way I can truly explain how Messiaen makes use of extremely modernist dissonances in a piece about the transfiguration of Christ. On one level it may be implying that the transfiguration itself is terrifying as well as glorious; but then again, this may be the point; if you look at section XII, it is titled in Latin: “Terribilis est locus iste”, and this roughly translates into English as “how awesome is this place/this place is awesome”. In Latin, the word “awesome” has the same roots as the word “terrible”. Most people these days think of “terrible” and “awesome” as having different meanings, but in Latin, it appears they both have the same overall meaning - I’m not a Latin scholar by any means so I may be mistaken, but it looks as if this is the case. And think also about how similar the words “awesome” and “awful” are, with the same roots, suggesting that Messiaen may have intentionally used both extremely dissonant chords and strange, surreal musical effects such as whatever is happening in the strings at 42:33 until 42:50, alongside more consonant chords, to create that ambiguous atmosphere of both beauty and terror. This is just my interpretation, I may be mistaken, but I think it is worth considering.

[@hmoy24677]

Unique way to express faith. Love it!

[@chrisdoeller7332]

This is a Messiaen work I will need to listen to many times. Reminds me of George Crumb.

[@jesusmariacarlos]

Impresionante, maestro Oliver Messiaen, en paz descanses!!!

[@henrikibsen6258]

Oh, man. I could never get away with lyrics like that.

[@DanielePasini_flute]

che dire......STUPENDO, MAGNIFICO, MAESTOSO

[@vincentstuart3148]

one hell of a masterpiece!!!!!!!!!

[@MegaCirse]

Le pouvoir expressif de l'architecture sonore rompt avec toute forme de transcription du réel pour s'attacher à l'expression d'un univers explosif. Les couleurs et le rythme de ces compositions sont un langage qui donne vie à l'exaltation. Cette musique sublime montre que même dans un égout mental comme le catholicisme, des plantes magnifiques peuvent fleurir !

[@Scriabinfan593]

Wow that chord at 10:21 is just amazing

[@truthlivingetc88]

i will check it out

[@RobertDeMiedo]

Impresionante obra. Maravillosa. Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con usted: si no fuera por este sitio en la internet, cómo podríamos disfrutar de una representación como esta?

[@123must]

Beautiful ! Thanks

[@Nganguenf]

Une pièce qui ressasse autant d'émotions!!!!! C'est tout simplement......"Transfigurant"!

[@citrone345]

Mercy St OLIVIER pour ce grand cadeau donnè à nous.

[@fernado39]

contemporary is like the coolest thing on earth for me!!!

[@mozarthaydn]

Very nice performance. Thank you for uloading the whole video with the subtitle !!!

[@tadeuandrade9134]

Soberbo, magnífico

[@iturcu]

Excelent! Multumesc!

[@MartineMaillard]

Magnifique interprétation ! Merci !

[@Theobetei]

Are lyrics like these that make our real world as fictional, and, at the same time, that all fiction has become reality, by love from Him who brings us everything to reality.

[@MegaCirse]

It's beautiful as the chance encounter of an umbrella and a sewing machine on a dissecting table !!

[@LuizBHMG]

Esse início com os tamtams, pratos e sinos tubulares, além da percussão de madeira, já soa como uma transfiguração. Lindíssimo trabalho musical de Messiaen!

[@swapnilclubpasha]

Loved this interpretation, dynamics showcase, such a huge a orchestra and loved the pianist playing. Liked the red hair girl, the video guy focusing in starting same hair style, colour like me.. :)

[@123must]

A lot of thanks !

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

A gargantuan work of mass intricacy. Remarkable composition.

[@FABCELLI]

MASTERPIECE!!!!!!!!!

[@RobertDeMiedo]

Todo un viaje místico. Me encantan los espacios de silencio a lo lago de toda la obra. El coro es algo im-pre-sio-nan-te. Me gusta mucho cómo la orquestación casi es pura atmósfera. Pero si algo me parece realmente hermoso son esos espacios de silencio intercalados con el coro y las campanas, o los silencios y las breves intervenciones de los instrumentos. Gracias por subir esta obra. Saludos desde México, D.F.

[@pabloderoka4453]

Monumental

[@oksks]

brillante

[@MegaCirse]

All this work is designed around the strange and magical harmonies of the piano!

[@dou40006]

It is boring like a day without bread, and the religious nature of it fuck it all up. Messian ruined his work with his bigotry and his obsession for the songs of birds.

[@MegaCirse]

dou40006 "The bigots" as you say dear sir, have never loved Messiaen who made them well with his fantastic music and so evocative!

[@maestrodanielepasini]

Philippe Cirse meraviglia delle meraviglie. nessun compositore dopo Bach ha mai raggiunto vette così alte

[@cordeiropascoal]

First Septenary (1/2) 00:12 I. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 03:30 II. Configuration corpori claritatis suae (To be like his glorified body); 10:05 III. Christus Jesus, splendor Patris (Jesus, reflection of the Father); 17:51 IV. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 20:42 V. Quam dilecta tabernacula tua (How lovely are your tabernacles); 31:50 VI. Candor est lucis aeternae (She is the reflection of eternal light); 33:20 VII. Choral de la sainte montaigne (Chorale of the holy mountain). (CONT.)

[@maestrodanielepasini]

musica a dir poco incredibile.

[@sonicsnap1173]

Wonderful music. This video could be fantastic but the shift between the music and the picture is a bit annoying..

[@krantiyatri]

Audio fuori sincrono di 1/2 secondo, però magnifico!

[@TheMysticalOrgan]

I was at this concert but remember little of it as I kept passing out in the stifling heat of the poorly-ventilated Royal Albert Hall. It will be interesting to revisit the concert. What I do recall, I didn't much like (and I am a big Messiaen fan). The players and singers seemed to be bored and distracted by the end.

[@conradclipper]

Then you did not deserve to be there. This is an extraordinary masterpiece and beautifully played.

[@richardharrold9736]

@@conradclipper it would have helped if I'd been able to breathe... but I got the impression that it was not Messiaen at his best.

[@conradclipper]

@@richardharrold9736 Fair dos. I guess not every piece can slap like jardin du sommeil d'amour

[@chronochromie772]

@@conradclipper This """slaps""" harder than Jardin du sommeil. Way harder than the latter ever has.

[@djinn1914]

Extrait de par Pascal Ide : Olivier Messiaen nourrissait aussi une secrète préférence pour le rythme à l’égard de la mélodie et de l’harmonie. Certes, tout musicien est rythmicien. Malheureusement, le terme rythme souffre d’un profond malentendu (c’est le cas de le dire). Pour la plupart des personnes, et des musiciens, qui dit rythme, dit succession ininterrompue de durées égales. L’exemple type en est la musique militaire ou le second mouvement de la Huitième symphonie de Beethoven. En regard écoutons Messiaen ouvrir la conférence prononcée dans le cadre de l’Exposition universelle de Bruxelles, en 1958 : « N’oublions pas que l’élément premier, essentiel de la musique, est le rythme, et que le rythme, c’est d’abord le changement de nombre et de durée ». Ainsi, même le travail contrapuntique d’un Bach est dénué de rythme ; par contre la rythmique mozartienne, sans doute la plus géniale du répertoire classique, présente une succession d’accents, une véritable cinématique, qui en rendent d’ailleurs l’interprétation difficile. Or, quelle est l’origine de la véritable notion de rythme-pulsation qui se refuse à la mortelle égalité ? La nature, en particulier le vent, les torrents ou les vagues de la mer ; et la nature est de Dieu. Messiaen remarque qu’ « une musique rythmique est une musique qui méprise la répétition, la carrure et les divisions égales, qui s’inspire en somme des mouvements de la nature, mouvement de durées libres et inégales [15] ». A l’école des chants d’oiseaux, il a compris la nature du rythme : « ce sont les oiseaux qui m’ont conduit vers les superpositions de tempos. Quand on assiste au réveil des oiseaux, au printemps, vers quatre heures du matin, on entend nos grands solistes, la Grive musicienne, le Loriot, le Rossignol, le Merle noir, et chacun chante dans son propre tempo. D’autres oiseaux, qui ont aussi leur tempo personnel, les accompagnent. Cinquante voix peuvent se superposer dans des tempos différents. Le résultat est un fouillis absolument impénétrable, un prodigieux enchevêtrement, qui reste cependant toujours harmonieux

[@elijahfry]

sublime!

[@michaelstrand5268]

Arvo Pärt’s Passio also has a big major chord at the end. Were these composers trying to acknowledge the old traditions in music -- to cheer the audience up with a more familiar sound before they left the concert hall? In a way, the whole piece is like a long dissonance finally resolving to a "hopeful" conclusion.

[@docsketchy]

For Messiaen, it is about light. In fact, this whole work is about light. The vast E major chord at the end is Messiaen's way of pointing the light of the sun directly into your face and burning away your disbelief. I don't even think of it as tonality. Those earth-shattering chords at the end of the final chorale of Transfiguration bear about as much relationship to a classical cadence as the sun bears to a sputtering wax candle. Also, just in case you were any doubt, I consider La Transfiguration to be one of the all-time great musical works, on the same shelf as the Mass in B minor -- a towering human achievement for the ages.

[@cordeiropascoal]

Second Septenary (2/2) 41:05 VIII. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 45:05 IX. Perfecte conscius illius perfectae generationis (Perfectly conscious of that perfect generation); 1:02:33 X. Adoptionem filiorum perfectam (The perfect adoption of sons); 1:12:12 XI. Récit évangélique (Gospel); 1:16:55 XII. Terribilis est locus iste (How awesome is this place); 1:25:10 XIII. Tota Trinitas apparuit (The whole Trinity appears); 1:40:13 XIV. Choral de la lumière de gloire (Chorale of the light of glory)

[@docsketchy]

This is a pretty decent performance, all things considering. However, to really hear this piece in the best possible light, one must go back to the original Decca recording under the direction of Antal Dorati. The later recordings don't really do the piece justice. Considering the comment about the major chord at the end, there are major chords throughout this piece. This is probably Messiaen's most tonal piece, certainly from his late period (post 1950s).

[@reidwhitton6248]

The Dorati CD is fairly rare and expensive. I had to settle for the Chung. I wonder how the Reinbert de Leeuw recording compares?

[@docsketchy]

@@reidwhitton6248 My advice would be to find the Dorati recordings on KZbin and download them using a KZbin-to-MP3 converter. The de Leeuw recording isn't bad -- a little dry for my taste, but still far better than Chung IMHO.

[@reidwhitton6248]

@@docsketchy I found a copy of the de Leeuw CDs in great condition for 10 bucks so I ordered it. The Chung has great sound but isn't very exciting. Have you heard the Rickenbaker recording on Koch?

[@docsketchy]

@@reidwhitton6248 I'm not sure. I may have listened to it on KZbin. I only own the Chung and Dorati CDs. I never listen to the Chung, except occasionally to remind myself of how much I dislike it. I listen to the Dorati version regularly -- in fact, I'm listening to it right now. It is one of those Messiaen works which I have more or less committed to memory I've listened to it so much. The others are Des canyons aux etoiles... (I strongly prefer the Salonen/London Sinfonietta version with Paul Crossley on piano), Vingt Regards (I own the Osborne and about four others, but I prefer the Aimard), and Meditations sur le mystere de la sainte trinite (I own both the Jennifer Bate version and the complete organ works by Olivier Latry -- a bit of a toss-up, TBH -- if you haven't revelled in the last two minutes of the first meditation, then you don't know what you are missing... that is Messiaen high drama to the absolute max.) I can't remember which music critic said that when the dust settles, Mahler and Messiaen will be the most celebrated composers of the 20th century, but I couldn't agree more. I believe that Messiaen's genius will make him into a "bustie" of the future -- the sort of composers whose likenesses are made into little rubber busts for young music students to put on their pianos.

[@reidwhitton6248]

​@@docsketchy I have the 6 disc Jennifer Bate set. I have yet to pick up a copy of Des canyons. Update! Just ordered a nice copy of the Salonen Des Canyons from eBay.

[@docsketchy]

Fantastic (except that the video and the audio are out of sync). I tried to get to London (from W. Canada) to attend this performance, but I couldn't. I did get to Montreal for the SMCQ performance of "Des canyons aux etoiles..." so it wasn't a total loss. I'd like to buy this video; any ideas where or how?

[@PointyTailofSatan]

This piece makes me think of the swooping of some great bird.....

[@Raflemakt]

there is always a larger gong

[@ixenakis]

メシアンいいですね、美しい音楽と音色 まぁ時代によって聞き方も違いますがメシアンは先駆者ですねクセナキスも

[@andrewnguyen1220]

The audio is late

[@LYTT10I03]

Uff, who could get konzentrate listening all that piece long, and are these peaople really staying?

[@wormswithteeth]

Mind blowing....if a little out of sync. ;)

[@maestrodanielepasini]

Chi ha messo "non mi piace" non capisce nulla di musica

[@Musicch-gi8ej]

What does this music feel like? Mysterious is not word but near? It feels like a strange world. Sounds full of dread and in need of a saviour

[@EdNeyBraga]

this is a song of praise and of most sincere worship.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

It's like music written by Jackson Pollock.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

OMG! Was that a major chord at 28:55?

[@thomascaprino7948]

That's an E-major 6 chord.

[@MegaCirse]

A la réflexion, pourquoi pas ? Mais Messiaen me semble quand même plus serein que Pollock ........... ;-)

[@scronx]

At any time during those endless tootlings, plinkings and angular chantings do you briefly feel he's making a fool of us?

[@DrNoahofChina]

scronx not even once

[@JohnBolender]

Now that you ask, ... no.

[@scronx]

@@DrNoahofChina Maybe you should. Picasso admitted in Life magazine that he did all that modern garbootch to make fools of critics.

[@DrNoahofChina]

@scronx if you dig into Messiaen's work, it's extremely internally consistent, logical, and proportioned. Definitely worth a deeper look. I would start with his Turangalila symphony which has a very moving, almost Hollywood-esque love theme.

[@scronx]

​@@DrNoahofChina I've heard the entire thing while reading his nutty synopsis. 'Joie du sang des étoiles' is great fun because it's actually music. Incidentally Doctor I have a master's in organ and have been playing in churches for 1/8 of ameriKan history, using lots of good modern music along the way. Do you live in China -- make music there?

[@amilisom]

Does anybody worship God to this music?

[@reidwhitton6248]

Why not? It's more interesting than some dusty old hymns.

[@pianxtremeyt]

@@reidwhitton6248 exactly; I would much rather listen to this than generic rap and pop trash

[@muslit]

underwhelmed

[@bassoonmaster]

You kept passing out? And you accuse musicians of being distracted by the end? You couldn't stay awake and they had to perform devilish piece of music literature in this conditions? Poor you ...

[@TheMysticalOrgan]

The musicians and audience alike were suffering in the atrocious conditions. The Royal Albert Hall is a disgrace - poor acoustics, poor ventilation... the only redeeming features of it are the frieze on the outside of the hall and the organ.