Messiaen - O Sacrum Convivium

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
O Sacrum Convivium! (1937)
The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter conducting.

[@Z7y631]

this has probably the most beautiful hallelujah in history of music.

[@hilairejerome5159]

true ! and seems here i has been sung without a breath! that is so incredible

[@R.LeeOtherson-dt8bx]

Nope. Berlioz' Requiem

[@duffyoxopatt3950]

i think whatever your religious background is, you can't not feel this hallelujah

[@woulvesmcgee4362]

Thanks for saying this it made me listen to the whole thing instead of skipping around like I usually do with music

[@sebastiantorres2542]

*laughs in Arvo Part´s Te Deum

[@erichgroat838]

My favorite moment here is the turning point in the middle, where at the measure 1:29 the bass on the major third is tensely dissonant with the soprano on the minor third, and these _same notes_ turn at the next bar at 1:38 into the soothing tonic and major seventh that opened the piece. Sends shivers down my spine.

[@amandaferber1389]

thank you

[@JoohingDenSeje]

Nicely spotted. This is such a genius piece, I can't believe I only discovered it yesterday.

[@albinodino5050]

Idk man something about the harmony in this piece gives me chills every single time without fail. It’s so strange and mysterious but intensely beautiful and serene at the same time

[@mannymarotta]

In the fall of 2018 I was going through a very rough time in my life and I used to cover myself in my bedsheets and listen to this, it brought me comfort for some reason. Messiaen has helped me more than he knows.

[@yoryoryo]

I never get tired of this piece. Listening to this is like seeing for the first time after being blind all you life. It opens in your brain a complete new universe of sounds and harmonies that you didnt know they existed before. I get overwhelmed by the beauty of the phrases and by how everything sounds like in the edge, like if its going to escape harmonically out of control but it manages to remain attached to "sanity" somehow. In such a beautiful and subtle way. I mean, there is not even a regular time signature here, but everything sounds so balanced, rounded and stable. Perfect. Not a single extra note, not a single note less. This is pure beauty. I feel sorry for those who never will be able to enjoy it.

[@jamaalstewart2531]

so well put

[@caliscribe]

It's not an easy piece to sing, with all those double sharps and complex harmonies, but it's awesome when you finally "get" it. Sang it several years back in church choir.

[@ahollygram]

oh so true ---my high school choir sang this at Chartres and it was just exquisite I could barely hold back the tears every time

[@fryingwiththeantidote2486]

There is a regular time grouping actually, if you notice it goes in a pretty regular cycle of 5 eighth notes to 4 - 3 - 4 and back to 5 which gives it that really nice breathing feel. Its only broken up a few times i think

[@kikodasneves1]

@@caliscribe lol double sharps dont make it hard to listen to, only to read

[@Delmonaco1969]

O sacred banquet O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace and a pledge of future glory to us is given. Alleluia

[@bootman26]

I was privileged to perform this piece when I was in a choir at the IU School of Music. I sang the bass line. It's nice to hear how it all sounded from the front of the choir. I don't know about the other parts, but Messiaen made sure that even with all the dissonance, my part was astoninishinly easy to sing.

[@VilagosJozsi]

that "halleljujah" phrase get me chills everytime. its like angels coming down from heaven.

[@grigoridj]

I cant believe how beautifull this piece of music is. Both haunting and soothing.

[@lhommemaudit6228]

Indeed ,so wonderfully bewitching and so deeply soul-soothing work.

[@cern3873]

Best short choir peace in 20th century. I love it

[@MissInformati0n]

ALL THE CHORDS ARE GOOD

[@matthewjohnson6990]

Messiaen is officially my favorite composer. Period.

[@johnappleseed8369]

[@a.austin320]

He lived a hard life. I wish he could hear your compliment!

[@feloria1862]

Hes got some good peices but i can't get into some of his more crazy stuff.

[@alejandrom.4680]

Feloria with time, you will totally gonna enter into his masterpieces

[@ILoveMagic15]

@@feloria1862 Can you point me to some other of his tonal pieces that are beautiful?

[@punkorganist]

Messiaen, you were such a spiritual and eloquent man; your insights into the divine were profound and worthy of pause.

[@teodelfuego]

We practiced this song daily for a high school choir competition. That was 42 years ago and this song still haunts me in a good way. Being an immature schnitzel, I referred to it as Rockem Sacrum Convivium.

[@annakimborahpa]

In addition to Messiaen's distinctly unique harmonies and the arc-like character of the soprano melody, the irregular dotted note rhythm in each measure provides a continuous suspense keeping the listener riveted.

[@DGHdeeo]

Incredibly gorgeous, both the piece and the performance. I just sang this in my church choir this morning, and can attest to how difficult it is, so I REALLY appreciate this performance here.

[@fliszt11]

If I could have a choir like this singing music like this I would already have one foot in heaven. The Eucharistic text is splendid theology and the music is already otherworldly. I play it at the organ often. But I think it must be terribly difficult to sing it a capella and maintain perfect pitch. Bravo, John Rutter, for such a splendid performance,

[@JDeissreVIEWSFROMHELL]

I was in a choir course and we sang this. I was bass part. So do I have one foot in yet?

[@DGHdeeo]

+J. Deiss yes you do. I, also bass, just sang this in my church choir this morning, we managed to pull it off well, so I truly do feel like I'm in heaven. The glow is still with me into this evening.

[@caliscribe]

I was soprano -- all we need is a tenor and an alto and we can get the band back together. :-)

[@ednaacquah9899]

Richard Cross

[@Oaktownrob]

One of the great monuments of Choral literature! My first hearing of this was at Christ Church Cathedral of St Louis, Mo. The highly touted Oberlin Choir, under the direction of Daniel Moe, painted a picture in sound that will last all of my life!

[@Scriabinfan593]

I’m obsessed with the last chord of this piece, I hear a mid g sharp but there isn’t one on the sheet music. I love that Messiaen didn’t include the g sharp because it makes it sound so faint and you can hear it in the overtones and it produces such a cool effect. I might just be crazy though lol.

[@luizhauckcomposer7619]

I've heard it now, really beautiful indeed!

[@stacia6678]

Bro, i hear that too! Crazy what a I6 cord can do lol

[@neelammajumder5572]

I love this so much. Every tear I cry, every emotion I feel flows like a river into this piece. Every moment in my life was a precursor to the sheer amount of raw emotion I'd feel in this wonderful aural-aphrodisiac. It's gorgeous. I love it. I love you.

[@BodilessVoice]

My goodness, what a lovely comment. I like the music better, for listening to it through your ears.

[@monx]

Tip: you should listen to this at 3:30 AM, either inside a coat closet or a car parked at a remote location (that is, if you don't have access to an anechoic chamber)

[@hatephone]

i will never forget this first time i heard this piece!! made me fall in love with so much

[@themoonfleesthroughclouds]

I like to call it the Messiaen effect: it’s just too good.

[@econ3000]

One of the most hauntingly beautiful works ever written. It still gives me goose bumps. I sang bass in The UC Berkeley Chorus in 1989 when they performed "O Sacrum Convivium." We also did Brahms German Requiem and a piece by Peter Maxwell Davies. It was awesome!

[@JoyeMusiccom]

So beautiful. Just stunning!!

[@DonDraperism]

This is beautiful and it was written by St. Thomas Aquinas. Translated from the Latin is O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory to us is given. Alleluia.

[@cfdefranceschi]

.....ça suffit pour justifier le sublime génie harmonique de Messiaen! ....moi, j'adore, .....il n'y a plus aujourd'hui!

[@oscarjuliano]

O.M.G what a beautiful masterpiece!

[@timgossling3669]

I first heard this many years ago in a concert in Swaffham Prior, just outside Cambridge. The advance publicity mentioned Messiaen, a composer I find fascinating, but I never expected this. I am trying to organise a way of playing this last thing at night in my bedroom: I think it would make a very effective lullaby.

[@stavats]

This is the first time I'm hearing the original, after only being exposed to Fabio Costa's amazing rendition for 4 EWIs (Electronic Wind Instrument) tuned to 19 equal divisions of the octave. Really beautiful piece, each rendition has its own charm and way of shining through. Thank you Mr. Costa

[@user-oy4xk8hr8d]

isn't it something when a piece leaves you completely destroyed, tears flowing down your face.

[@MelodyAtonal]

Never knew this work until now. Thank you for sharing. My appreciation of Messiaen just grows stronger and stronger. What great beauty composed so masterfully!

[@singsingsing22]

Singing this with my choir now and WOW what an experience!!! So beautiful and such a great challenge!

[@dbabayco]

First time I have heard this and the harmonies are beatuiful beyond description!

[@lhommemaudit6228]

I greatly love ,I deeply worship this kind of so spellbindingly soul-soothing works !!!

[@yaybestos]

Where has this been all my life ?

[@JamieGValentine]

This is absolutely sublime. Can't stop listening to it..

[@matthewanderson1308]

I'm not one for favorites, but this is the best piece of music written

[@docbailey3265]

My, just cruising around KZbin and I came across this masterpiece!

[@nickibopp]

Great for covert choir practise at work thanks so much for putting these up they really are a great resource for all the choirs out here!

[@Rheinlander95]

I just love how everyone is an expert on this work. The tempo is perfect. The intonation is perfect, The acoustics are perfect. perfect, perfect, perfect. Got it?

[@rmlectronicsuk2410]

Rheinlander95 You are quite correct. I have sung this piece many times. From age 8 to age 19. Always at this pace, at the direction of the composer. Robert Denton (qv). (Leeds Parish Church UK 1963 - 1971)

[@tripasnipa3670]

@@rmlectronicsuk2410 But this is too quickly, it should be slower

[@vovcha01]

Rheinlander95: Upload the music you have composed and had performed, so we can try (and fail, of course) to comprehend your genius.

[@vicliddalann4485]

One of my favorite choral works beautifully performed.

[@ThomasOgrodnik]

I want to write choral music like this.

[@willjones7132]

I bet this would be great live. Thanks for posting.

[@kateotokhs]

We're singing this at an Ordination at the Salford Cathedral in Manchester tomorrow. Wish us luck and feel free to attend if you can 😊

[@BoldTool20]

will be there 👍

[@homoignobilis]

Waht a blast. I love Messiaean, but I had never heard, or sung it. I sang it right here and love it. One of the best choral pieces ever. I want to do it with one of our local choirs. Thank you ver much. Got anymnore like this?

[@DdbSpune]

After years,still givin me goosebumps.😐

[@pedrobarrosviolao4133]

Wow! What an harmony! The work of a master.

[@JPLodine]

Perfect! Especially love the not overly slow tempo. Flawless intonation even on the trickier changes.

[@WaltzingViolist]

Just discovering this piece and falling totally in love...

[@johnnywhite58]

i love it . I had to accompany it for an unsteady choir when I was 17 ( I know it's a capella ) and it was the first time I ever saw double sharps ! Got through it though.

[@organo3112]

Absolutely beautiful. I am only surprised that I have only just discovered it.

[@roberttv]

It simply doesn't get any better than this! Rutter's tempo follows Messiaen's notation in the original score to use the "Lent" tempo marking for eighth notes... not quarters or dotted quarters. This Rutter does with tremendous sensitivity towards the flow of the line and the text. He also chooses to follow the composer's phrasing as well. Intonation is perfect, as is the vocal timbre the Cambridge singers produce in this recording. BRAVO!

[@josephalvarez5315]

Ahhh after listening to this I can never listen to choral music the same. Everything sounds dry and colorless by comparison. I need more choral music like this asap

[@perfectlypurepinkpompompan3467]

You need to listen to a good recording of Rachmanninoff's Vespers if you think that everything else sounds dry and colorless..... it has depths that very few choral compositions ever approach!! A top-notch performance of the Brahms Requiem can be INCREDIBLY moving as well.

[@apzzpa]

Lili Boulanger has a few pieces you'd like such as her Psalms

[@josephalvarez5315]

Rain oh, I'm a huge Boulanger fan! I do still think it's quite different from messiaen, but still it's so lovely

[@josephalvarez5315]

PerfectlyPurePink PomPomPanties I'm talking about the harmony. Yes, those pieces tell gloriously passionate stories, but messiaen's color is so brilliant

[@NikitaManin]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5Xaeqd4nq6pi6s

[@perfectlypurepinkpompompan3467]

WHOA!!!! First time to hear this. I am overwhelmed. The performance itself is TOP notch: Cambridge Singers/Rutter - how can you go wrong there?? The piece - ZOWIE!! Messian wrote some very inaccessible material, but THIS is fantastically beautiful.

[@TEEVEEGUY]

It seems F sharp major was Messiaen’s favorite tonality, he put it to great use here!

[@jakeoconnor3420]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[@marcsmith7789]

gorgeous.

[@waldenhouse]

Sung this as Treble in Leeds Parish Church Choir (‘63 to ‘71), and as Bass in West Riding Singers ‘71 to ‘73. Happy days indeed!

[@leonidhrabovsky7422]

Per Luca Marchetti - la musica cosi celesta arriva sempre come una onda del luce e di profonde preghiera

[@Mezzotenor]

Interesting origin: I read that it was first written as a vocal solo with organ, and later revised as an SATB motet. The four-voice texture is consistent, no divisi, but the harmonic vocabulary is rich. I've heard the piece performed with organ quietly doubling the voices (and sustaining through the breathing pauses), which is preferable to doing it unaccompanied and having it go out of tune.

[@cliona7449]

I used to adore when the chamber choir I belonged to would be performing this. (I was an alto). It is so spine-tinglingly exquisite and so cleverly constructed.

[@BB2K24X]

Very good, merci!

[@JoeyHahn]

Whoa, crazy! The progression is crazy! The tone is crazy! (Translation: "I like it!")

[@lamywater]

Wow, this is gorgeous.

[@claudewhite9741]

Spectacular.

[@BertoldBR74Roux]

A capella ... no need for other instruments because of the beauty of the harmonies. Great piece!

[@marcdefabrik5750]

3minutes34 de bonheur,je n’ai pas perdu ma journée .

[@ltsneveriupus8312]

Thanks!

[@marioguidoscappucci]

Wonderful!

[@Middlesex1957]

This is so difficult to sing. This performance is pristine and anything less and I imagine this turns into a train wreck. What a wonderful rendering!

[@waldenhouse]

Jim Costich You have to be 101% sure of your intervals!!

[@Middlesex1957]

You're so right! This group has such total command of their ensemble.

[@JohnPaquette]

Yes. They did an astounding job. I don't know of a better performance.

[@ghb323]

Soothing music.

[@Bruno-zx8vf]

Very beautiful

[@PWCB]

Fantastic!

[@roberttv]

Thanks for your reply. One thing I find here in the US is that we tend to take tempi markings too literally. When it's a sacred text we sometimes become a wee bit "precious" with tempo, and loose the meaning of the text as well as create an almost impossible way of singing... don't you think? My first time conducting this all I could think about was keeping an exact eighth note. Honestly, I've "grown" since then and just think of the text. It works! Thanks again for your very kind reply.

[@kepler101]

puts me into another plan of existence. thank you Messiaen for living.

[@FatimaKneipp]

Sublime

[@Juliaflo]

I have sung this piece--I did not realize that it was composed long before I was born.

[@vovcha01]

Sublime.

[@user-kp5xb4km7q]

Кэмбридж может гордиться певцами, которые держат ТАКУЮ вертикаль!

[@robgraham7508]

It is so gorgeous! We did this 2 years ago with my choir, and we sounded good, but not nearly as good as this professional choir. Kudos, Cambridge Singers on another beautiful interpretation! I am right there with you @Rheinlander95 ... I can't stand music snobs who immediately pick it apart and don't allow themselves to appreciate anything positive. Idiots.

[@erichgroat838]

Glorious. I know of only one somewhat sweeter and arguably more powerful performance: Westminster Cathedral's recording on their compilation cd, "The Music of Westminster Cathedral." The razor-sharpness of the boys does exacting work.

[@GerrlichStudios]

magical

[@CharlesCarruthers]

Glorious - a welcome respite from the intrusive noise of life

[@pamfilova]

That's great, great and great! Want to sing it. I know how close you are to God when you are singing music like this.

[@MsTapenade]

holy crap what a masterpiece

[@ludmilapeker5170]

hermoso!

[@SergioForesti]

Chef-d'œuvre

[@voiceover2191]

Anyone not moved to tears by this should check their pulse ... just kidding, but what beauty

[@user-br6zc5bh5t]

СПАСИБО. Наталья Согина

[@PassengerInMortality]

Ah! Just saw your reply. Didn't know that YT had this feature now. But yes, I agree in with you that in the US, many conductors feel that sacred text = s-l-o-w tempo. Snore. "Just think of the text"...You got it! An important aspect of interpreting how to perform a piece. However, for this piece, "keeping an exact eighth note" is the correct approach. Messiaen, with no time signature, builds in the pace of the phrases with the note values. Rutter does this with only a few minor exceptions.

[@thomasgautama8046]

Olivier Messiaen and Thomas Aquinas; what a heavenly combination (we can be sure that statement is true in the literal sense now as well).

[@user-xz1ft7cp8h]

Fascinating..

[@rudigerk]

Check out this Choral Masterpiece Ernst Krenek - Lamentatio Prophetae Jeremiae It's 12-tone Music, but sounds fantastic.

[@hopefulguitarist7532]

BBC Radio 3 brought me here. Sublime

[@pechichemena]

just... WOW

[@nbeutler1134]

fiiting how "messia" is literally in his name

[@sarabarrigabenavides5222]

Colores colores colores

[@argus2k]

colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores colores aprende algo colores!

[@diskpol]

¡Efectivamente! Usted ha sentido lo que tanto intentaba el maestro Messiaen, ver los colores de la música! ¿Hay algo más grandioso y maravilloso? Desde luego esta pieza te (me) muestra los destellos de esa luz cegadora cada vez que miras al infinito.

[@PassengerInMortality]

I agree with you totally about the tempo (and everything else, too). The tempo marking is for "battre les croches". Some post said it should last around 6 minutes. (!) That's certainly requiring tremendous breath control for the singers on some ungodly long phrasing! And on some challenging notes (high G# for sopranos on piano dynamic marking). This is a fine recording.

[@icemorewaterless]

Guy's connected to God

[@BodilessVoice]

Oh yes

[@SLOVENEMUSIC]

Very mature response.

[@PrivateBuckwheat]

What are some other Messiaen works with this style of tonality? There's something about it that's insanely beautiful to me, but I don't really have enough background in theory to put words to it. Oraison is the only other Messiaen composition I've heard that has a similar tonality (to my ears).

[@Examantel]

Listen to his Eight Preludes for piano (1929).