Messiaen - Chamber Works - Chandos: CHAN10480 - download

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Who would want to listen to anything after the Quartet for the end of Time? …while they lack the freedom of Messiaen's recording, the Gould Trio and Robert Plane are among the best modern accounts. — BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 30th Jun 2008
Catalogue No: CHAN10480
Label: Chandos
Length: 67 minutes

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Messiaen: Les Offrandes oubliées (1930)

Work length8:46

$1.60

$1.95

Benjamin Frith

Les Offrandes oubliées (Arr. for Piano by Olivier Messiaen)

Track length8:46

$1.60

$1.95

Messiaen: Theme and Variations for Violin and Piano

Work length10:16

$6.30

$7.80

Benjamin Frith, Lucy Gould

I. Thème. Modéré

Track length1:50

$1.05

$1.30

II. Première Variation

Track length1:37

$1.05

$1.30

III. Deuxième Variation

Track length1:00

$1.05

$1.30

IV. Troisième Variation

Track length0:47

$1.05

$1.30

V. Quatrième Variation

Track length1:13

$1.05

$1.30

VI. Cinquième Variation

Track length3:49

$1.05

$1.30

Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Work length48:31

$10.60

$13.00

Robert Plane, Gould Piano Trio

I. Liturgie de cristal. Bien modéré

Track length2:43

$1.05

$1.30

II. Vocalise, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps

Track length4:57

$1.05

$1.30

III. Abîme des oiseaux

Track length8:40

$1.60

$1.95

IV. Intermède. Décidé

Track length1:45

$1.05

$1.30

V. Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus

Track length9:03

$1.60

$1.95

VI. Danse de la furer, pour les sept trompettes

Track length6:35

$1.05

$1.30

VII. Fouillis d'arcs-en-ciel, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps

Track length7:20

$1.60

$1.95

VIII. Louange à l'Immortalité de Jésus

Track length7:28

$1.60

$1.95

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Described by The Independent as ‘master musicians’ The Gould Piano Trio, one of the most exciting ensembles to emerge in recent years, is joined by clarinettist Robert Plane for this recording to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of France’s greatest composers - Olivier Messiaen.

Messiaen’s wartime masterpiece the outstanding Quartet for the End of Time was composed during the darkest days when he was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. The particular instrumentation - piano, violin, cello and clarinet was determined by these circumstances. The result is an uplifting and spiritual work and Messiaen’s most significant contribution to chamber music. Its premiere is one of the legendary premieres of the twentieth century for it took place in the camp theatre before 5000 fellow-prisoners. ‘Never have I been listened to with such attention and such understanding’, Messiaen later recalled. The works also received a review in the camp newsletter, which recorded that: ‘The last note was followed by a moment of silence which established the sovereign mastery of the work.’

Quartet for the End of Time is coupled with the shorter work, Theme and Variations for Violin and Piano and the Piano Transcription of Les Offrandes oubliées. Theme and Variations was composed as a wedding gift from Messiaen to his wife whom he married in 1932. Like her husband, Claire was a devout Catholic and a composer as well as an accomplished violinist. The violin writing testifies to Claire’s passionate musicality and her technical skill, and as so often with Messiaen’s shorter works, has a power and presence that seems to belie its modest proportions. Les Offrandes oubliées, subtitled ‘méditation symphonique’ was composed in the summer of 1930, shortly after Messiaen completed his studies at the Paris Conservatoire. The work forms a stepping stone between the miniature world of the piano Préludes and the tumultuous virtuosity of his later piano music.

Reviews

Proms 2008

Who would want to listen to anything after the Quartet for the end of Time? …while they lack the freedom of Messiaen's recording, the Gould Trio and Robert Plane are among the best modern accounts.

October 2008

The augmented Gould Trio… turns in an admirably well judged, scrupulously expressive performance, very well recorded. The Gould team offer a rarity in the form of Messiaen's piano arrangement of his early orchestral piece Les offrandes oubliées, and Benjamin Frith's fine performance underlines just how pianistic the turbulent central episode actually is.

Offer,Messiaen - Chamber Works

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