Messiaen music -

MESSIAEN: "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" (Quartet for the End of Time). Gil Shaham, violin; Paul Meyer, clarinet; Jian Wang, cello; Myung Whun Chung, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 469 052.

The French composer, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), must be included in a small, select group of composers that constitutes the greatest of the 20th century.

His death at the age of 83 took from the music world one of its great ones. But, through his music, his genius will remain with us always.

I considered using the phrase simple complexity in the consideration of the music of Messiaen, but I realized I had it backward; I might more accurately refer to it as complex simplicity. Such a phrase might at first seem a contradiction in terms. But, in Messiaen`s case, I do not believe that it is. And so often when I listen to his works, I am convinced that it is not.

"Quatuor pour la fin du temps" is an example of this contention. So simple, yet so profound. This work has a very definite, a very detailed, program. To understand and to appreciate the composition, it is essential that we know what that program is and to follow it as the work progresses.

Fortunately, the notes that accompany this recording were written by Messiaen himself. In the first movement, it is the intention of the composer to create "the harmonious silence of heaven." In the second, a mighty angel sets one foot on land, the other in the sea; and at this point we realize Messiaen is writing of the Revelation of St. John the Divine (10:1-7).

The composer has taken us into the Apocalypse. And there he creates "the impalpable harmonies of heaven" through "gentle cascades of blue-orange chords" played on the piano with the violin and cello chanting a "quasi-plainsong."

The third movement, titled "Abyss of the Birds," is a clarinet solo, in which the composer writes "The abyss is Time, with its sorrows and its weariness. The birds are the opposite of time, they are our desire for light ..."

Heavy stuff. Profound. But again, written with the economy of simplicity.

Perhaps because of the profundity of his ideas, even though not profound in execution, the composer inserts here, about half way through the work, "A scherzo of more superficial character than the other movements, but linked to them none the less by melodic reminiscences."

Messiaen entitles his fifth movement, "Louange a l`Eternite de Jesus" (Eulogy of the Eternity of Jesus). Musically, he quotes from the words that open "The Gospel According to John":

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was in God, and the Word is God." And here we realize that just about everything Messiaen ever wrote was written as an expression of his deep Roman Catholic faith. He lets this play out as "A long phrase on the cello, infinitely slow, (that) magnifies with love and reverence the eternity of this powerful and gentle Word ... "

In the sixth movement, "Danse de la fureur" (Dance of Frenzy), "The four instruments playing in unison are made to sound like gongs and trumpets," first six trumpets announcing the Apocalypse, followed by the catastrophes, then "the trumpet of the seventh angel announcing the consummation of the mystery of God."

The composer speaks thusly of his seventh movement: "In my dreams, I hear recognized chords and melodies, I see known colours and forms; then, after this transitory stage, I pass beyond reality and submit in ecstasy to a dizziness, a gyratory interlocking of superhuman sounds and colours."

The work concludes with the final movement entitled, "Louange a l`Immortalite de Jesus" (Eulogy to the immortality of Jesus). This is a long violin solo "acting as a pendant to the cello solo of the fifth movement."

Why did Messiaen write a second eulogy?

"It is addressed," he said, "more specifically to the second aspect of Jesus - the man Jesus - to the Word made flesh, resurrected immortally to grant us life."

It is here that we must listen to this great work in a very specific program sense. The composer wrote: "It is all love. Its slow ascent (at the end of the movement) towards the external high register (of the violin) is the ascent of man towards his God, of the child of God towards his Father, of the deified Being towards Paradise."

We can well ask how anybody could have written music more appropriate to this program - and not expect an answer. But is it necessary for us to know all this about Messiaen`s "Quatuor pour la fin du temps"? Yes. Absolutely. Not to know it would be to miss almost entirely the essence of the genius of this great French composer whose work, in my judgment, will only grow in stature in the 21st century.

I have never heard a recording of this work that so moved me. At its conclusion, I found myself in an ecstasy of my own as the same chord on the piano, in the high register, was sounded repeatedly, each one softer than its predecessor (I counted six chords. Perhaps there were more that my ear did not pick up.) And, of course, I am not surprised at the quality of this recording.

Gil Shaham is one of the finest violinist of our time. He plays some 200 concerts a year throughout the world with leading orchestras and conductors. His repertoire is vast - running from Vivaldi to Arvo Part. I have always been impressed by the beauty of his tone. Any praise we may have for it is certainly justified by his playing of the Messiaen.

The France clarinetist Paul Meyer may not be so familiar to American audiences, although he did win the prestigious Young Concert Artists Competition in New York in 1984. Since then, he has enjoyed an impressive career, playing with the finest orchestras and chamber ensembles in Europe.

I admit I sometimes struggle with the sound of the clarinet. In the hands of someone less than an accomplished instrumentalist, it can sound raspy. No such sound from Meyer, even as he plays wide interval jumps. His solo third movement of this work was admirably performed.

The Chinese cellist, Jian Wang, was a child prodigy who benefited from the interest of Isaac Stern and the esteemed Brazilian cellist Aldo Parisot, an interest that enabled him to study in the United States. His playing in the fifth movement, the first of the two eulogies to Jesus, is tenderly beautiful.

Which leaves for us to consider the Korean-born pianist Myung-Whun Chung, well known as the music director of the Opera de Paris-Bastille (1989-1994) and, since 1997, principal conductor of the highly prestigious Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and, since 2000, music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

And our consideration might best be approached by quoting Messiaen himself. The quote comes from comments he made after hearing two performances and the recording (Deutsche Grammophon 431 781) of his work, "Turangalila-Symphonie" conducted by Myung-Whun Chung with the Orchestre de la Bastille:

"The magnificent version (the composer had made some small changes in the original score) of the Turangalila-Symphonie that has now been achieved by Myung-Whun Chung ... answers all of my desires. These are the correct tempos, the correct dynamics, the right feelings and the right joy! Coming after the many excellent interpretations that we already know, this new version, superb from every point of view, can be considered henceforth the definitive account."

Messiaen was talking about his symphony, but we can hardly imagine that he would have felt any differently about the quality of the recording we are considering here. The association between composer and conductor had become mutually appreciative of the role each played in getting the work of the composer to performance and to a recording.

A great work! A great recording! Highest recommendation!

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: King Durkee