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Olivier MESSIAEN(1908-1992) Complete Organ Works
Hans-Ola
Ericsson (organ)
rec. 1988-1990, Luleå Cathedral, Sweden and *November 2008,
the Katharinenkirche, Oppenhein, Germany.
BIS-CD-1770-72 [7 CDs: 64:28 + 61:37 + 67:31 + 75:40 + 78:29 +
76:18 + 81:03]
CD 1
L'Ascension(1933) [29:18]
Le banquet céleste (1926/28?) [7:50]
Apparition de l'Église Éternelle (1932) [11:11]
Diptyque (1930) [14:48]
CD 2
La Nativité du Seigneur (1935) [61:13]
CD 3
Les corps glorieux(1939) [55:11]
Verset pour la fête de la dédicace (1960) [11:35]
CD 4
Messe de la Pentecôte (1950) [30:09]
Livre d'Orgue(1951) [44:47]
CD 5
Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité
(1969) [78:13]
CD 6
Livre du Saint Sacrement(1984) [119:16]
CD 7
Livre du Saint Sacrement(ctd.)
Monodie(1963 ?) [4:42]* Offrande au Saint Sacrement (1930/35) [5:30]*
Prélude (1928?) [8:15]*
The Birdsong in Messiaen's Music
I have long been a fan of Hans-Ola Ericsson's playing, and
am still under the spell of his Four
Beast's Amenwhich remains a must for all interested
in contemporary work for organ. Another must for all of those
interested in 20th century organ music is the oeuvre
of Olivier Messiaen, created on the great Cavaillé-Coll
organ in the Church of La Trinité in Paris, where the composer
was organist for most of his life. Anyone even vaguely interested
in Messiaen's work may have noticed the original single discs
of this set when they came out between 1989 and 1992, with their
distinctive 18th century bird illustrations by Olof
Rudbeck. It is unfortunate that we lose these in this re-release,
but with a significant number of Messiaen CDs appearing with birds
on the cover it is understandable that the designers went for
a different look. Fortunately, even in this now budget '7
CDs for the price of 3' box, we get Anders Eckenberg's
excellent booklet notes pretty much as they appeared on the original
releases. The musical content is preserved and enhanced with the
addition of the three works which were discovered after Messiaen's
death, and disc 7 even includes the birdsong recordings which
were on the original volume 6, and Dr. Gustaf Aulén's
descriptions of each bird are included at the end of the booklet.
No-one will be disappointed by the chunky booklet which makes
up much of the weight of this box, and the texts are worth its
price on their own.
I have to admit to being something of a Messiaen organ junkie,
having started my addiction with Gillian Weir's broadcast
recordings on BBC Radio 3 way back in the early 1980s. Though
recorded in association with Radio 3, her recordings on the set
from Collins Classics 70312 are not those which I used to have
scattered around on well worn cassette tapes, and this box is
anyway alas no longer available. These recordings can now be sought
out on individual discs from the Priory label, and by all accounts
are still in the front rank. While we are dealing with blanket
comparisons, there is one set which I've had pass through
my collection which is no longer resident, that played by Willem
Tanke originally on the Lindenberg label, and now available on
Brilliant Classics. This is a very good set played on the incredible
organ and acoustic of the St. Bavo Basilica in Haarlem, and is
every bit worth its current modest asking price. I'm afraid
I found it a bit on the dull side however, and not quite able
to get the sap rising in quite the same way as some of the other
recordings I have as references. If I were to pin my colours to
the mast, then my reasons for not warming to this set would have
to be its rather down to earth character which, in works of a
conception and content which almost always have a strong spiritual
element, loses too much of the essence of Messiaen's message.
Neither of the aforementioned sets included the Monodie,
Offrande au Saint Sacrement or Prélude, which
are later discoveries and are also missing from the almost legendary
set played by Jennifer Bate, now available in a box on the Regis
label RRC 6001, formerly on Unicorn-Kanchna, and also available
separately as individual or double discs. For completists, these
pieces do form part of the Deutsche Grammophon 471 480-2 set played
by Olivier Latry on the organ of Notre-Dame in Paris, which is
my other main reference. Both of these have been reviewed
elsewhere on this site. A footnote to this list but by no
means least in significance is the collection of Messiaen's
own recordings. Made in 1956, these are in often less than glorious
mono and on a La Trinité organ which was badly in need
of restoration or re-tuning at the very least. The relics which
appear on a 4 CD collection CZS 7 67400 2 called par lui-même
are however priceless records of the composer's own playing,
although the improvisatory quality he brings to some of the music
means that organists should probably beware of taking these versions
as being the gospel truth when it comes to interpretation.
Hans-Ola Ericsson's recordings on the BIS label have long
been acclaimed as being among the best of the more recent recordings,
and returning to his set in this context is for me like greeting
an old friend. Returning to the shelves at a very attractive price
and with full booklet notes, I would like to recommend this set
unreservedly, and then spend the time saved by not writing a hugely
long review standing on a street corner persuading people to try
it and buy it. There is more to be said however, and it feels
more like a privilege than a duty to be getting my teeth into
a set of pieces which I feel are some of the best works of the
last century in any medium. As well as this, I've recently
been discovering more about the organ works of Charles
Tournemire, so I've also grown up a bit and now have a
better understanding of the way in which Messiaen represents a
quantum leap in the French organ tradition.
The main body of these recordings were made on the 1987 Grönlund
organ at Luleå Cathedral, Sweden. A very fine new instrument,
this has plenty of the 'orchestral' punch which Messiaen's
work often requires, as well as being able to conjure those soft,
timeless meditations which take us into different realms. A comparison
with either Latry or Bate on their authentically French instruments
does however show a marked difference in character. Messiaen's
writing, much as I love and admire it, does embrace the sometimes
blowsy and colourfully exhibitionist side of the Catholic faith,
and the Swedish instrument does seem to have something of a civilising
effect on the music at times. Listen to the Transports de joie
from L'ascension from Latry in Paris and revel
in unctuous, almost unnaturally spectral splendour. Take the same
track with Bate in the massive acoustic of St. Pierre de Beauvais
and you feel as if your entire being is being lifted from the
ground on some kind of spiritual hovercraft. The impact is there
with Ericsson, but there is a sense of restraint, of an elegance
and roundness of sound, of power unleashed but not hitting the
listener in quite such a physical fashion.
There is one such piece which, almost seeming to have been designed
for the psychological slow cut in a high class movie, to me has
to have that sense of physical connection - you need to feel your
chest wanting to rise above your head. The eternally rising progressions
in Apparition de l'Église Éternelle deliberately
form a kind of musical drug, each repetition reinforcing the last.
Ericsson's sense of mounting drama is wonderful in this piece,
and the instrument supports him in giving the impression of an
almost endless reserve of crescendo. Jennifer Bate has a more
insinuating, nasal and reedy sound from the organ in the opening,
and this means that the contrast with the change of stops about
3:00 in is more pronounced. This again is a recording which hits
the spot - corny as hell, but one to scream from the rooftops.
Latry opens his set for DG with this piece, and what a curtain
raiser. He does however come in shortest - 9.45 to Ericsson's
11:11, and I do feel some of the rising tension is lost in the
pacing of the piece, spectacular though the organ sound is. In
a sense it's too spectacular - all grimly earnest show and
rather less content. I prefer the more subtle colourings of the
other two recordings.
La Nativité du Seigneur neatly fits onto one CD
and has become something of a staple of the organ catalogue. Once
again, Ericsson's performance is one of the utmost clarity,
and one has the feeling that there is nothing imposing itself
between the music and its message. All of the hushed reverence
is present, as well as the more turbulent stresses in Le Verbe
and Les Anges. Again however, the voice of doom in
the bass lines when Jésus accepte la Souffrance is
more of a mildly gruff uncle, where Bate's is the voice of
your most feared schoolteacher. Latry's pedal here is more
that of a throaty pharmacist offering soothing lozenges than anything
really threatening. Where he wins is in the final Dieu parmi
nous, whose descending bass lines can really rattle your tonsillectomy
scars. Bate is also good here, with plenty of atmosphere, but
almost engulfed in resonance. Ericsson takes a swifter, more dramatic
tempo in the opening chords, but sustains more later on. I feel
the organ and the engineer's treatment of the acoustic might
possibly have conjured a final nth more of atmospheric potential
in the gentler sections, but what you do get is a true sense of
what Messiaen actually wrote, rather than anything that the environment
may or may not have dictated.
The pacing of another of Messiaen's better known organ cycles
Les corps glorieux is also of importance, and there is
an argument against Ericsson's swifter rendition of a movement
such as Les Eaux de la grâce. His sense of proportion
over the entirety of the work is however pretty much without fault,
and Latry's more languid traversal of the same movement can
equally be seen as being rather self indulgent. For that matter
Bate kicks in at 2:34 to Ericsson's 3:06, so who's counting.
What one should always remember with the BIS set is that Hans-Ola
Ericsson was able to work closely with the composer throughout,
you can be sure Messiaen was more than clear as to his intentions
and desires in this music. Disc four provides very clean performances
of two of Messiaen's strongest pieces from the 1950s, the
Messe de la Pentecôte and Livre d'Orgue, the
mellow rounded tones of the Grönlund organ creating delicious
colours and textures. While the extremes of contrast are not so
great as with the Notre Dame organ in, say, the remarkable opening
Reprises par interversion of the Livre d'Orgue
then this does at least have the advantage of rendering the musical
argument that much less disparate and more coherent in a number
of ways. I also prefer Ericsson's relaxed way with the gestures
in the second movement Pièce en trio, which Latry's
rather random sounding rubato makes into more of a rocky and uneven
road than it need be. The same coupling of works appears on disc
one of Jennifer Bate's set, and I'm still very much enamoured
of the Beauvais Cathedral's multitude of almost human vocalisations
and the sense of discourse in several of the movements in the
Messe de la Pentecôte. It is however only Gillian
Weir who, bucking the trend set by Messiaen's own recording,
plays the song of the lark in the central section of the final
Sortie swiftly enough to make it sound like actual birdsong,
rather than a lark stuck in congealing aspic. If I haven't
mentioned Weir until now, it is only because of the unavailability
of the Collins set which occupies a sizeable chunk of my box set
'shelf'. Price comparisons also make this and the Latry
set less competitive than the BIS box, but if you have individual
favourites among these works then Gillian Weir on the Priory label
has to be a front runner. I love the boxy low pipe which belts
out the low notes in the first movement of Bate's Livre
d'Orgue, and this is one instance in which the acoustic
significantly helps the music, showing how Messiaen explores the
space and tonal relationships as they hang in the air between
the notes. Bate is also infinitely preferable to Latry in the
aforementioned Pièce en trio, which is a miniature
masterpiece - but in which a few important inflections are again
rather covered by that washy resonance. It is also interesting
to hear how each player 'hears' the various birds in the
magical Chants d'oiseaux fourth movement - vive
la difference, ici.
By now you may be gaining an impression of the comparative status
each of these three sets has acquired in my opinion. While I admit
to a sentimental attachment to Jenifer Bate's remarkable cycle
and love its sheer sense of drama and atmosphere, there is a problem
with the vastness of the acoustic out of which the organ looms,
and much of the detail in Messiaen's writing can be as good
as lost. Olivier Latry looked like being a panacea to all of these
problems in a set which presents a remarkable if rather idealistic
recording of the Notre Dame instrument. I always have a niggling
feeling with this set however, and that is that the engineers
and performer are adding just a little too much of themselves
to the music. I have listened to it often, trying hard to love
it as much as I'd expected to, but I have never really warmed
to Latry's playing or the up-front representation of the Paris
organ. This is where Hans-Ola Ericsson and BIS win over both,
for while his modern instrument might offer less of the drama
and extremes of palette as the French instruments, the recording
provides us with all of the amazing content of Messiaen's
scores, and Ericsson is an ideal guide through each piece, imposing
little in the way of 'interpretation' and allowing us
closer to Messiaen's vision as a result.
The magnificent Méditations sur le mystère de
la Sainte Trinité is another one of those cycles which
fits perfectly on a single CD, and I have nothing but superlatives
for Ericsson's playing here. He does take a fair bit longer
than Latry over the whole cycle, but is almost identical to the
second in comparison with Bate. Where Jennifer Bate beats all
comers is in the huge Livre
du Saint Sacrement.
Here she moves to Messiaen's own instrument, that in the Church
of Saint-Trinité in Paris, and with the composer on hand
to provide his own uniquely poetic guidance to the player. This
was also the case with Ericsson, but the atmosphere of the Saint-Trinité
organ, that fact that this was at the time of the work's premiere,
and the sheer synergy between composer, instrument and location
makes this one of the all time great organ recordings. Hans-Ola
Ericsson is very good of course, and I don't want to take
anything away from his achievement - it's just that the milder,
less overtly contrasting colours of the Grönlund organ don't
draw me in and carry me through in quite the same all-embracing
and involving way that happens with Bate. I used to have the Saint-Trinité
recording on the double cassette release, and wore the things
out in the end. People would phone me up and hear the same music
in the background, days or weeks apart. 'It's a very long
piece' I would reply.
The final disc on Ericsson's set adds the three posthumous
works: Monodie, Offrande au Saint Sacrement and
Prélude Recorded on another even newer instrument,
the tone of these and the earlier recordings is not shockingly
different, although the more effulgent Katharinenkirche acoustic
does kick in with an abundant contribution in the louder passages.
In fact, these pieces slip into the set with remarkable ease.
None of the works are a make or break when it comes to choosing
your ultimate Messiaen cycle, but each has its worth, and the
early Prélude which finishes the set has clear technical
and musical links to Messiaen's teacher Marcel Dupré.
The addition of the recorded birdsong was always a nice touch
in this set, and I'm very glad to see its return here.
So, to conclude: yes, buy this set. We're extremely fortunate
to have it released in such an economically viable package, and
with all its bounteous extras intact. My personal view is that
there is no such thing as a perfect cycle of recordings of the
organ works of Olivier Messiaen, and so if you are anything like
me, you will end up with far too many boxes parked far too close
to more multiple boxes of Mahler symphonies for comfort when it
comes to domestic arguments in support of frugal living against
the essential need for culture and fine music. I'm far too
attached to my set with Jennifer Bate to consider relinquishing
it, but would suggest that, with both sets together coming in
at about the price of the Olivier Latry box on its own you could
do worse than have both. Bate wins in terms of sheer atmosphere
and authentic French organ colour - the kind which belches garlic
roughness and incense-aromatic arrogance, as well as terrifying
and infinite realms of beauty and mystery. Indeed, no-one should
be without her Livre du Saint Sacrement. The Unicorn-Kanchana/Regis
recordings do however suffer from an overdose of resonance almost
entirely throughout, and if you want the clarity of Messiaen's
music less encumbered by this problem then the BIS box is a must.
I have always admired this set and, comparing it to Olivier Latry's
recordings, now know a bit more about why this should be the case.
The Deutsche Grammophon cycle does represent something of a technical
milestone in this repertoire and Olivier Latry's performances
are a remarkable achievement, but the results can be somewhat
unremitting and somehow impersonal; even synthetic, if one is
prepared to express an extreme view. These are recordings with
which you can demonstrate your Hi-Fi and impress your friends,
but this is not what Messiaen's organ music is really about.
Hans-Ola Ericsson understands both the complexity as well as the
simplicity of Messiaen, without over-blowing his grander gestures
or filling his thinner textures with all kinds of unnecessary
extra inflection and interpretative licence. Messiaen's organ
scores are clear, but often present fields of notes without a
bar line in sight. This can be seen as an invitation to mould
and shape, pull and stretch, but in the end it's like the
original version of Debussy's simple ditty for flute Syrinx
- all the information is there in the notes. Duration, intensity,
rhythm, phrasing: you don't need much more than common sense,
and an absolute control of your instrument and a deep knowledge,
sympathy and understanding of the idiom which the composer inhabits.
All of these Hans-Ola Ericsson has, and this makes his set one
of the most consistently rewarding ever made.
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