Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Les Offrandes oubliées (1930)
Poèmes pour Mi (1936, orch. 1937)
Chronochromie (1959/60)
Sarah Leonard (soprano), ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/Michael Gielen
rec. 1991/1996, Konzerthaus & Musikverein Wien, Austria
ORFEO C250131 [58]
This release provides a fine survey of Messiaen's output from the first half of his career. Les Offrandes Oubliées, composed in 1930, is his first substantial work for orchestra. It was preceded by some earlier pieces that have remained unpublished and possibly unheard until now. It was a resounding success at its first performance in Paris, although it was later heard rarely, if at all. The music of this orchestral triptych still bears the imprint of Debussy, a composer much admired by Messiaen, but it already points towards what the composer was to write later, such as the orchestral version of L'Ascension (1933), Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (1944) and the now ubiquitous Turangalîla-Symphonie (1946/8). The structure of Les Offrandes Oubliées is fairly straightforward, i.e. a fast, almost angry central movement framed by two slow-moving meditations. Each of the section is given a caption that suggests the musical content of the movement: The Cross, The Sin, The Eucharist.
In 1932 Messiaen married the violinist Claire Delbos and they had a son Pascal, but from fairly early on their marriage was doomed. Claire Delbos became severely ill as the result of an operation gone wrong and she eventually died in a sanatorium in 1959. Clair Delbos was known as Mi to her friends, hence the title of Messiaen's first song cycle, Poèmes pour Mi, composed in 1936 and orchestrated in 1937. This large-scale cycle designed for soprano dramatique and piano sets the composer's own poems (he was to do so in a number of his later works). The nine songs “divided into two books express the composer's sentiment of love towards Claire, recount happy experiences, but also thoughts on matrimony which he relates to his Catholic faith”. The music runs the whole gamut of emotions from tenderness to violence to heartfelt thanksgiving that allows the composer to explore a wide range of musical expression. In this substantial work one clearly feels that it is the same composer but that he has already moved quite a few steps further - although Debussy may still be “round the corner”.
Poèmes pour Mi is a quite impressive and deeply-felt piece of music; however, Chronochromie moves still further. The work is laid-out in seven sections: Introduction, Strophe I, Antistrophe I, Strophe II, Antistrophe II, Epode and Coda. It may also be experienced as a summation of Messiaen's technique at this stage of his career. The very title of the piece reflects the composer's preoccupation with time (Chronos) and colour (Chroma). All this is reflected in the use of what he termed symmetrical permutations and of rhythm, whereas the colour is – so to say – provided by bird songs and their environment, an almost permanent characteristic in Messiaen's oeuvre. The work is quite complex and strictly structured, whereas the sound and idiom are undoubtedly radical. I, for one, believe that Chronochromie is one of Messiaen's most radical statements in that no concession whatsoever is made to render things easier. The most disturbing part of the piece is the Epode (the sixth movement) scored for eighteen solo strings (unbarred) representing eighteen bird songs. It goes without saying that this episode is the most exacting, technically speaking, as the string players are almost left on their own throughout the section. It may not be surprising to know that both the work as a whole and particularly the Epode caused quite a scandal at its first performance. This seemed to have surprised Messiaen, who could not really understand why this most delicate passage (to his ears, at least) could have been booed. Chronochromie is a mighty, impressive piece of music that will certainly remain amongst the least performed pieces by Messiaen although it is a quite gripping, nervous, often aggressive work that does not leave anyone indifferent. The complexity and technicality of the music are quite demanding and, therefore tend to limit any wider exposure. I must say that Michael Gielen and his orchestra work wonders in this most difficult, though ultimately rewarding, piece of music.
It may be difficult to realise that these performances are already some twenty to thirty years old, but they do sound very well indeed. (I suspect that these are live performances although the notes do not mention anything about them.) The performers have the full measure of the music, while Sarah Leonard and Michael Gielen are evidently on familiar ground.
In short, this fine release is likely to appeal to anyone wanting to explore Messiaen's output from the period 1930-1960 – and is also a fine opportunity to hear the rarely recorded Chronochromie.
Hubert Culot
