Comments on: Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus"

Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus"

Egg Shen — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:56:40 -0800

To say that Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant-Jesus (Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus) is a masterpiece is a gross understatement. Over sixty years after its composition, it has rightfully earned the recognition of being one of the most important piano works of the 20th century. ... [It] is one of the most personal and intimate pieces Messiaen ever wrote, and it gives the listener a close look at Messiaen the person. Messiaen was a deeply religious person, and although his faith influenced every single piece he wrote, the Vingt Regards is almost like his own personal spiritual diary. - Keith Kerchoff

My kind of Christmas music: I. Regard du Père ("Contemplation of the Father") II. Regard de l'étoile ("Contemplation of the star") III. L'échange ("The exchange") IV. Regard de la Vierge ("Contemplation of the Virgin") V. Regard du Fils sur le Fils ("Contemplation of the Son upon the Son") The Pierre-Laurent Aimard performance in these clips seems to be the consensus recommendation - and can be found online in FLAC.

By: polymodus

polymodus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:28:15 -0800

Is there a reliable list of the most important piano works of the 20th century? Or composers? and how long is such a list? if it even exists?

By: Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner

Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:32:12 -0800

Had the chance to hear this played live once back in the 1990s, by this guy in an old gothic-style, stone church building with lots of natural reverb. It's a long work, and takes some effort as a listener to stay focused through the whole thing, but definitely worth hearing.

By: Madamina

Madamina — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:50:56 -0800

This guy (on faculty at UW-Madison) was regarded as a coup when we hired him. He apparently performed the Messiaen on Tuesday night. (There's a video of an excerpt at that link.) I know he's done it fairly often, and the New York Times review published yesterday listed it as "a calling card" for him now. Specifically, he plays the whole thing from memory; the score is 176 pages long. If you scroll down on this page, there's a DVD available. One of the interesting things about Taylor is that he actually has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Harvard, so his championing of difficult and unusual contemporary pieces is in some ways influenced by a mathematical/scientific ways of looking at things (no pun intended). I think he still publishes mathematical things every so often. For overviews of piano music, you could start with something like this book. In terms of general 20th century music history, with important composers for more than just piano, you might try the Norton Anthology, which is something we studied in undergraduate music courses. It only goes through 1983, though. This could supplement. I also used this book in a separate survey course and enjoyed it quite a bit. Almost any book like this should have a companion CD. This might be a good read.

By: methinks

methinks — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:01:56 -0800

Truly magnificent music. Messiaen organ works are something to hear too. And 'The Rest Is Noise' is indeed a good read (and it's a terrific play on words).

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:47:29 -0800

Oh, this is wonderful. Thanks, Egg Shen.

By: megob

megob — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:58:24 -0800

Great to have the score in the videoclips.

By: Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner

Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:31:18 -0800

Madamina, I'm impressed, and somewhat flabbergasted, that someone could memorize this entire score. I can't imagine how many hours in total Taylor had to put in to be able to do that, but I'm guessing, to paraphrase David Mamet, the operative concept is "lots and lots." Also, not for nothin', but when I saw this performed, the title was translated as "Twenty views of the infant Jesus." Google Translate says the French "regards" also can be translated into English as "looks," which makes sense, too. Any Francophone MeFi-ites care to weigh in on which of these (contemplations/views/looks) seems most correct?

By: Madamina

Madamina — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:22:01 -0800

This may be completely unrelated, but I've always been struck by the comparison between "vingt regards..." and Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" [original text] It was published much earlier -- 1917 to Messiaen's 1944. Messiaen was well known for his use of actual birdsong melodies in his work, and "Vingt regards" is likely inspired in some way. Later, in 1952, he wrote a flute piece (Le Merle Noir) incorporating blackbird song. There have been at least two projects that make some sort of connection. The Rest Is Noise apparently includes a pretty significant chunk about Messiaen.

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:48:51 -0800

"The Rest is Noise" is a great read. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's chock-full of facts yet personal and engaging. It's scope is very wide, yet it retains a laser like focus throughout. It's thought provoking, extremely interesting, well written (to say the least) and it makes you want to do nothing but listen to the 20th Century. One of the greatest music books ever written, I'd say. And, yes, it includes a pretty significant chunk about Messiaen.

By: dfan

dfan — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:19:27 -0800

One of my favorite works. The recording I like best is Håkon Austbø's on Naxos.

By: invitapriore

invitapriore — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:52:13 -0800

XV. Le Baiser de l'Enfant Jésus has always been my favorite movement. I think it's some of the finest octatonic writing in the literature, treading as it does that fine line between projecting a tonal center and not more delicately than any other piece I can remember.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:39:04 -0800

Thank you for this post. Messiaen makes me so happy, it's such personal and meaningful music. And this piece is lovely and topical for Christmas.

By: kurtiss

kurtiss — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:27:24 -0800

On the topic of "regards," the French preposition, "sur," is usually translated "upon." So I think "contemplations" or "perspectives" makes the most sense in translation, rather than the subjectivally-ambiguous "looks." The individual movements are titled things like, "The Perspective of the Father," "The Perspective of the Stars" and so on.

By: kenko

kenko — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:41:25 -0800

Is there a reliable list of the most important piano works of the 20th century? Or composers? and how long is such a list? if it even exists? - Vingt Regards - The People United Will Never Be Defeated - Time Curve Preludes

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 08:29:25 -0800

Finally sitting down to listen to this. Is it me, or is the sixth piece "Par Lui..." pretty jazzy?

By: and so but then, we

and so but then, we — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:26:09 -0800

- Vingt Regards - The People United Will Never Be Defeated - Time Curve Preludes

...The Concord Sonata (Ives). Ludus Tonalis (Hindemith). The Shostakovich preludes and fugues. If prepared piano counts, then La Monte Young's "Well Tuned Piano" and Cage's "Sonatas and Interludes"...