December 9, 2013.Franck, Messiaen, Berlioz.This year the birthdays of these three francophone composers again fell on the same week.César Franck was born on December 10th, 1822 in Liège, but spent most of his life in Paris.One of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Olivier Messiaen was born on the same day in 1908 in Avignon, and Hector Berlioz – on December 11th, 1803 in La Côte-Saint-André, near Grenoble.We wrote extensively about Franck last year.His violin sonata remains one of the most popular pieces both among musicians and listeners: we have 10 recordings of it with violin soloists and two arrangements, one for the cello and another for the viola.Here the sonata is played by the German violinist Augustin Hadelich with Yingdi Sun on the piano.
Olivier Messiaen’s life consisted of contradictions that produced extraordinarily creative results: deeply religious, somewhat conservative, and inspired by life of St Francis, he wrote music in an idiom all his own, absolutely modern and original.His experience during WWII was traumatic; conscripted, he was captured by the Germans at the beginning of the war and imprisoned in a camp.There he wrote Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the End of Time") (you can read more here).He was released in May of 1941 and soon after appointed a professor at the Conservatory of the occupied Paris.All along he was working as the organist at the church of La Trinité.In 1944, during the terrible last months of the German occupation, he composed a piano cycle called Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus, which could be translated as “Twenty contemplations (or gazes) on the infant Jesus.”He dedicated it to his pupil, and later wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod.One of his religious works, it consists of twenty episodes with titles such as "Contemplation of the Father," "Contemplation of the star," "Contemplation of the Virgin," and so on.The complete duration of this enormous piece is more than two hours.We’ll listen to the first part, Contemplation of the Father (here).It’s performed by the French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who studied with Yvonne Loriod at the Paris Conservatory.
Even though Messiaen inspired and influenced many composers (among his students were some of the most important composers of the second half of the 20th century: Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis) his musical style was unique.In this respect he reminds us of another Frenchman, Hector Berlioz.Born in a small town into a family of a physician, Berlioz didn’t start studying music till he was 12.His father didn’t encourage his musical studies, and at the age of 18 Hector went to Paris to study medicine, in which he had no interest.After hearing several operas (he was not a diligent student and spent much of his time looking for entertainment) he went to the library of the Paris Conservatory and studied the scores.In 1824 he abandoned his medical studies and started composing on a more regular basis.Two years later, in 1824 when he was 23, he began attending classes at the Conservatory.By then he was a fully formed composer, and winning the Prix du Rome became an important goal, not the least because it included a five-year stipend.He got it only on his forth attempt, in 1830.About the same time he also got engaged to the 20 year-old pianist Marie Moke, to whom Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn dedicated various compositions.At the very end of 1831 Berlioz went to Italy, as was a requirement for all Prix du Rome winners.He stayed in the Villa Medici of the French Academy and didn’t like Rome (“a stupid and prosaic city,” he called it).Moreover, he got the news from his fiancée’s mother that Marie broke their engagement and was to marry Camille Pleyel, the son of Ignaz Pleyel, the famous publisher and piano maker.He decided to kill both his former fiancée, her mother – the bearer of the news -- and Pleyel, and concocted an elaborate plan to do so.Fortunately to everybody involved, on the way from Rome to Paris it occurred to him how foolish the plan was and he returned to Rome.In 1830, while still in Paris, Berlioz wrote what was to become one of his most famous compositions, Symphony Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste, en cinq parties (Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts).Here is the second movement Un Bal (A ball).In this 1974 recording Colin Davis is conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (here is the first movement, Rêveries – Passions or Daydreams – Passions, with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the direction of Igor Markevitch).
Franck, Messiaen, Berlioz 2013
December 9, 2013. Franck, Messiaen, Berlioz. This year the birthdays of these three francophone composers again fell on the same week. César Franck was born on December 10th, 1822 in Liège, but spent most of his life in Paris. One of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Olivier Messiaen was born on the same day in 1908 in Avignon, and Hector Berlioz – on December 11th, 1803 in La Côte-Saint-André, near Grenoble. We wrote extensively about Franck last year. His violin sonata remains one of the most popular pieces both among musicians and listeners: we have 10 recordings of it with violin soloists and two arrangements, one for the cello and another for the viola. Here the sonata is played by the German violinist Augustin Hadelich with Yingdi Sun on the piano.
Olivier Messiaen’s life consisted of contradictions that produced extraordinarily creative results: deeply religious, somewhat conservative, and inspired by life of St Francis, he wrote music in an idiom all his own, absolutely modern and original. His experience during WWII was traumatic; conscripted, he was captured by the Germans at the beginning of the war and imprisoned in a camp. There he wrote Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the End of Time") (you can read more here). He was released in May of 1941 and soon after appointed a professor at the Conservatory of the occupied Paris. All along he was working as the organist at the church of La Trinité. In 1944, during the terrible last months of the German occupation, he composed a piano cycle called Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus, which could be translated as “Twenty contemplations (or gazes) on the infant Jesus.” He dedicated it to his pupil, and later wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod. One of his religious works, it consists of twenty episodes with titles such as "Contemplation of the Father," "Contemplation of the star," "Contemplation of the Virgin," and so on. The complete duration of this enormous piece is more than two hours. We’ll listen to the first part, Contemplation of the Father (here). It’s performed by the French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who studied with Yvonne Loriod at the Paris Conservatory.
Even though Messiaen inspired and influenced many composers (among his students were some of the most important composers of the second half of the 20th century: Pierre
Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis) his musical style was unique. In this respect he reminds us of another Frenchman, Hector Berlioz. Born in a small town into a family of a physician, Berlioz didn’t start studying music till he was 12. His father didn’t encourage his musical studies, and at the age of 18 Hector went to Paris to study medicine, in which he had no interest. After hearing several operas (he was not a diligent student and spent much of his time looking for entertainment) he went to the library of the Paris Conservatory and studied the scores. In 1824 he abandoned his medical studies and started composing on a more regular basis. Two years later, in 1824 when he was 23, he began attending classes at the Conservatory. By then he was a fully formed composer, and winning the Prix du Rome became an important goal, not the least because it included a five-year stipend. He got it only on his forth attempt, in 1830. About the same time he also got engaged to the 20 year-old pianist Marie Moke, to whom Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn dedicated various compositions. At the very end of 1831 Berlioz went to Italy, as was a requirement for all Prix du Rome winners. He stayed in the Villa Medici of the French Academy and didn’t like Rome (“a stupid and prosaic city,” he called it). Moreover, he got the news from his fiancée’s mother that Marie broke their engagement and was to marry Camille Pleyel, the son of Ignaz Pleyel, the famous publisher and piano maker. He decided to kill both his former fiancée, her mother – the bearer of the news -- and Pleyel, and concocted an elaborate plan to do so. Fortunately to everybody involved, on the way from Rome to Paris it occurred to him how foolish the plan was and he returned to Rome. In 1830, while still in Paris, Berlioz wrote what was to become one of his most famous compositions, Symphony Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste, en cinq parties (Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts). Here is the second movement Un Bal (A ball). In this 1974 recording Colin Davis is conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (here is the first movement, Rêveries – Passions or Daydreams – Passions, with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the direction of Igor Markevitch).