Oliver's transcendental musical diary

[Korpo]

I listened to the music of Star Wars again, especially the first one. I compared "Imperial Attack" (the boarding of Princess Leia's frigate) with "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's theme from "The Empire Strikes Back") and there's many continuous elements. Many of the elements are stomping and driving in "Imperial Attack", it is, if listened to with headphones in the dark, an onslaught of driving rhythms and tension-building elements. It even would produce flashes in my vision on especially impacting parts.

Without intending for such a conscious comparison I then put on Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" from his work "The Planets". It's clearly related as Williams, the composer of the Star Wars music, drew on elements from Holst's music (amongst others) when composing his epic soundtrack. What surprised me, however, is that Holst portrayed war with more facets than Williams did the Empire, and maybe a bit more than we are used to when thinking of war. Holst mixes the onslaught of war with the fanfare - a link to older times when the sound of horns called the troops into battle. Yes, there are tension-building elements, loudness and intensity, but also there are elements that seem to speak of idealism and patriotism, and how they end up to become the road to war, maybe even paving that road.

I was pretty surprised to find music sounding so "virtuous" in there. Not like heroism, but like noble virtues. And that is the thing - only by being surprised I made that connection. Holst wrote it after the First World War. With great enthusiasm the soldiers had left for the war that had turned into a cataclysmic onslaught and endless killer. Williams' depiction of the Empire sounds more ruthless than this, and I wonder if this could also mean that Holst wanted to say that it is people, after all, that conduct war. It's a different quality.

[CFTraveler]

I suspect that it has to do with it's historicity- even though post-modern times has seen war, it's just not the same, not so personal or human, unless he's been in the middle of it.
.02

[Korpo]

I had the great joy to watch Oliver Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony live, performed by the Munich Philharmonic. What an epic display. I would also think they seldom present such a selection of instruments - in addition to the grand orchestra there was also a Ondes Martinot (a precursor of the synthesizer from the 1940s, sounding like the wailing of a singing saw), and a huge selection of percussion - including an enormous gong, bells, xylophone, and whatever. Some arrangements I could not spot.

Just watching the music move through the orchestra, sometimes opposing some parts with the other, the patterns, the climaxes, the multitude of impressions in this piece... the resolutions, the tensions upon tensions, the unexpected, the dynamic, the drive, the wild piano... what a ride.

With about 80 minutes a bit long in its intensity. But most of the time it had my rapt attention. I felt like a kid in a toy store - so much to see, so much to experience in one evening!

(I just identified one instrument I did see yesterday - it was a celesta. Thanks, Wikipedia! )

The title of the work, and those of its movements, were a late addition to the project. They were first described by Messiaen in a diary entry in early 1948. He derived the title from two Sanskrit words, turanga and lîla, which roughly translate into English as "love song and hymn of joy, time, movement, rhythm, life, and death", and described the joy of Turangalîla as "superhuman, overflowing, dazzling and abandoned".

Messiaen revised the work in 1990.

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for:

Solo piano and ondes Martenot;
Woodwind: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons;
Brass: 4 horns, 3 ♥♥♥♥♥ets, 1 ♥♥♥♥♥et in D, cornet, 3 trombones, 1 tuba;
At least 8 and up to 11 percussionists, playing: vibraphone, keyed or mallet glockenspiels, triangle, temple blocks and wood block, cymbals (crash and three types of suspended), tam tam, tambourine, maracas, snare drum, Provençal tabor, bass drum, and tubular bells;
celesta, and strings (32 violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos and 10 double basses)

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turangal%C3%AEla-Symphonie)

(Turanga is also the first name of the cartoon character Leela in Futurama. )

[Korpo]

I recently had the great joy of listening to Bruckner with a beloved being over Skype. We share music this way - starting at the same time the same piece, listening together, sharing our impressions.

It was the Adagio of Bruckner's 8th, conducted by Sergiu Celibidache. He was known for having his own interpretation of the timing of pieces, and his interpretation of the piece was mostly of a contemplative slowness that exceeded each other version I know by a third. Minute details were audible, sometimes the piece seemed almost to fall apart.

From the energetic part, wonderful images arose in us that I have not perceived before when listening to this piece. It was a joyful, blessed experience to share it like this, to anticipate and wonder at what happens in the piece. It was like a new piece to me.

Celibidache frequently refused to release his performances on commercial recordings during his lifetime claiming that a listener could not obtain a "transcendental experience" outside of the concert hall. Many of the recordings of his performances were released posthumously. Nonetheless, he earned international acclaim for celebrated interpretations of classical music repertoire and was known for a spirited performance style informed by his study and experiences in Zen Buddhism.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celibidache)

[Korpo]

I had another TME while listening with the same partner to one of her favorites - "The Dreams Made of Sand" by Arcana. I had visions of space and geometric shapes during this piece, seeing wheels turning, the confines of the mind's eye move and a pyramid with an eye.

I think they really deserve their name.

[Korpo]

Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony is on my mind a lot since I visited that concert. I got different recordings of it now. Before it was an onslaught on my senses to me. The more I get to know it the deeper it becomes. During the concert it was a buffet of new experiences, like sampling something new all the time. Now some other qualities have emerged. The beautiful melodies and other parts haunt me. Originally when I listened to it first I scoffed a bit at the titles - "Chant d'amour" (2 movements, "Song of love") seemed to match the piece little. Now I find gentle qualities, an inner richness, within. Sometimes the piece seems to portray the richness of the human experience, the seeming chaos of parallel voice with different themes, the quickness with which our minds jump onto new things, and the beauty that can emerge at other moments.

[Korpo]

On the 6th I visited a concert. I thought it would only be Rautavaara's 7th symphony, the "Angel of Light." In fact, the first half was another piece I didn't know. It certainly wasn't Rautavaara, whose style is unmistakeable in his later years. I later learned it had been Brahms' first piano concert.

I wasn't exactly thrilled by it, but when I closed my eyes in the 2nd movement, the piece seem to come back into balance. I entered a trance, and a rather deep one over time. I would appreciate the piece more, but since it wasn't the experience I had come for, I left into the break unsatisfied. Would the symphony be so much different from what I've expected? I had not listened to the 7th before. I didn't even know it was the break - people had applauded the solist so much (which I found a bit over the top, but well) I thought it was over.

Thank goodness it wasn't. The 7th was pretty much everything I had hoped for. Rautavaara weaves such a rich and wonderful texture, it got really intense. So intense that some people left in the last movement. I seriously wondered if the intensity of this music's inner message had pushed them out, no matter how they would rationalize it.

Afterwards I walked back to the train station, on a soft early summer's night. I carried with me the sensation that my chest had expanded and was bigger now. I felt that energetic shapes seemed to protrude from under my skin. In other words, I came to realise the wonderful music had expanded my heart chakra and pushed it wide open. The sensation lasted about 20 minutes after I left the concert hall, I guess. It was quite something.

"Angel of Light" - highly recommended.