OLIVIER MESSIAEN: Eclairs sur l’Au-Dela (Illuminations of the Beyond). Apparition of Christ in Glory; The Constellation of Sagittarius; The Lyrebird and the Bridal City; The Elect Marked with a Seal; Abide in Love; The Seven Angels with the Seven Trumpets; And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes….; The Stars and the Glory; Several Birds from the Trees of Life; The Way of the Invisible; Christ, Light of Paradise – Vienna Philharmonic/ Ingo Metzmacher – Kairos 0012742KAI [Distr. by Allegro] ****:
In the summer of 1987 the New York Philharmonic commissioned Olivier Messiaen to compose an orchestral work for its 150th anniversary. Illuminations of the Beyond was finished in 1991, shortly before the composer’s death at age 84. In many ways it’s a summation of the composer’s life, a musical journey of supernatural transcendence that ends in spiritual resurrection. It’s written for a large orchestra and includes such exotic instruments as a wind machine, gongs, contrabass clarinet, xylorimba, contrabass tuba, 6 temple blocks, etc. The movements express some of the themes that saturate Messiaen’s musical life: love of the women he married, the profound Catholic faith that guided his life and the use of bird song.
Messiaen found the Lyrebird in Australia and his wife, Yvonne Loriod, describes their voices, “In three steps it jumps from the high to the low range and back again.” The Lyrebird and the Bridal City is an amusing, realistic musical picture of the bird. Abide in Love is a lushly scored meditation for strings, beautiful in its radiance. The Seven Angels with the Seven Trumpets is a slow, powerful and unrelenting march, heavy with brass and percussion. The Stars and the Glory is a brilliant depiction of the wonders and chaos that must lie in the galaxy of the universe above us. Several Birds from the Trees of Life is inspired by the Dom J. de Monleon’s text which reads, “The elect will gather the fruits of this wonderful tree and they will sing like birds in its branches.” 18 woodwinds playing the songs of 25 birds at once create a glorious cacophony that recreates nature at its most vibrant. The last section, Christ, Light of Paradise is ecstatic, spiritual meditation on the end of life.
The Vienna Philharmonic plays luminously and the live recording truthfully communicates Messaien’s unusual and varied orchestration. Illuminations from Beyond is a work worth experiencing many times. Like life, its episodic, serious and sublime meditations left me with a sense of wonderment.
— Robert Moon
