Customer Reviews

Olivier Messiaen, the Musical Mediator: A Study of the Influence of Liszt, Debussy, and Bartok

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The book is not what its title would seem to intend - I suspect that Hsu has fallen prey to an all-too-tempting alliteration (Messiaen, Musical, Mediator) in favor of a more accurately descriptive title.

The influence of Debussy is taken largely for granted, and not explored in detail; the influence of Liszt is barely discussed; and Hsu's thesis that Messiaen was influenced by Bartok is hard to take seriously with so little supporting evidence and the composer's averall that he was NOT influenced by Bartok. The sum total of the supporting evidence is that Messiaen liked Bartok when he was young, performing his works along with his first wife Clare Delbos; that Messiaen says that he "collect[ed] birdsong as Bartok collected folksong", which is, of course, an analogy of method and not an admission of influence; and that a rhythmic figure that Messiaen sometimes used - a short, accented note followed by a long, unaccented note - may be derived from the so-called "Hungarian portamento."

For what the book is, however - an analysis of and performer's/teacher's guide to Messiaen's eight Preludes - it's really quite good. If you're planning on playing or teaching those preludes, look the book up. If you're wanting a study on Messiaen and his influences, go instead to Claude Samuel, Siglind Bruhn, Robert Sherlaw Johnson, or Nigel Simeone. Or straight to the source, if you can brave the price Leduc charges, with Messiaen's "Technique of my Musical Language."