Customer Reviews

Piano Music Vol. 3

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This splendid disc of piano works by Messiaen is an essential addition to any library of 20th century piano music. Hakon Austbo performs these works with authority and panache. The recording is superb, and as usual Naxos provides excellent liner notes, and all this for a teriffic bargain price, to boot! The previous volumes of Messiaen in this series are equally vital, and impressive. Bravo, Naxos!!!

Oliver Messiaen will most likely be remembered as one of the 20th centurys most craftsmanly and innovative composers. In his teachings at Darmstadt, he taught directly or influenced Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Franco Donatoni, Jean Barraque and John Cage. Messiaen composed in a wide range of styles within the modern idiom. This piano music set demonstrates some of this variety. The 8 Preludes are reminiscent of Debussy and have pseudo  programmatic titles, just as the Debussy preludes. This pieces are excellent, many of them (in my opinion) thoroughly outdo the Debussy preludes in craft. The should be a more regular part of the piano oevure, especially with the frequency that Debussy is played. The Etude of Durations And Intensities was presented at the summer classes at Darmstadt and was the spark that inspired Boulez to Structures I, Stockhausen to KontraPunkt and Kreuzspiel, Cage to the Music of Changes, unintentionally giving birth to both the American indeterminist school and the pieces of total serialism. A monolith piece in the development of music in the 1900s; it should be heard. The last piece demonstrates the late technique of Messiaen, which was harsher than his early music, but no longer so experimental. The performance on this recording is clear and leaves the listener with a good idea of the pieces. A meritous listen; excellent piano music. A must for any musician, pianist or those interested in modern music. And at the naxos price!

I first listened to this CD while I was trying to write a philosophy essay; I wouldn't recommend anyone else try that. The preludes brought me nearly to tears. Messaien could make stunningly clear chord progressions using the most "dissonant" of intervals and voicings; one realizes that dissonance is relative if not non-existent. I think that even those who are turned off by most twentieth century music would appreciate these as much as I do. The remaining pieces posess an incredible drive and intensity. These early compositions show a composer already well on his way to making the profound music of his later years.