Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
This item is not eligible for Amazon Prime, but millions of other items are. Join Amazon Prime today. Already a member? Sign in.
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Olivier Messiaen is one of those composers whose work is so unique that it cannot possibly be mistaken for anyone else's. His Quartet for the End of Time (composed and first performed in a concentration camp) is one of the most powerful and emotionally satisfying pieces of chamber music ever written. Messiaen devised his own rhythmic and harmonic "modes," and his greatest influences were Catholic mysticism and bird song. Is it any wonder that his music created a whole new sound world? It's sort of the musical equivalent of those computer-generated pictures where, if you stare hard enough, a 3-D object is revealed. Once your ears adjust to what's going on, you¹re completely mesmerized. The trick is in performing the music properly. Here is a performance that brings the piece fully to life. Individually, the playing is excellent (the cellist and clarinetist, in particular, are exceptional). As a group they come as close as any to fulfilling Messiaen's intent: to "bring the listener closer to eternity." Filmed at a live concert in a beautiful old church with lots of arches and nooks, the camera slowly works its way around the architecture; much the way an audience member might look around as the music transported him or her into another world. As a major bonus, this disc includes Messiaen himself improvising three pieces at the organ of the Trinity Church in Paris. The opportunity of being able to watch a composer of this caliber create music spontaneously is easily worth the price of the disc. --Seth Krimsky
Product Description
One of the greatest figures of 20th century music, Olivier Messiaen found inspiration for his works in religious and mystical symbols with striking rhythms. An enthusiastic ornithologist, he weaved into his music the songs of birds from all over the world, and is known for his harmonic explorations. Messiaen's "Improvisations" is performed by the composer on organ at the Paris-Trinity Church. His "Quartet for the End of Time," composed in 1940 during his captivity in a German prisoner of war camp, is performed by the Messiaen Quartet at the Vaux De Cernay Abbey.
Olivier Messiaen is one of those composers whose work is so unique that it cannot possibly be mistaken for anyone else's. His Quartet for the End of Time (composed and first performed in a concentration camp) is one of the most powerful and emotionally satisfying pieces of chamber music ever written. Messiaen devised his own rhythmic and harmonic "modes," and his greatest influences were Catholic mysticism and bird song. Is it any wonder that his music created a whole new sound world? It's sort of the musical equivalent of those computer-generated pictures where, if you stare hard enough, a 3-D object is revealed. Once your ears adjust to what's going on, you¹re completely mesmerized. The trick is in performing the music properly. Here is a performance that brings the piece fully to life. Individually, the playing is excellent (the cellist and clarinetist, in particular, are exceptional). As a group they come as close as any to fulfilling Messiaen's intent: to "bring the listener closer to eternity." Filmed at a live concert in a beautiful old church with lots of arches and nooks, the camera slowly works its way around the architecture; much the way an audience member might look around as the music transported him or her into another world. As a major bonus, this disc includes Messiaen himself improvising three pieces at the organ of the Trinity Church in Paris. The opportunity of being able to watch a composer of this caliber create music spontaneously is easily worth the price of the disc. --Seth Krimsky
Product Description
One of the greatest figures of 20th century music, Olivier Messiaen found inspiration for his works in religious and mystical symbols with striking rhythms. An enthusiastic ornithologist, he weaved into his music the songs of birds from all over the world, and is known for his harmonic explorations. Messiaen's "Improvisations" is performed by the composer on organ at the Paris-Trinity Church. His "Quartet for the End of Time," composed in 1940 during his captivity in a German prisoner of war camp, is performed by the Messiaen Quartet at the Vaux De Cernay Abbey.
Customers Who Bought Related Items Also Bought
by Alex Ross
|
by Rebecca Rischin
|
~ Messiaen
|
DVD ~ Bruno Monsaingeon
|
by Professor Peter Hill
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
|||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
 |
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
|
This product's forum
(0 discussions)
Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Active discussions in related forums
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Information from the Amapedia Community
Beta (What's this?)Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.
› See featured Amapedia.com articles
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
$15 Off Olay, Pantene, and More |
Shut Out the Cold |
 |
On the Brighter Side |
|||||||
|
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
