This concert is part of the following series:
From the Canyons to the Stars: The Music of Olivier Messiaen
Autumn-Winter 2008/09
Click here to book online, or call the Southbank Ticket Office on 0871 663 2515
Please note choir and balcony seats are not available.
Colour and the musical expression of it ties together all four works in this evening’s programme. Debussy’s Prélude, opened up the sound-world of the twentieth-century. Depicting the dreams and desires flitting through the mind of the faun as he lies in the sultry sunshine of a hot summer’s afternoon it weaves a tantalising veil of colours and textures. Colour was also a lifelong passion of Messiaen’s and Réveil des oiseaux, for piano and orchestra (along with much additional percussion) is a glorious depiction of a dawn chorus of French birds. Poèmes pour Mi meanwhile is a celebration of love, an extraordinarily intimate and personal song cycle that celebrates the marriage of Messiaen and ‘Mi’, his pet name for his first wife Claire. Scriabin’s Poème de l’Exstase, a tone poem of great originality, with shifting sound colours that reflect the composer’s admiration of Debussy’s music, provides a glorious climax.
Find out more about the life and work of Messiaen on our dedicated resources website
Read Sylvain Cambreling's biography.
Read Roger Muraro's biography.
Click here to book online, or call the Southbank Ticket Office on 0871 663 2515
Please note choir and balcony seats are not available.
Colour and the musical expression of it ties together all four works in this evening’s programme. Debussy’s Prélude, opened up the sound-world of the twentieth-century. Depicting the dreams and desires flitting through the mind of the faun as he lies in the sultry sunshine of a hot summer’s afternoon it weaves a tantalising veil of colours and textures. Colour was also a lifelong passion of Messiaen’s and Réveil des oiseaux, for piano and orchestra (along with much additional percussion) is a glorious depiction of a dawn chorus of French birds. Poèmes pour Mi meanwhile is a celebration of love, an extraordinarily intimate and personal song cycle that celebrates the marriage of Messiaen and ‘Mi’, his pet name for his first wife Claire. Scriabin’s Poème de l’Exstase, a tone poem of great originality, with shifting sound colours that reflect the composer’s admiration of Debussy’s music, provides a glorious climax.
Find out more about the life and work of Messiaen on our dedicated resources website
