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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Messiaen - Organ Works
2008 was the centenary of Messiaen’s birth, and this 2 DVD set of a selection of his organ music is a superb introduction for those new to his music and an essential purchase for all organ aficionados. Messiaen wrote in many genres, chamber, orchestral, piano solo, and enriched greatly the organ repertoire of the 20th century. Although Debussy and Ravel influenced his earliest works, orientalism and famously the songs of birds were life long influences and a source of fascination to him) Messiaen became a significant influence upon avant-garde composers such as Boulez and Stockhausen. You can sample Tanke’s approach to Messiaen, which is influenced by his study of Buddhist faith and philosophy, on YouTube (keywords: Tanke and Messiaen). The technology afforded by DVD allows the listener to view from several angles, including underneath the bench to see Messiaen’s ferociously mobile pedal parts at first feet, as it were. Tanke plays the Marcussen organ in St Laurenskirk, Rotterdam. Tanke has recorded the complete organ works of Messiaen for Brilliant Classics on CD, recently reissued in time for Messiaen’s centenary. 'This new set by Willem Tanke is most certainly Messiaenic heaven to me, and has placed the music far closer to my heart than any of the previous sets. This recent release is as close to perfect as I think I will find’ The Organ | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Messiaen - Complete Organ Works Volume 2
Michael Bonaventure (the Rieger organ of St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh) “Michael Bonaventure's does get Messiaen's music to lift off the page, even in the most rigorous pages of the Livre d'orgue. The organ of St Giles, Edinburgh has the power and range of colour needed, with the fierce chords at the opening of 'Les mains de l'abîme' fizzing with tension.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 **** “Playing that fully embraces the Messiaen spirit in demanding works.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2008 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Messiaen - The Complete Organ Music, Volume 3
| | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Messiaen: Complete Organ Works Vol. 5
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| |  | Messiaen Organ Works
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Messiaen - Complete Organ Works
2002 is the tenth anniversary of Messiaen's death. This 6 CD box set of the complete works was recorded on the organ of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris by Olivier Latry. Latry has been the titular organist of the cathedral of Notre Dame since 1985. Messiaen himself could think of no better interpreter of his organ music than Olivier Latry. Yvonne Messiaen, the composer's widow, quotes what her husband said about Oliver Latry: "Olivier Messiaen talked about Olivier Latry as "the new Marcel Dupré". Interpreter, improviser, teacher; his qualities are manifold. His virtuosity, the immensity of his repertoire, his knowledge of all styles. It is difficult to choose what to admire most! Olivier Latry is a master with hands of light, who can restore all the love, the joy and the colours Olivier Messiaen lay into his music." “the cathedral resounds with the meeting between the music, the instrument, and what [Latry] calls 'its jewel-case of stone'....it's actually possible simply to revel in the extraordinary sounds [Messiaen] makes, his intimate understanding of the instrument he wrote for and the colours and textures he could draw from it.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 20th November 2002 “Since 1985 (when he was only 23), Mr. Latry has been one of the three titulaires at France's grandest cathedral, Notre Dame in Paris, whose organ is at heart another Cavaillé-Coll instrument. What makes his new boxed set special is the sound of that instrument. At Messiaen's many ecstatic climaxes or eerie epiphanies, the musical colors emanating from this organ truly seem to be breathing the air of other planets. It's a more amazing sound even than that of Messiaen's own instrument. Yet as another organ built at almost exactly the same time and rooted in Cavaille-Coll, it retains an authenticity that other organs inevitably lack.” New York Times, December 2003 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Messiaen - Complete Organ Works
Hans-Ola Ericsson (playing the Grönlund Organ of Luleå Cathedral, Sweden and the 2006 Gerald Woehl Organ of the Katharinenkirche, Oppenheim, Germany) Incorporating the fruits of the composer’s untiring research into the various aspects of tonality, bird-song, ancient Indian and Greek rhythms, and his life-long preoccupation with the philosophy and liturgy of the Catholic Church, the organ music by Olivier Messiaen forms a pillar in the music of the 20th century. Over some 50 years, Messiaen created a body of works for the great Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Church of La Trinité in Paris, where he was active throughout most of his life. All of these have been gathered in this boxed-set of Hans-Ola Ericsson’s highly acclaimed recordings, many originally released as single discs between 1989 and 1992. “of outstanding quality, both musical and technical” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | (also available to download from $38.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Messiaen: Organ Works (Complete)
Willem Tanke (Organ, St. Bavo Basilica, Haarlem) | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Olivier Messiaen - 1908–1992 (100th Anniversary Box Set)
Messiaen: | Turangalîla Symphony Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot) & Michel Béroff (piano) London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn Les Offrandes oubliées (1930) Orchestre de Paris & Ensemble de Percussion de l’Orchestre de Paris, Serge Baudo Chronochromie for large orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati Éclairs sur l'au-delà... Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle Quatuor pour la fin du temps Yvonne Loriod (piano), Christoph Poppen (violin), Manuel Fischer-Dieskau (cello) & Wolfgang Meyer (clarinet) Theme and Variations for Violin and Piano Christoph Poppen (violin) & Yvonne Loriod (piano) Le Merle noir for flute and piano Emmanuel Pahud (flute) Preludes (8) Michel Béroff (piano) Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus Michel Béroff (piano) Visions de l'Amen for 2 pianos Alexandre Rabinovitch & Martha Argerich (pianos) Quatre Études de rythme Michel Béroff (piano) Cantéyodjayâ John Ogdon (piano) Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle Olivier Messiaen (organ) Le Banquet Céleste Olivier Messiaen (organ) Diptyque Olivier Messiaen (organ) L'Ascension (organ version) Olivier Messiaen (organ) La Nativité du Seigneur Olivier Messiaen (organ) & Naji Hakim (organ) Priere apres la Communion Naji Hakim (organ) Les Corps Glorieux Olivier Messiaen (organ) Messe de la Pentecote Olivier Messiaen (organ) Livre d'Orgue Olivier Messiaen (organ) La Mort Du Nombre Ann Murray (soprano), Philip Langridge (tenor), Andrew Watkinson (violin) & Roger Vignoles (piano) Trois Mélodies Michèle Command (soprano) & Marie-Madeleine Petit (piano) Poèmes pour Mi, books 1 & 2 (complete) Michèle Command (soprano) & Marie-Madeleine Petit (piano) Chants de Terre et de Ciel Michèle Command (soprano) & Marie-Madeleine Petit (piano) Harawi (Chants d'amour et de Mort) Michèle Command (soprano) & Marie-Madeleine Petit (piano) 3 Petites liturgies de la Presence Divine Rolf Hind (piano) & Cynthia Millar (ondes Martenot) London Sinfonietta & London Sinfonietta Chorus, Terry Edwards Cinq rechants Rolf Hind (piano) & Cynthia Millar (ondes Martenot) London Sinfonietta, London Sinfonietta Chorus & London Sinfonietta Voices, Terry Edwards |
Olivier Messiaen was born on 10th December 1908 in Avignon. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1919 to 1930 where his teachers included Paul Dukas and the great organist and improviser Marcel Dupré. He developed a very distinctive style in the music and with his deep Catholic faith and love of birds he created a highly original palette in sound which he employed in works for orchestra, small combination of or merely solo instruments or choir. EMI is celebrating his centenary with a collection of 14CDs. Messiaen himself appears as the organist in four CDs of his solo organ music, recorded in from the earliest work up to and including to his then latest work Livre d’Orgue. These four CDs have been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios. His wife, Yvonne Loriod, plays the piano in the CD of the Quatuor pour la fin du Temps and his sister-in-law, Jeanne Loriod, plays the ondes-martenot in the Turangalila Symphony with Michel Beroff and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn. Although most works have been issued on CD before some are rare – e.g. 2 CDs of Melodies – and two are making their first appearance in this medium: Quatre etudes de rythme and Cantéyodjâya played by Beroff and Ogdon respectively. This is a fine set to introduce yourself to one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. “…this handsome set from EMI is well worth considering. With works spanning his output, a range of genres and some wonderful performances…” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 ***** “The 14-CD EMI set is one of those incredibly useful, disarmingly cheap, completist pulltogethers, this one boasting classic Messiaen moments like Previn's 1977 Turangalîla-Symphonie, Dorati's penetrating 1964 Chronochromie, Rattle's Eclairs sur l'Au-delà, Martha Argerich's and Alexandre Rabinovitch's Visions de l'Amen and Messiaen's own performances of his organ works.
For those wanting to look deeper into Messiaen's evolution and history, the Accord set of early recordings featuring Messiaen, Loriod and contemporary acolytes is essential. The set begins with Messiaen's and Loriod's 1962 recording of Visions de l'Amen (their second version; an original 1949 account is lost to hopeless sound) and it's a cunningly paced, keenly nuanced performance where articulation and timbre have been carefully considered. Loriod's 1956 account of the Vingt regards has a thrilling atmosphere of discovery, and the Catalogued'oiseaux she cut in '59 has bravura attack, although her later Erato set is more seasoned.
In the mid-1950s Pierre Boulez's Domain Musical society gave many Messiaen premieres, and Boulez's account of the insanely exacting Sept Haïkaï and a joyous performance of Oiseauxexotiques from Rudolf Albert, recorded at Domaine Musical events, enjoy a marvellous sense of time and place. Messiaen's own recording of the Quartet for the End of Time, featuring cellist Etienne Pasquier (with whom he was interred in Stalag VIII-A), is technically wobbly and shrill by modern standards, but has a rooted emotional authenticity that never tries too hard to make its point. The only low-point is Maurice Le Roux's Turangalîla: an apparently fine performance, but the recording is so lamely transferred it's impossible to tell either way.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “The 14-CD EMI set is one of the those incredibly useful, disarmingly cheap, EMI completist pull-togethers, this one boasting classic Messiaen moments like Previn's 1977 Turangalîla-Symphonie, Dorati's penetrating 1964 Chronochromie, Rattle's Eclairs sur l'Au-delà, Martha Argerich's and Alexandre Rabinovitch's Visions de l'Amen and Messiaen's own performances of his organ works.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009 | | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
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| |  | Messiaen Edition Volume 1Piano Works, Organ Works & Songs
The long life and passionate, exotic music of Olivier Messiaen are big news in this, the centenary year of his birth. Festivals worldwide are celebrating one of the last century’s greatest composers and his heady blend of a musical language that moves from the rich romanticism of the French organ tradition to the diamond precision of a modernism which hugely influenced the leaders of the postwar avant-garde such as Boulez and Stockhausen. His love of God and nature is everywhere evident in the vast cycles of works such as La Nativité du Seigneur and Vingt Régards sur l’Enfant Jésus, but so is a delight in instrumental virtuosity: he was himself a superb organist and pianist. All of these recordings were critically acclaimed when they first appeared; they have been reissued with extensive notes and full texts for the songs. “No reservations…about Peter Hill's masterly set of the piano music, longheld in esteem by Messiaen-lovers,. Technical control, characterisation, colour, 'clarté': it's all here. Few if any pianists play the first and last movements of Vingt regards so slowly. Few approached his sense of a majestic mystery.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 ***** “Throughout‚ Hill limns Messiaen’s heady‚ quasi pantheistic amalgam of rapture and stillness‚ evocation and exultation with illuminating exuberance…Hill is supported by a recording of satisfyingly huge range…In Benjamin Frith, Hill has a duo partner as responsive to Messiaen’s demands for subtlety of colour and delicacy of texture as he is himself.” Gramophone Magazine | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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