Messiaen: Organ Works

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The great strength of Simon Preston's performance lies in his control of the slow movements ... With the additional benefits of good recording quality and a sensitive performance of the early... — Musical Times, February 1971 More…

Release Date: 1st Dec 2017
Catalogue No: ELQ4824917
Label: Eloquence
Length: 2 hours 18 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Messiaen: Le Banquet Céleste

Work length7:12

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1969-07

Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur

Work length57:46

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1965-05-07
Recording Venue: Westminster Abbey, London

1. La Vierge et l'Enfant

Track length5:52

2. Les Bergers

Track length6:46

3. Desseins Eternels

Track length4:46

4. Le Verbe

Track length10:30

5. Les Enfants de Dieu

Track length4:13

6. Les Anges

Track length3:26

7. Jésus accepte la Souffrance

Track length4:19

8. Les mages

Track length9:11

9. Dieu parmi nous

Track length8:43

Messiaen: L'Ascension (Quatre meditations pour l'orchestre)

Work length27:35

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1962-08
Recording Venue: King's College, Cambridge

1. Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père

Track length6:25

2. Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel

Track length8:14

3. Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne

Track length5:40

4. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père

Track length7:16

Messiaen: Les corps glorieux (1939) - Book 1

Work length14:01

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1969-07

1. Subtilité des corps glorieux

Track length5:06

2. Les Eaux de la Grace

Track length2:27

3. L'Ange aux Parfums

Track length6:28

Messiaen: Les corps glorieux (1939) - Book 2

Work length14:53

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1969-07

1. Combat de la Mort et de la Vie

Track length14:53

Messiaen: Les corps glorieux (1939) - Book 3

Work length16:49

Simon Preston (organ)
Recorded: 1969-07

1. Force et Agilité des Corps Glorieux

Track length3:59

2. Joie et Clarté des Corps Glorieux

Track length5:43

3. Le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité

Track length7:07

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About

Simon Preston’s recordings of Messiaen for Argo and Decca, newly remastered and compiled for the first time in a 2CD release.

Preston championed Messiaen’s organ works, both in recital and on disc, at a time when they were relatively unknown in England. Incredibly, he made his first Messiaen recording – of L’Ascension – at only a week’s notice, in August 1962. The venue was the great vaulted chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, where he had been organ scholar for the best part of five years under the tuition of C.H. Trevor. Three years later there followed what is now the most popular of the composer’s organ cycles, La Nativité du Seigneur, recorded in Westminster Abbey, where he was by now sub-organist: still an astonishingly precocious achievement.

Preston continued to make records for Argo and Decca at a rate of knots: ten solo organ recordings on Argo alone between 1963 and 1968, and all acclaimed at the time for a rhythmic control and brilliance of registration that marked him out as a musician of extraordinary gifts. He was also recording as a harpsichordist and continuo player with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and soon as a conductor in his own right. His own compositions from the 1960s, notably Alleluyas for organ, reflect Messiaen’s style. The present set is completed by Le banquet celeste and the much more rarefied challenges of Les Corps Glorieux, recorded at St Albans Cathedral in July 1969.

Reviews

Musical Times February 1971

The great strength of Simon Preston's performance lies in his control of the slow movements ... With the additional benefits of good recording quality and a sensitive performance of the early Le Banquet celeste (1928) it is a record which I would not hesitate to recommend.

Messiaen: Organ Works

2 CDs

Contents

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