Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Des canyons aux étoiles (1974)
Jason Hardink (piano); Stefan Dohr (horn); Keith Carrick (xylorimba); Eric Hopkins (glockenspiel)
Utah Symphony/Thierry Fischer
rec. 2022, Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City, USA
Hyperion CDA68316 [2 CDs: 92]
Messiaen wrote three large-scale multi-movement works. The first was the celebrated Turangalîla-Symphonie of 1946-8. The second was this work, and the third was the Eclairs sur l’au delà . . . of 1988-92, one of his last works. The first was the only one of these three which the composer designated a symphony, though the other two are of comparable weight. Perhaps they are more like suites.
Des canyons was the result of a commission from the American patron Alice Tully, to compose a work for large chamber orchestra in honour of the American Bicentennial in 1976. Messiaen wanted an American subject and decided to base it on his impressions of Bryce Canyon in Utah, which he considered ‘the most beautiful thing in the United States.’ He went there in early 1972 (the booklet says 1973), an ideal time not only to see the canyon but also to hear and notate birdsongs. The chamber orchestra he required was unusual: it has four soloists as specified above, the same complement of wind and brass as a normal full orchestra, plus the usual gallimaufry of percussion, but only thirteen strings, instead of the normal sixty. The percussion includes a wind machine, a thunder sheet and an instrument Messiaen invented for this work: the geophone, a large drum filled with lead pellets which make a swirling sound when rotated. (This has now been taken up by other composers and is generally known as the ocean drum.) All this makes it rather difficult to programme. Although at one time it was quite popular – I have heard performances under Boulez and Rattle, though neither recorded it – performances recently have become rarer, though there are several recordings.
There are twelve movements, all with descriptive titles, which I shall not repeat here as they are all given in the booklet which comes with the discs. Two movements are for solo piano, written as always, for the composer’s wife Yvonne Loriod, and there is also one for solo horn, the Appel interstellaire, which has become a showpiece for horn players. The work is a celebration of the natural world on a very large scale. The idiom is simpler than that of Turangalîla, with less of the simultaneous overlaying of different ideas; this has the advantage that the work is much easier to listen to for the first time, and the disadvantage that the longer movements can sprawl. Richard Steinitz, who wrote the essay on it in the very useful Messiaen Companion (Faber), says its ‘great canvas . . . stretches tolerance even of Messiaen’s extended time-scale.’ I am inclined to agree.
The challenge for the interpreter is to hold it all together, and for the musicians to master the often very challenging parts Messiaen writes for them. Here we are in good hands. The Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer is not only the world’s leading exponent of the music of his compatriot Frank Martin, but also a fine conductor of French music, with numerous recordings to his credit. These include an excellent one of the Turangalîla-Symphonie, which I mention, since it was not issued in the ordinary way but came as a cover disc with the BBC Music magazine, reference BBC MM275, which can be fairly easily found on line. In that, he persuaded the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to play Messiaen idiomatically, and he does the same here with the Utah Symphony. Perhaps it helped that the work celebrates the natural world in their home state.
Specifically impressive are the brass chording, the woodwind flurries and the precision and bite of the percussion. The four soloists do the work proud. The pianist Jason Hardink is a new name to me, but his repertoire includes Messiaen’s large piano work Vingt Regards so he is thoroughly versed in the idiom. The horn player Stefan Dohr is Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic, so it is not surprising that he does a stellar job of the Appel interstellaire. Fischer holds the whole thing together and the work sparkles and shines. The recording, made in the studio, after a live performance on the site the work celebrates, is excellent. My only reservations are about the work itself: from moment to moment it is delightful, but it is long. Still, any Messiaen collection should include a recording of it and this is a fine one.
Stephen Barber
Previous review: John Quinn (June 2023)
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