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Track(s) taken from SIGCD126

Morceau de lecture à vue

composer
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
1934

Matthew Schellhorn (piano)
Recording details: February 2008
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Produced by Rachel Smith
Engineered by Peter Newble
Release date: July 2008
Total duration: 1 minutes 59 seconds
 

Reviews

'A worthwhile and distinctive release' (Gramophone)

'Admirers of Messiaen’s music will simply have to have this record, for it contains the world premiere recording of a solo piano piece, Morceau de lecture à vue composed in 1934 for the sight-reading examination at the École Normale de Musique … the record merits a strong recommendation for the performances of the other, more well-known music here. The result is an excellent issue, dominated as it is by the masterly Quartet for the end of time which still, after seventy years, packs a considerable punch in terms of emotional expression—especially in such a fine performance as it undoubtedly receives in this instance' (International Record Review)» More

‘ 'A heart-stoppingly beautiful performance … listeners who love Quatuor pour la fin du Temps owe it to themselves to hear this stellar version' (AllMusic, USA)

Before the Second World War Messiaen taught for a time at the École Normale de Musique and in 1934 he wrote a Morceau de lecture à vue—a sight-reading piece—for the piano exams there. Even if he had pity on the students’ rhythmic capabilities (the piece is in 6/8 throughout), there are plenty of accidentals to sort out, often through his use of what he rather cumbersomely called his ‘second mode of limited transposition’, a scale of alternating tones and semitones. The opening five-note motif would later be developed into the ‘Theme of Love’ in the Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus of 1944 (a further instance of the composer recycling material); the whole piece radiates the sort of lushness that was to upset so many critics after the war.

from notes by Roger Nichols © 2008

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