Anca Elena in Personal Piano Project

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Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

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#12 – La parole toute-puissante

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Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus by Olivier Messiaen

“At the origins, this work had to accompany the poems of Maurice Toesca, La Nativité, a project for radio. Playing Vingt Regards sur l`Enfant – Jésus, I imagined the words which could follow the music, the voice of the actor reading the poems, the atmosphere of Christmas, people after the 2^nd World War listening it to the radio like a ray of hope after so much craziness of destruction.

The violence is present also in this cycle, a terrible and extremely one. Jesus himself was a victim of it. In Regards we find the chaos before the creation, but also the tenderness of the motherhood, the image of a sweet sleep of Child Jesus, the wonderful freedom and joy of birds… And after all, in the end, Messiaen shows us the Christian window for peace and freedom, which is love.”

Anca Elena.

Anca Elena and Pianists Corner offer you a rendezvous every two weeks. Each rendezvous will contain one Regard. The first episode will be released first week of December.

#12 – La parole toute-puissante

“Cet enfant est le Verbe qui soutient toutes choses par la puissance de sa parole …“

“This Child is the Word who sustains all things through the power of His voice …“

Olivier Messiaen.

“It is one one of my favorite Regards. La parole toute-puissante is a flow of God’s speaking on a huge scale. Practically it is a duo between the divine voice, that means terrible accents and intonations, large neumas, mistical decî-tâlas, a sort of bird’s speaking put under magnifying glass, and an obsessive tam-tam on same numbers or a rhythmical pattern. God has imagination like we humans, have, but he is alone and unique, and that is terrible. In the end we feel the loneliness of the religious dictator, his power, the immense space of his presence.

In the same time, this piece is a proof of the power of spoken word, the magic of letters which precede music, this is why it should be always be used right.“

Anca Elena.