Anca Elena in Personal Piano Project

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Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

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#14 – Regard des Anges

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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.

#14 – Regard des Anges

“Scintillements, percussions; souffle puissant dans d’immenses trombones; tes serviteurs sont des flammes de feu … puis le chant des oiseaux qui avalent du bleu – et la stupeur des anges s’agrandit: car ce n’est pas à eux mais à la race humaine que Dieu s’est uni …“

“Sparkling, beating; a powerful blast from immense trombones; Your servants are flames of fire – then the song of birds who feast upon blue – and the amazement of the angels grows – for it is not to them but to the human race that God is united …“

Olivier Messiaen.

“If you imagine that angels are spiritual, windy and soft creatures, you must forget about it!

Messiaen creates shocking spiritual beings which come to awake us with their huge wings in the strident sound of the beginning and their voices of the trombones. The mathematical thinking (of canons) makes them close to sf characters, over human sensitivity. What can be more shocking than the superposition of a canon on Indian decî-tâlas and an augmented fourth, known as the interval of Devil in the Middle Age, with the free birds’s singing, full of neumas and Greek rhythms? This work is stupefying by its so many repetitions (are they boring?), by the loud singing of birds, so close to our ears. They are really shouting! Not only us, but the angels themselves are stupefied, because finally God choose to unify with humans. This is unfair, because their power, science, amazing grace are ignored.”

Anca Elena.