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 2nd 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.
#6 – Par Lui tout a été fait
“Foisonnement des espaces et durées; galaxies, photons, spirales contraires, foudres inverses; par «lui» (le Verbe) tout a été fait … à un moment, la création nous ouvre l’ombre lumineuse de sa Voix …”
“Abundance of space and time; galaxies, photons, contrary spirals, inverted lightning: by Him (The Word) was Everything made … in an instant, creation reveals to us the luminous shadow of His Voice …”
“A vision of the Creation, Par Lui tout a été fait is a dodecaphonic fugue, a celebration of the birth of the Universe and the basic energies of nature.
All counterpoint European tradition is filled with Indian rhythms, a large variety of percussions, mathematics, modern theories of science and theology.
We can listen three cyclic themes of Vingt Regards sur l´Enfant-Jésus : Theme of God, Theme of Love, and Theme of the Chords in a crazy work full of virtuoso passages.”
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 2nd 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.
#5 – Regard du Fils sur le Fils
“Mystère, rais de lumière dans la nuit – réfraction de la joie, les oiseaux du silence – la personne du Verbe dans une nature humaine – mariage des natures humaine et divine en Jésus-Christ …”
“Mystery, rays of light in the night – refraction of joy, the birds of silence – the person of the Word made flesh – union of the human and divine natures in Jesus Christ …”
“There is something hypnotic in that piece, something huge and very stable, the eternity itself. Regard no. 5 is growing up on only one theme, the Theme of God, played very slowly from the beginning till end. Just one theme for a single piece ! No development, only birds over it which are singing freely. The birds of silence appear like a rhythmical canon sounding as Chinese bells – in first section. Three tâlas compose every plan, repeated obsessively, in a pedal. In the second section the birds are really speaking in a wonderful ‘oiseau’ rhetoric.
Memorizing this piece was a challenge, everything and nothing was the same… Till I understood that it is a work of rhythm and colour. Going more on this way, I discovered a temple of beauty! So I had to let the music to exist freely, without my obvious implication. I was just an observer, listening the vibrations of sounds and their mysterious power.”
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 2nd 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.
#4 – Regard de la Vierge
“Innocence et tendresse … la femme de la Pureté, la femme du Magnificat, la Vierge regarde son Enfant …”
“Innocence and tenderness … The woman of purity, the woman of the Magnificat, the Virgin gazes upon her child …”
Olivier Messiaen.
Notre-Dame de la Belle Verrière, Chartres Cathedral
“A lullaby of a mother for her child… She is repeating it so many times till hypnose and so tenderly that the baby is falling asleep… Then the vision of the future: birds, bells, a pray, fear and courage of loving humans… In the end her song comes back, even more calm and tenderly…”
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 2nd 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.
#3 – L’Échange
“Descente en gerbe, montée en spirale; terrible commerce humano-divin, Dieu se fait homme pour nous rendre dieux …”
“Descending in a spray, rising in a spiral; the terrible trade between humans and God. God made man to make us gods …”
Olivier Messiaen.
“Here is a totally abstract work, a mixture of mathematics and theology, developed on scientific principles! What is the good of music if it doesn’t speak to souls? Messiaen shows the opposite in this emotionless work, perfect in its frozen architecture. The equality and symmetry of the terms, the almost hallucinating predictability in a twelve-tone sound can be a shock to the music lover and can challenge his sensitivity. This is why this piece is one of the most daring of the cycle Vingt Regards sur l´Enfant-Jésus as an extreme aesthetic essay.”
Boris Giltburg completes his project this month to record Beethoven’s 32 sonatas. Project started in January 2020, just before the sanitary confinements which were going to spread in Europe and in the world. Find all of these recordings on Pianists Corner.
The 3 sonatas Opus 2 are dedicated to Joseph Haydn, Beethoven’s teacher between 1792 and 1794. They were composed between 1794 and 1795 and published by Editions Artaria in Vienna in March 1796. Sonata No. 1 is also called the “Little Appassionata”, not only because it shares the same key with Opus 57, but also because of its passionate temper, especially in the 3rd movement.
In the sonata in A major the scherzo replaces the traditional minuet. It was Beethoven’s first sonata to reach America, and was performed in New York on June 5, 1807.
The third sonata of Opus 2 is the most virtuoso of the 3 sonatas. As with the first sonata, in its first movement it borrows a theme composed by Beethoven for his Piano Quartet No. 3 (WoO 36).
Sonatas 19 and 20 (opus 49) were probably composed for students and were not intended for publication. As their opus number does not indicate, they were composed between 1796 and 1798 and finally published in 1805 in Vienna at the Bureau of Arts and Industry. The publication of these works is due to the composer’s brother, Kaspar Karl, who found them worthy of interest unlike his brother.
The sonata Opus 7 is dedicated to Beethoven’s pupil, Countess Babette von Keglević, it was published in 1797 by Editions Artaria. Called “Grande Sonata” by its author, it was published alone, which was unusual for the time. It seems that originally the sonata included the inscription “Die Verliebte” (The Maiden in love) …
The three sonatas of Opus 10 were composed between 1796 and 1798. They are dedicated to Countess Anna Margarete von Browne, who had just arrived in Vienna in 1795. The sonatas were published by Editions Eder, in Vienna, in 1798. Beethoven here revives the Mozartian tradition of 3-movement sonatas. The first sonata is in C minor, A key which will become like a signature for Beethoven (5th symphony, Sonata “Pathétique”, 3rd concerto for piano, etc., etc.).
The second sonata of Opus is brilliant in character, almost playful (3rd movement). It stands out from other compositions of this period by its more traditional structure (repetitions).
In sonata No. 7, Beethoven returns to 4 movements. The slow movement (Largo) will make its reputation. He will say about it later “Everyone will feel well in this largo the state of a soul in the grip of melancholy with the different shades of light and shadow”.
Sonata number 8, called “Pathétique” was composed between 1798 and 1799 and published by Editions Eder, in Vienna, in 1799. It is dedicated to his patron since his arrival in Vienna in 1792, Prince Karl Lichnowsky. Although the term “Pathétique” was not given by Beethoven himself, it seems that he accepted and even used it.
The two sonatas of Opus 14 were published in 1799 by Mollo editions in Vienna. Despite their numbering, it seems that Sonata No. 10 was written before Sonata No. 9. They are dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, one of his patrons at that time. These two sonatas form a lyrical and light counterweight to the “Pathétique” sonata. Beethoven will later arrange Sonata No. 9 for string quartet.
According to Schindler (Beethoven’s biographer), listeners at the time saw in the 10th sonata “a struggle of two principles”, “a dialogue between a man and a woman or a lover and a beloved”.
The sonata Opus 22 was achieved in 1800 and published two years later by Franz Hoffmeister editions in Leipzig. It is dedicated to one of his patron, the Count Johann Georg von Browne. It is contemporary with his septet and his first symphony. Musicologist Wilhelm von Lenz considered this sonata as “a magnificent and triumphant epic”.
The sonata Opus 26 is dedicated to Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, and was published in March 1802 by the Cappi edition in Vienna. Sketched in 1800, it was completed in 1801. Beethoven himself nicknamed the third movement “Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Eroe”, hence the nickname of the sonata itself and it is this same funeral march that will accompany the composer’s funeral.
With the two sonatas of Opus 27, Beethoven moves away from the traditional form of the sonata. They are both entitled “Sonata quasi una fantasia” and all the movements are linked in a desire for unity. Composed between 1800 and 1801, they will be published by Cappi editions, in Vienna, in 1802. Sonata No. 13 is dedicated to Princess Josephine von Liechtenstein.
Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder
Sonata No. 14, better known as “Moonlight Sonata”, is dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, who was briefly a pupil of Beethoven and with whom he probably fell in love.
The sonata opus 28, named after its publication “Pastorale” by the publisher Cranz of Hamburg, was composed in 1801 and published in 1802 by the editions of the Bureau of Arts and Industry in Vienna. It is dedicated to Count Joseph von Sonnenfels. Besides, the sonata is also called the “Sonnenfels” by the Germans.
The first of the three sonatas of Opus 31 was written after Opus 31 No.2 (sonata No.17). The publisher Nägeli in Zurich had commissioned four piano sonatas from Beethoven. Beethoven gave his agreement for the 3 sonatas of Opus 31, without knowing that his brother was also leading a negotiation with Breitkopf & Härtel for these same sonatas. Nevertheless, he kept his promise given to Nägeli and sent him the first two sonatas which were published first, then the third which was published with a reissue of the “Pathétique”. The publications of the Zurich publisher were full of errors and even contained for the first sonata, 4 additional bars not written by Beethoven. Extremely angry, Beethoven entrusted Simrock with a new edition with the french mention “Edition très correcte”. Countess Browne will receive her dedication in 1805 with the third edition at Cappi in Vienna, with the third sonata (Sonata No. 18). The three sonatas opus 31 are written after the Heiligenstadt Testament.
Sonata Opus 53 is dedicated to Beethoven’s former patron in Bonn, Count Waldstein. Sketched in 1803, it was completed during the summer of 1804. It was published in May 1805 in Vienna at the Bureau of Arts and Industry. An andante at the center of the work was finally removed by the composer. Instead he placed a slow ‘Introduzione’ at the Rondo. Contemporary of Fidelio, it requires a lot of virtuosity, it is the most technically difficult sonata so far that he has written.
The sonata Opus 54, located between the “Waldstein” and the “Appassionata” has often been overlooked. It was composed in 1804 and edited at the Bureau of Arts and Industry in Vienna, in 1806. It was freshly welcomed at the time: “The two pieces of which it is composed resemble a song of crickets …” (Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung)
The sonata “Appassionata” begun in 1804 and completed in October 1806 was published in February 1807 at the Bureau of Arts and Industry. The dedication goes to Franz von Brunswik, a friend of Beethoven. Unlike the “Pathétique”, op. 13, the “Appassionata” was not so nicknamed during Beethoven’s lifetime, but in 1838 by the publisher Cranz of Hamburg on the occasion of the publication of an arrangement for 4 hands.
Count Franz von Brunswik (Heinrich Thugut, Vienna)
Composed three years after the “Appassionata” in 1809, it is dedicated to his great friend Thérèse von Brunswik hence the nickname of the sonata. Published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1810, it was dear to Beethoven.
Sonata Opus 79, described as “sonatina” when it was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in December 1810, was composed following Sonata No. 24 in 1809. The first movement, in which we hear the sound of the cuckoo, has sometimes resulted in it being called the “cuckoo” sonata.
The particularly inspired sonata Opus 81a is dedicated by Beethoven to his friend and pupil Archduke Rudolf to commemorate his departure from Vienna during the occupation of the Napoleonic troops, then his return. Sketched in May 1809, we read at the head of the first movement: “The Farewell, Vienna on May 4th, 1809, the day of the departure of His Imperial Highness, my revered Archduke Rudolph”. Then a few months later, at the head of the last movement: “Return of His Imperial Highness, my venerated Archduke, January 30th, 1810”. The publication by Breitkopf and Härtel in July 1811 shows the title in French: “Les adieux ,l’absence et le retour”. But the translation did not please Beethoven: “Lebewohl is quite another thing than goodbyes, we only say the first to one person, and only with heart, the other to an entire assembly, to entire towns”. He himself gives it the German titles: “Das Lebewohl, Die Abwesenheit, Das Wiedersehen”.
Cardinal Rudolph of Austria, portrait by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder
Finished in August 1814 in Baden, the sonata Opus 90 was published in Vienna by Steiner in June 1815 and is dedicated to Count Moritz von Lichnowsky. According to Anton Schindler, biographer and friend of the composer, Beethoven told in this sonata the story of the count’s love. The first movement was titled “Kampf zwischen Kopf und Herz” (“Fight between the head and the heart”), the second “Conversation mit der Geliebten” (“Conversation with the beloved”). But these titles did not appear upon publication. For the first time, Beethoven writes the title of his sonata in German, as well as the designations for the two movements.
The sonata Opus 101, the first of the five sonatas of the last period, was composed in Baden in 1816 and published by Steiner in Vienna in February 1817. It is dedicated to the pianist, Baroness Dorothea Ertmann. This is the first time that Beethoven uses the German term “Hammerklavier” to refer to the piano.
Opus 106, Sonata “Hammerklavier” is Beethoven’s longest sonata. Completed in 1819, then published in September of the same year in Vienna by Artaria, it is dedicated to Archduke Rudolph.
The last 3 sonatas are the result of negotiations between Adolf Schlesinger, publisher of Berlin, and Beethoven. They were composed between 1820 and 1822. The sonata Opus 109 was composed in 1820, its first edition dates from November 1821, it still contained many errors. The sonata is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano daughter of Antonie Brentano (“Beloved Immortal”?, In Beethoven’s words in his letters of July 1812).
Sketched at the same time as Opus 109 in 1819, the Opus 110 was completed on December 18th, 1821 and published much later by Schlesinger both in Berlin and in Paris in August 1822. It was originally intended for Antonia Brentano (thus than Opus 111), but in the end the score appeared without dedication.
This final Beethoven sonata was composed almost at the same time as the previous one. Completed in early 1822, it was published by Schlesinger both in Berlin and in Paris in August 1822. The dedication goes to Archduke Rudolph. The sonata comprises only two very contrasting movements, the second of which, an Arietta with variations, was consecrated by Thomas Mann’s formula, “farewell to the sonata form”.
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 2nd 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.
#2 – Regard de l’Étoile
Choc de la grâce … l’étoile luit naïvement surmontée d’une croix …
The fall of Grace: the Star shines innocently, surmounted by a Cross …
Olivier Messiaen.
Stained glass window in Chartres Cathedral, France
“The explosion of a comet, burning light which inspires ancestral fear, then almost nothing, darkness… Here, on Earth, people can see that star far away, it continues to shine till it gets so close, singing as a human voice… This piece is so short and tells almost the whole story of Jesus ! For me it is like a science fiction movie, the Univers full of stars, with so long distances and times…”
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 2nd 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.
#1 – Regard du Père
Et Dieu dit: «Celui-ci est mon Fils bien-aimé en qui j’ai mis toutes mes complaisances …»
And God said: ‘This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased …’
Olivier Messiaen.
Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus by Guido Reni
“The image of God, full of power, mystery and love… Is it a chorus which is singing that theme or there are bells which are sending us their vibrations, like an intuition ? The Theme of God opens the Regards in tranquility, equality and harmony, in a perfect state of mind over human understanding.”
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 2nd 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.
“Midnight Pieces’ is a project presenting 53 beautiful works from 53 composers (originally meant as one piece for each week of the year, plus one) – music, that is just perfect for night-time listening.
The pieces follow a hidden pattern: within each consecutive 4 works one is famous, one is by a Russian composer, one is obscure work and one is a transcription by yours truly. These categories mix and match sometimes, but overall there are iconic and less-known pieces by well-known composers, quite a bit of breathtaking pieces by obscure composers and several world premieres of my transcriptions of rare and famous works of different authors. I felt a need to fight the general fascination of the general audience with piano pieces that are primarily virtuosic encores (Volodos Turkish March etc), and wanted to create a project that fulfills the desire for aesthetic pleasure, for beauty of the music itself. It doesn’t mean there is no virtuosity there – there is plenty, but not as the main point at all.”
Asiya Korepanova.
Asiya Korepanova and Pianists Corner offer you a weekly rendezvous. Each rendezvous will contain 4 pieces.
“Regarded as ‘African Mahler,’ Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a 19th century Black English composer of amazing poetic qualities. Named after famous English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the composer, unfortunately, did not live a long life, but has written many works in very diverse genres, merging classical forms and African folk melodies into fresh and exciting musical material. The Lone Forest Maiden, the first number of his Forest scenes (we immediately think of Schumann with this name!), is a big surprise for an opening of a cycle. It has features that could be reworked into a whole sonata – so many shades, so much energy, such a story, and depth one can find in this piece.” A.K.
“The finest embodiment of dignity, honesty, and true bravery, a hardworking genius equally capable of delicate transparency and irresistible power, Dmitry Shostakovich is a unique example for all of us. Having gone through censorship, blockade, and many the ordeal, he continued giving the world the gift of his unmistakable voice no matter what was happening around him.A part of the Ballet suite no. 1, his little Romance is not performed often as a solo piano piece. But its arresting beauty and whimsical poetic flow do sound wonderful on the piano and need to be heard more!” A.K.
“The brainchild of two incredible composers, the father of Russian opera Mikhail Glinka and the wild virtuoso, lyricist and challenger of the piano (and not only!) Mily Balakirev – The Lark – wonders and assures, heals and cries, soothes and moves, and everyone can find something in it that will carry them away.” A.K.
“Darius Milhaud is one of those authors whose massive body of work is virtually unknown to the general audience besides one or two super famous works, such as his “hit” suite Scaramouche. But his fluid, sensual and at the same time edgy and unpredictable voice is extremely attractive and deserves much wider recognition. ‘Lent’ (“slow”), the opening movement of his early piano suite, Op. 8, is truly magical. It promises great things with the mastery of developing a simple motif into a captivating flow, with colors, and with the clarity of form – main treats of the great composers.” A.K.
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