Prom 6 Messiaen Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum

".....You might have been mistaken that you were hearing the organ again in the massive, long chords that start Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. They cleave through space like a powerful force of nature, yet they are created only by brass and winds, principally trombone and tuba. Then suddenly the percussion explodes, the organ this time replicated by gongs and cymbals. It’s incredibly compelling, yet requires small though unorthodox orchestral forces. No wonder it’s the piece being played most frequently all over the world this year of Messiaen’s centenary. For my longer more detailed analysis of the piece please see HERE. 

It was originally commissioned by the French government as a showpiece to commemorate the dead of two world wars. But Messiaen wasn’t one for public platitudes. For him, death was only an interlude before an eternal afterlife. The government couldn’t very well object since he had been a prisoner of war and might very well have ended up with the war dead himself. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum is a counterpart to the Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time. Both pieces see beyond earthly suffering, focussing on the prophecy that, at the End of Time, all who have died through millennia shall be resurrected.

The massive walls of sound in this piece represent the earth itself, a primeval sound like the moving of continents, earthquakes that break open the earth’s crust. It’s mightily organic writing : Birtwistle’s Earth Dances, magnificent as it is, is but an echo. Those familiar with other Messiaen work might also recognise the “walls” in L’Ascension, Des Canyons aux Étoiles and so on. Indeed, Messiaen dreamed that Et exspecto might ideally be performed in mountains, sound bouncing from peak to peak, reverberating deep into valleys. Truly, The Royal Albert Hall must be the closest alternative. That overwhelming rush of sound, percussion waves ripping across the orchestra, was cataclysmic. The very earth is torn asunder. Of course this music is loud, propelled by relentlessly solid blasts of brass and percussion. The End of Time is a cataclysm. For Messiaen, the world doesn’t “end with a whimper, not a bang”.

Like the movement of tectonic plates, generally unfolds slowly, without obvious progression. Instead it’s like a slow procession punctuated by minute long moments of complete silence which are as much part of the piece as the music itself. Myung-Whun Chung observed these faithfully, because what Messiaen is doing is turning the music inwards, “into” the listener, a cue to contemplate the mystery “beyond” mere sound. This is another of Messiaen’s great challenges. He combines different concepts of space and time. So they operate simultaneously, processed by the listener’s mind. Loud as parts of this piece may be, it’s not volume for its own sake. Again, as in all Messiaen, details are essential. The clarinet, oboe and flute parts were gloriously clear and poignant, and the gamelan’s quirky rhythms wonderfully evoke the way birds move and sing : nature and orchestration in perfect correspondence.

Particularly impressive in this performance was its uncompromising, rough hewn quality that really brought out its primordial, antediluvian depths. In some ways, the savagery of this performance outclassed Boulez in recording (though I suspect that Boulez live and in the Royal Albert Hall would lift us out of our skins). The banks of brass and percussion were magnificent, the crashing cymbals and gongs relentless, the gamelan creating a wild frisson, the tubular bells sounding out like the Final Trumpet. Chung’s hands bristled tension, and tension is what his players produced. This was perceptive, as the End of Time isn’t a wimpy cop-out anticlimax. Those who listen to the rebroadcast on BBC Radio 3 might listen out for the “circular” effects in the percussion, where there’s marked rhythmic progression. At he very end, one of the small gongs flew off the stand and the percussionist had to improvise. It’s not very noticeable, but there is a difference, so carefully nuanced is Messiaen’s writing."

This is just an extract from my full review which is here :

http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2008/Jul-Dec08/prom6_2107.htm

Listen to this concert on BB Radio 3 broadcast - it is fantastic ! And they are also running a stream of the TV version. Don't miss ! Also read Evan Tucker's Preview which is on promsamerica on the blog list on the right. It's very informative.