Limelight — May 2017

of these keyed percussion instruments like the xylophone,
which form the pitched percussion sound grouping
within the orchestra,”says Hill.“The way Messiaen
layers the orchestra into these different families becomes
extremely important. A characteristic ofTurangalîlais that
of developing by adding layer upon layer. At one point
Messiaen himself, analysing the piece, identified ten layers
all going on simultaneously – it’s quite extraordinary.”
The vastness and complexity ofTurangalîlais part of
its allure, making it difficult to grasp as a whole at any
particular performance or hearing.“I compare it with a sort
of teeming city, which you can take in bits of in detail, and
be aware that all the other bits are going on, but you can’t
take it all in at once,”says Hill.“One can follow the cross
relations flickering across the different movements, though,
particularly in the connections between the love themes.”
“One can be swept away by theTurangaand the
Lîla,”Hill explains.“It’s a composite word, theTuranga
to do with speed and tempo (it has the connotation of
a galloping horse), whereas theLîlais the life force, the
play of creation, everything to do with love, joy, ecstasy.”
Turangalîlawas in many ways a high water mark in
Messiaen’s compositional output.“It’s a piece that sums
up the whole of the first 20 years of Messiaen’s career,”
Hill says.“And it became in retrospect, a kind of end
point. AfterTurangalîla-Symphonie, Messiaen was forced
to change, because early in 1949, his wife’s condition
suddenly got much worse. From that point on, he
realised he could no longer engage with projects on this
scale. He went back to writing for solo instruments –
piano and organ, instruments that he himself played.”
After three years of introspection and experimentation,
Messiaen went in a different direction altogether, engaging
very seriously with bird song.“These were extraordinary
things for a man just on 40,”Hill says.“Somebody at the
height of his powers, with all of the achievements of the
1940s behind him – one amazing work after another,
getting bigger and more ambitious, until he reached the
zenith inTurangalîla– suddenly went back to the drawing
board. It was an incredibly courageous thing to do.”

The change of direction wasn’t something Messiaen had

planned – in 1948 he intended for his next work to be an

opera, but this wouldn’t come to pass untilSaint François

d’Assise(Saint Francis of Assisi) in 1983.“Circumstances

forced him down an experimental path, and in the end

• through sheer courage, persistence and creativity – it
  proved to be immensely important and productive. But it’s
  not something you could have predicted in 1948,”says Hill.
  TheTurangalîla-Symphoniehas since become firmly
  entrenched in the modern orchestral repertoire.“It’s
  one of Messiaen’s most performed big works. It draws
  a huge and appreciative audience every time it’s done,

and people love it,”Hill enthuses.“They are grabbed

by it – almost addicted to it you might say.”

“You have to absolutely surrender yourself to this magic

world,”he says.“If you try to keep it at arm’s length, it isn’t

going to work.You’ve just got to go with it, and if you do,

the rewards are endless. With its huge and marvelous tunes,

it’s a work that is incredibly rich in emotional passion.”

TheAWOandANAMwillperformTurangalîla-

Symphonieat Arts Centre Melbourne on July 29

Theelectronicondesmartenot–withan

ethereal sound not unlike that of a theremin

–wasinventedbyMauriceMartenotin

1928andusedbyMessiaeninanumberof

hiscompositions(hisoperarequiresthree).

“Youcaneitherplayonthekeyboardor

theribbon,whichisaringattachedtoawire

that runs along the length of the keyboard,”

explainsJacobAbela,whowillbetheondesmartenotsoloistintheAWO

and ANAM’s performance ofTurangalîla.“Youusethekeyboardasapitch

reference,soanyminorfluctuationofyourfinger,whetheritbeyourangleor

yourapproachorhowbigtheintervalis,thatcanreallyaffectintonation.”

“It’sbasicallythesamekindofaudioproductionmethodasathereminwith

thedoubleoscillator,whichproducesawaveform,”heexplains.“Theonly

differencebeingthatwiththeondesit’sslightlymorecomplex–thereare

differentwaveformsavailabletotheplayer,sortoflikeorganstops.”

ForAbela,theinstrumentrepresentsideasofloveinMessiaen’swork.

“All the big, soaring love melodies belong to the ondes martenot,” he

says,“andtheycomebackinthecodaofthefinalmovementasasortof

moment of love-death. Kind of like inTristan u n d Iso l d e,thatmomentwhen

the love has reached its most tumultuous point and death is inevitable

afterwards.Ithinkthetwosoloinstruments–thepianoandtheondes–

presentthisdichotomyreallyeffectively,becausethepianopartisfiery

andvirtuousic,andthat’sthedeathsideofthelove-deathdicothomy.

But thematically, I think the ondes sits in the love sphere.”

MEET THE ONDES MARTENOT

YOUHAVETOABOSULTELYSURRENDER

YOURSELF TO THIS MAGIC WORLD... AND IF

YOU DO, THE REWARDS ARE ENDLESS

Above left: Messiaen

with his second wife, the

pianist Yvonne Loriod

56 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au

OTURANGALÎLA