Ron Chaplin pondered the mysteries of Messiaen:

>It doesn't seem possible they are commenting about the same thing.

Messiaen produces very mixed responses in me.  I love Turangalila, and
although I wouldn't go as far as Roxanna Panufnik's "the most phenomenally
exuberant work that wrings every last emotional and erotic drop of music
out of its performers" and "the most exhilarating work to see and hear
live", I wouldn't totally disagree either.  I also rate the "Quartet for
the End of Time" extremely highly, and *some* of the piano music, e.g.
"Vingt Regards".

OTOH, I also find myself agreeing with Mark-Anthony Turnage's "I find it
cloying.  I don't like the religious thing and all that bloody birdsong!"

Cloying is a good word for some of the orchestral music.  Sprawling,
shapeless, rambling and disorganised are others that come to mind
(possibly revealing more about me than about Messiaen!) I don't care for
the tweety-tweet bird impressions any more than Turnage does, and Messiaen
in full-blown Catholic religious mode leaves me cold, especially his
writing for the organ.

It's hard to think of another composer to whom my reactions are so sharply
polarised.  And I don't really understand how Turnage's comments could be
applied to Turangalila.  I rarely read the BBC mag these days, so were his
observations general ones about Messiaen or specifically about Turangalila?

>Can anyone recommend a recording?

I'll leave that to the many record collectors on the list.

Ian Crisp
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