Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur

Day 286

Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur

Jennifer Bate

This was a tough listen.

I first encountered Messiaen at school when the choir sang O sacrum Convivium. That is quite a gentle piece and not really characteristic of the composer’s mature style. The only couple of Messiaen pieces I know reasonably well are the Quartet for the end of time and Turangalila- I don’t think that I have ever listened to any of his organ music. I couldn’t really find my way into the piece. I don’t find the sound of the organ particularly appealing, particularly with some of the very jarring sonorities that the composer calls for, Then I find he music rhythmically flaccid - his additive rhythms don’t give any real sense of shape or momentum. Stylistically it seems to me all over the place - some of it is highly dissonant but into other places it seems almost naive. 

To be honest there were moments when I really wanted the music to stop. I found it almost unbearable. Obviously listening in a domestic setting via headphones is a very different experience to listening to a live performance in a cathedral setting but even so I can’t ever imagine wanting to listen to this music again.

This has to go on the list of the pieces I actively disliked during this project.