Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement

Track Listings
1. Adoro Te    
2. La Source De Vie    
3. Le Dieu Cache    
4. Acte De Foi    
5. Puer Natus Est Nobis    
6. Le Manne Et Le Pain De Vie    
7. Les Ressuscites Et La Lumiere De Vie    
8. Institution De L'eucharistie    
9. Les Tenegres    
10. La Ressurrection Du Christ    
11. L'apparition Du Christ Ressuscite A Marie Madeleine    
12. La Transsubstantiation    
13. Les Deux Murailles D'eau    
14. Priere Avant La Communion    
15. La Joie De La Grace    
16. Priere Apres La Communion    
17. La Joie De La Grace    
18. Priere Apres La Communion    
19. La Presence Multipliee    
20. Offrande Et Alleluia Final    

Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement, Music, Olivier Messiaen, Anne Page, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Coll. of Character/Single-Movement/Misc. Works for Keyb., Keyboard
Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Excels in performance and acoustically
  • The sting of awakening.
  • The True Incarnation of Messian's Mystic Art
  • outstanding - music, performance, and sound
  • Essential Messiaen!
 Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
PreludesPreludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ClassicalClassical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Deutsche Grammophon: MusicDeutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Messiaen: La transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ
  2. Des Canyons Aux Etoiles
  3. Olivier Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut
  4. Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Symphonies
  5. Messiaen

ASIN: B00005UOVM
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Tracks:

  1. Apparition De L'eglise Eternelle
  2. La Nativite Du Seigneur: I. La Vierge Et L'enfant
  3. La Nativite Du Seigneur: II. Les Bergers
  4. La Nativite Du Seigneur: III. Desseins Eternels
  5. La Nativite Du Seigneur: IV. Le Verbe
  6. La Nativite Du Seigneur: V. Les Enfants De Dieu
  7. La Nativite Du Seigneur: VI. Les Anges
  8. La Nativite Du Seigneur: VII. Jesus Accepte La Souffrance
  9. La Nativite Du Seigneur: VIII. Les Mages
  10. La Nativite Du Seigneur: IX. Dieu Parmi Nous

Tracks:

  1. Le Banquet Celeste
  2. Offrande Au Saint Sacrement
  3. Diptyque
  4. Les Corps Glorieux: I. Subtilite Des Corps Glorieux
  5. Les Corps Glorieux: II. Les Eaux De La Grace
  6. Les Corps Glorieux: III. L'ange Aux Parfums
  7. Les Corps Glorieux: IV. Combat De La Mort Et De La Vie
  8. Les Corps Glorieux: V. Force Et Agilite Des Corps Glorieux
  9. Les Corps Glorieux: VI. Joie Et Clarte Des Corps Glorieux
  10. Les Corps Glorieux: VII. Le Mystere De La Saints Trinite

Tracks:

  1. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: I. Le Pere Des Etoiles
  2. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: II. Dieu Est Saint
  3. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: III. La Relation Reelle En Dieu Est Reellement Identique A L'essence
  4. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: IV. Dieu Est
  5. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: V. Dieu Est Immense - Dieu Est Eternel - Dieu Est Immuable...
  6. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: VI. Dans Le Verbe Etait La Vie Et La Vie Etait La Lumiere...
  7. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: VII. Le Pere Et Le Fils Aiment, Par Le Saint-Esprit, Eux-Memes, Et Nous
  8. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: VIII. Dieu Est Simple - Les Trois Sont Un
  9. Meditations Sur Le Mystere De La Sainte Trinite: IX. Je Suis Celui Qui Suis

Tracks:

  1. Prelude
  2. Verset Pour La Fete De La Dedicace
  3. Monodie
  4. L'ascension: I. Majeste Du Christ Demandant Sa Gloire A Son Pere
  5. L'ascension: II. Alleluias Sereins D'une Ame Qui Desire Le Ciel
  6. L'ascension: III. Transports De Joie D'une Ame Devant La Gloire Du Christ Qui Est La Sienne
  7. L'ascension: IV. Priere Du Christ Montant Vers Son Pere
  8. Messe De La Pentecote: I. Entree (Les Langues De Feu)
  9. Messe De La Pentecote: II. Offertoire (Les Choses Visibles Et Invisibles)
  10. Messe De La Pentecote: III. Consecration (Le Don De Sagesse)
  11. Messe De La Pentecote: IV. Communion (Les Oiseaux Et Les Sources)
  12. Messe De La Pentecote: V. Sortie (Le Vent De L'esprit)

Tracks:

  1. Livre D'orgue: I. Reprises Par Interversion
  2. Livre D'orgue: II. Piece En Trio (Pour Le Dimanche De La Sainte Trinite)
  3. Livre D'orgue: III. Les Mains De L'abime (Pour Les Temps De Penitence)
  4. Livre D'orgue: IV. Chants D'oiseaux (Pour Le Temps Pascal)
  5. Livre D'orgue: V. Piece En Trio (Pour Le Dimanche De La Sainte Trinite)
  6. Livre D'orgue: VI. Les Yeux Dans Les Roues (Pour Le Dimanche De La Pentecote)
  7. Livre D'orgue: VII. Soixante-Quatre Durees
  8. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: I. Adoro Te
  9. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: II. La Source De Vie
  10. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: III. Le Dieu Cache
  11. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: IV. Acte De Foi
  12. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: V. Peur Natus Est Nobis
  13. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: VI. La Manne Et Le Pain De Vie

Tracks:

  1. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: VII. Les Ressuscites Et La Lumiere De Vie
  2. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: VIII. Institution De L'eucharistie
  3. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: IX. Les Tenebres
  4. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: X. La Resurrection Du Christ
  5. XI. L'apparition Du Christ Ressuscite A Marie-Madeleine
  6. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XII. La Transsubstantiation
  7. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XIII. Les Deux Murailles D'eau
  8. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XIV. Priere Avant La Communion
  9. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XV. La Joie De La Grace
  10. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XVI. Priere Apres La Communion
  11. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XVII. La Presence Multipliee
  12. Livre Du Siant Sacrement: XVIII. Offrande Et Alleluia Final

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Excels in performance and acoustically.......2006-01-26

Latry is technically and musically excellent. He "gets" the music.
The recording is a perfect mix of amibient space and reverb and direct sound. Bass extends well down to 16Hz so you will need a good system to reproduce this faithfully.

I've heard that Latry doesn't use 100% of the tonal color available on the Cavaile-Coll organ, but I feel as though it's expressive and rich.

The wind chest noise doesn't bother me. It is part of the instrument.

Overall excellent. Play this loud!!!

5 out of 5 stars The sting of awakening........2006-01-24

I must confess that I've been lukewarm about Messiaen. He was often pictured in the 1970's in Hawaiian shirts and suspenders jacking his pants up to his man-boobs and this tacky image carries over all too well to some of his later music, where the extended durations are meant to be slow and glorious like the procession of a pharaoh through the streets of Thebes, or the dawning of God's grace on a sinner ( I'm trying to avoid using the word "hieratic" ) but can sometimes, if you're in the wrong mood, seem more like a senile windbag droning on without a care in the world for his auditors. His portrayal of mystical states often have an air of smugness, of impregnable autosatisfaction.

Then, occasionally, a recording like this comes along and suddenly my spine is vibrating like a Water-Pik. I'm beginning to realize that Messiaen is a far more tricky composer than I'd thought, that what seems foolproof has maybe never really been heard the right way before. Latry has the key to Messiaen in a way that Celibidache has the key to Bruckner, or Stockhausen has the key to Stockhausen. In fact, this may be the one true Messiaen recording that exists so far, in any of the categories from orchestral to piano music. Where other players seem to be twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next note, Latry fills those spaces between with terror and expectation that make you want to jump out of your skin. What usually feel like repetitious passages in Messiaen's music are revealed by Latry in all of their subtly particular glory, like God looking down at the antheap of humanity and still being able to sympathize with one overweight secretary's love problems. A repeated piercing shriek from the organ will be given a smoky, ominous feeling the first time, and then a soft, languishing one the next, and so on.

While many composers benefit from different approaches, for Messiaen, facts are facts -- to play him you must not only be from France, but must be a Catholic. French Catholics, who have a body of literature behind them with one foot in the secular world, by writers such as Leon Bloy, Huysmans and Julien Green, are not to be compared with Catholics anywhere else. To listen to Latry play Messiaen is to marvel at the arbitrary cruelty and unfairness of the church, its shocking lapses behind the scenes allowed to slide on the basis of an infallibility we're meant to take on faith... And then to realize that this faith, unrewarded and abused, trampled on and thrown away, is precisely for this reason, precisely because it's hopeless, our absolute duty towards God. Latry's Messiaen is a celebration of terror, disappearance, awe and infinitely black spasms of traumatized joy.

5 out of 5 stars The True Incarnation of Messian's Mystic Art.......2005-04-24

You will not find a better recording of Olivier Messiaen's organ works than this gem. Approved by a Catholic Church official in the liner notes as capturing the religious ideals that Messian sought to reveal, Latry's playing on the formidable Notre Dame Cathedral organ contains a gravity and seriousness that give a rare and divine character to the music. Latry was blessed by Messiaen himself as the best interpreter of his works, and the reason for that is evident here. The music pours fourth in a majestic tide, and Latry uses his formidable talent, the full resources of the outstanding 600-year old organ, and the natural, extra-long reverberation in the medieval cathedral to capture the mysticism that pervades Messiaen's art. This is art music of the highest caliber, and will greatly reward repeated listenings.

5 out of 5 stars outstanding - music, performance, and sound.......2004-04-14

This CD set was released at a perfect time for me: just after hearing ALL of the material live at St. James cathedral in Seattle, performed by the young Paul Jacobs. He told the audience that the music had changed his life. Play these CDs on a good system, and I think you will understand. Best concert of any sort in a decade for me.

The music is incredible, and would only sound exactly right in a cathedral. To get as close to live sound as possible, I wish this recording was in a surround format (SACD or DVD-A), however for stereo, this is excellent, as others have noted. It's a must have.

5 out of 5 stars Essential Messiaen!.......2003-06-19

If you are a Messiaen fan, you simply must own this CD! It is essentail for a number of reasons.

For one, it is a complete recording of all of his organ works--quite an audio library, as you can see from the list of pieces included! Second is the quality of the recording (assured since this is a Deutsche Grammophon recording). It is digital, clear, and amazing. An old recording of Messiaen playing his own organ works is available, but it is a mono recording which he plays on a lackluster organ, as opposed to this recoring which is (of course) stereo, digital, and recorded on the organ at Notre Dame Cathedral--a magificent instrument that does justice to Messiaen. Also, while Messiaen is a favorite composer, his skills as an organist are not world-class as Olivier Latry's, whose playing here is masterful, inspired and technically perfect. You put all that together--excellent composer, recording, instrument, and organist--and you have "Messiaen: Complete Organ Works"... which from my first listening of it has become my favorite CD, bar none.

The reason why will be apparent to you as you listen to the very first track: "Vision of the Eternal Church." The piece is intended to invoke a musical interpretation of what it would be like to experience an apparition of the Church of God. As such, the first half is a constant build, one long crescendo, as if the vision were appearing slowing... the second half is a fading away, one long decrescendo. When Latry gets to the climax right in the middle of the piece, you'll see immidiately how all the elements come together (excellent recording, composer, instrument and artist)... it is the single most triumphant, majestically rendered chord you will ever hear. (You can almost hear the stone of the cathedral shaking, it is that magnificent!)

Latry's versatility is apparent when you hear the softer, more nuanced pieces, such as "Diptyque," which are as delicate as "Vision of the Eternal Church" is majectic. In short, most of the pieces are given a definitive interpretation by Latry.

I own every other recording of Messiaen's organ music, and this one stands far and above all of the others. If you don't know Messiaen's organ works, this CD is clearly your best bet; if you have heard his organ works before, or own other CDs, you'll smile as you listen to how Latry interprets each piece.

If I were stuck on a deserted island and could have only a handful of CDs to keep me company, this would be one of them.
Cosmos Consciousness
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Cosmos Consciousness

    Manufacturer: Gothic Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    PreludesPreludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
    Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B0001MDQBW
    Release Date: 2004-05-04

    Tracks:

    1. Prelude
    2. III) Transports De Joie D'une Ame Devant La Gloire Du Christ Qui Est La Sienne
    3. VI) Joie Et Clarte Des Corps Glorieux
    4. Le Banquet Celeste
    5. Apparition De L'Eglise Eternelle
    6. IV) Chants D'Oiseaux
    7. VI) Le Fils, Verbe Et Lumiere
    8. Offrande Au Saint Sacrement
    9. VI) Les Anges
    10. V) Les Enfants De Dieu
    11. IX) Dieu Parmi Nous
    Messiaen: The Organ Works - Jennifer Bate 6CD Box Set (including "La Nativite du Seigneur", "L'Ascension", "Livre d'Orgue", "Livre du Saint Sacrement", and "Les Neuf Meditations"
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Outstanding recordings personally endorsed by Messiaen himself!!!
    		 Messiaen: The Organ Works - Jennifer Bate 6CD Box Set (including "La Nativite du Seigneur", "L'Ascension", "Livre d'Orgue", "Livre du Saint Sacrement", and "Les Neuf Meditations"

    Manufacturer: Regis Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    ClassicalClassical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B0000V86LE
    Release Date: 2003-10-13

    Album Description

    Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): The Organ Works

    Jennifer Bate, organist

    6 CD box set, 44 page booklet including updated notes. The compilation set comprises of four previously released REGIS recordings (RRC1086, RRC1087, RR2051, RRC2052) all available at Premiere Music Distributors.

    Including (amongst many): La Nativité du Seigneur, Livre d'Orgue, Livre du Saint Sacrement, Les Neuf Méditations

    C'est vraiment parfait!" said Messiaen after hearing Jennifer Bate's recording of La Nativité du Seigneur, one of his most extended, most moving and most beautiful works. The recording of the Beauvais Cathedral organ is of demonstratation quality."

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Outstanding recordings personally endorsed by Messiaen himself!!!.......2007-03-06

    The above title particularly applies to Miss Bate's recording of "La Nativité du Seigneur" (of which the composer wrote "it's truly perfect!"); and it's easy to see why! Messiaen insisted on SLOW tempi in his works for the most part (maybe too slow for some!) and Miss Bate honours his desires most satisfyingly while not remaining without her cool, devoted and yet versatile personality coupled with a fully-sovereign technique. Not for nothing that Messiaen, a personal friend of hers, then had her give the world-première recording of the "Livre du Saint Sacrement", recorded on his "own" instrument at La Trinité (basically a Cavaillé-Coll from 1868, if I remember correctly, albeit subsequently enlarged {twice, in 1933 and 1965, by Beuchet-Debierre}).

    This instrument (featured for the Saint-Sacrement recording included in what's virtually his entire organ output on this 6-CD collection) is by no means lacklustre (contrary to what somebody else wrote) - it's very much what the composer had in mind when writing his music: grand-sounding, fiery reeds with the characteristic French 'spit' coupled with warm, lush yet clear foundations with which the new mixtures and mutations blend beautifully, getting to sparkle without nevertheless overwhelming the basic foundation + reed sound that's one of the hallmarks of Cavaillé-Coll's output. [The newest incarnation of this organbuilder's sister-instrument in Notre-Dame de Paris has much the same flavour after the earlier excesses of the Cochereau era were tamed in the early 1990s.]

    On the other hand, what Miss Bate uses for the other pieces - the gallery-organ by Danion-Gonzalez in La Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre à Beauvais - while sounding brighter, still is by no means out of character for this music (and here she keeps to the specified registrations, in contrast to her Franck recordings on the same organ: some of the liberties she there takes {in the Franck} just strike me as UNJUSTIFIABLE, interesting as they AT TIMES seem in themselves {other times it feels as if she's bored and trying to 'spice up the music' unnecessarily}). Certainly the same care for detail, sound registration and overall expressiveness in the playing comes forth in what's an even-more reverberant acoustic there (and no surprise with this incomplete {without a nave!} edifice's interior height of 48 metres, perhaps the tallest in the world!). All this coupled with a very spacious recording that requires plenty of volume to allow the full sonorities to come through (with both locations) - WOW!!!!

    In one phrase: most strongly recommended! [This is not to malign or belittle Olivier Latry's work at the Paris Cathedral; however, this set of recordings is NO LESS outstanding - and priced particularly competitively to boot! GET IT!!!!
    Olivier Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Olivier Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement

      Manufacturer: Guild
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
      Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
      ASIN: B0000669QV
      Release Date: 2002-05-28

      Tracks:

      1. Adoro Te
      2. La Source De Vie
      3. Le Dieu Cache
      4. Acte De Foi
      5. Puer Natus Est Nobis
      6. Le Manne Et Le Pain De Vie
      7. Les Ressuscites Et La Lumiere De Vie
      8. Institution De L'eucharistie
      9. Les Tenegres
      10. La Ressurrection Du Christ
      11. L'apparition Du Christ Ressuscite A Marie Madeleine
      12. La Transsubstantiation
      13. Les Deux Murailles D'eau
      14. Priere Avant La Communion
      15. La Joie De La Grace
      16. Priere Apres La Communion
      17. La Joie De La Grace
      18. Priere Apres La Communion
      19. La Presence Multipliee
      20. Offrande Et Alleluia Final
      Olivier Messiaen. Livre du Saint Sacrement. Erik Bostrom (2 CDs)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Olivier Messiaen. Livre du Saint Sacrement. Erik Bostrom (2 CDs)

        ProductGroup: Classical
        Binding: Audio CD
        ASIN: B000LQKGNE

        Product Description

        18 tracks. Proprius CD 9015. Oscar Church Organ, Stockholm.
        Canticum: French Organ Music
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          		Canticum: French Organ Music

          Manufacturer: Angel Records
          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD

          GeneralGeneral | Franck, César | ( F ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
          All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
          SuitesSuites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
          Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
          CDs Under $7CDs Under $7 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
          All Bargain TitlesAll Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
          ASIN: B000006OGU
          Release Date: 1998-06-02

          Tracks:

          1. Trois Chorals: Choral No.3 In A Minor
          2. Trois Pieces: Cantabile
          3. Pieces De Fantaisie: Carllon De Westminster
          4. Pieces De Fantaisie: Etoile De Soir
          5. Trois Paraphrases Gregoriennes: Te Deum
          6. Ave Maria, Ave Maris Stella
          7. La Nativite Du Seigneur: Dieu Parmi Nous
          8. Livre Du Saint Sacrement: Priere Apres La Communion
          9. Canticum: Conditor Alme Siderum
          10. Canticum: Rorate Coeli Desuper
          11. Canticum: O Emmanuel
          12. Pange Lingua: 1. Pange Lingua
          13. Pange Lingua: 2. Nobis Datus
          14. Pange Lingua: 3. In Supremae Nocte Coenae
          15. Pange Lingua: 4. Verbum Caro
          16. Pange Lingua: 5. Tantum Ergo
          17. Pange Lingua: 6. Genitori Genitoque
          Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            		Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works

            Manufacturer: Lindenberg
            ProductGroup: Music
            Binding: Audio CD

            All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
            ClassicalClassical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
            ASIN: B00000JFVF
            Release Date: 1999-12-07
            Olivier Messiaen: Livre Du Saint-Sacrement
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • Perfect
            		 Olivier Messiaen: Livre Du Saint-Sacrement

            Manufacturer: Accord
            ProductGroup: Music
            Binding: Audio CD

            All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
            GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
            ASIN: B000004CFO
            Release Date: 1996-11-19

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars Perfect.......2004-06-23

            This is the best version of "Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement.
            Even better than Latry on DG, and less expensive!!!
            Messiaen: Livre Du Saint Sacrement, Diptyque, Verset
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              		Messiaen: Livre Du Saint Sacrement, Diptyque, Verset
              Jennifer Bate
              Manufacturer: Regis Records/Premiere
              ProductGroup: Music
              Binding: Audio CD

              GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
              ASIN: B000060K9C
              Release Date: 2007-05-29
              Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement, Diptyque, Verset - Jennifer Bate
              Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
              • Poor sound compromises an otherwise worthwhile recording
              		 Messiaen: Livre du Saint Sacrement, Diptyque, Verset - Jennifer Bate

              Manufacturer: Regis Records
              ProductGroup: Music
              Binding: Audio CD

              ClassicalClassical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
              GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
              ASIN: B0000AOGNK
              Release Date: 2003-07-09

              Album Description

              Grand Organ of L'eglise de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris

              Livre du Saint Sacrement
              Verset pour la fête de la Dedicace
              Diptyque

              World Premiere Recording
              Recorded in Messiaen's presence at his organ, St. Trinité, Paris

              Jennifer enjoys the unique reputation as a world authority on the French composer, Olivier Messiaen, and was his organist of choice.

              In 1975, upon hearing Jennifer Bate perform a program of his works, Olivier Messiaen wrote the following recommendation about Jennifer Bate. "...is an excellent organist, not only for her virtuosity, but also for her musicianship and sensitivity in choosing her timbres. She is a really accomplished musician who loves what she plays and knows how to make others love it too!" This marked the beginning of a close artistic association and friendship between the two.

              Customer Reviews:

              3 out of 5 stars Poor sound compromises an otherwise worthwhile recording.......2004-01-15

              This collection is focused around the first recording of Messiaen's final organ epic, the two-hour-plus Livre du Saint Sacrement. Shortly after the completion of this work, in 1985, the composer requested that the English organist Jennifer Bate record it on Messiaen's organ at the Saint-Trinité in Paris, and the present recording is the result of that request. Filling out the disc to over two and a half hours are Bate's earlier recordings of two shorter works, the Diptyque and Verset pour la Fete de Dedicace.

              The Diptyque was written in 1930, while the composer was still a student in Paris. As the title would suggest this short (twelve minutes) work is in two movements: the first of which is based around uneasily insistent chromatic figurations, the second is a slow ascending melody that was later arranged as the final movement of the famous Quatuor pour le Fin du Temps.

              Verset pour la Fete de Dedicace was written thirty years later as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire's organ class. This eleven-minute work begins with unaccompanied monody, which is contrapuntally developed to a climax before a birdsong interlude. The monody returns, it is developed again, and the birdsong re-enters at the climax.

              After these short pieces, the Livre du Saint Sacrement is a massive change of scale. This work, in Messiaen's late style, is in eighteen movements, which fall into three groups. The first four (about twenty minutes in total) represent acts of adoration of Christ. The next seven (a little over an hour) depict various events in the life and death of Christ and the last seven (about forty-five minutes) represent acts of worship in the Christian church. Obviously, one does not have to share Messiaen's Catholicism to appreciate the music here, but it is useful to know the origin of the pieces, and the composer's inlay notes are helpful in giving a guide to the inspiration of them.

              Stylistically, these pieces combine much of the techniques Messiaen had been using thus far in his career: plainchant-inflected monody, modal hymns, birdsong, ancient Green and Hindu rhythms, colouristic chord sequences (whose references to colours reflect the composer's synaesthesia), brief passages of total serialism, Hollywood-style schmalz, a technique the composer calls communicable language (essentially an algorithm for converting French written texts into melodic recitative) and ecstatic major-key perorations. However, many of the composer's more constructivist techniques are rather less in evidence than in his previous large-scale cycle, Meditations sur le Mystère du Saint-Trinité--certainly this work bears little trace of the 1950s modernism of the Livre d'Orgue or Messe de la Pentecote.

              The first four pieces are comparatively simply written, and, with the exception of the toccata-like last piece, are mostly slow. The following seven pieces contain the most developed music in the cycle: particularly impressive are the subdued drama of the sixth piece and the complex narrative of the eleventh. This group of pieces also tend to be more lively than the first group, with the seventh and tenth pieces written largely in fortissimo and the ninth full of crashing dissonances. The final group of seven pieces alternate slow, semi-liturgical meditations with more vigorous pieces--two of which are largely fortissimo and the other of which is a birdsong collage. The final piece has an appended Alleluia in the form of a lengthy, vigorous toccata.

              In some ways, Livre du Saint Sacrement stands alone amongst Messiaen's major organ works for its often rather sparse textures and extensive compositional use of silence. This makes it less appealing on first listening than much of the composer's other organ works, but--asides from the frankly rather dull first part--it strikes me as a consistently strong work. The same cannot be said for the recording; unfortunately Bate's playing has a slight tendency to hesitancy here that I didn't really noticce in her other recordings (it may simply be that this recording came very soon after the premiere of the work, whereas she had been playing the other works for over a decade before recording them). Much worse, though, is the sound quality, distant, muddy and muffled, and dramatically inferior to the other recordings in the cycle (which were made at Beauvais Cathedral and not at the Saint-Trinité). Hence, despite the appealing price, the poor sound means I can only give this recording a qualified recommendation.

              Music Review:

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              7. Obras de Musica para tecla, arpa e vihuela, Volume 2
              8. Opera's Greatest Heroes
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              10. Ovation, Vol. 1 [Box set]

              Music Review

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