Seattle Symphony Triumphs With Messiaen’s Turangalîla

Just how epic can one piece of music be? Music director Ludovic Morlot and the musicians of the Seattle Symphony tackled that question head-on Thursday night with their first-ever performance of Olivier Messiaen’s massive Turangalîla Symphony. One of the landmark musical works of the 20th century, the sprawling piece utilizes the full power of the orchestra, including a large cast of percussion instruments, piano, and the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument with a distinctive warbling tone. A near-capacity crowd turned out for the performance, which will be repeated tonight.

One of the most intriguing figures of modern classical music, Messiaen initially gained fame for his work as a church organist, a post which he maintained for nearly 60 years of his life. As a composer, he’s known for the monumental scale of his works, his love of nature (especially birds), and a deep sense of spirituality and mysticism that characterizes many of his compositions.

At its heart, the Turangalîla Symphony is a love song. But it’s no ordinary romantic ballad; this is a love song of cosmic proportions. Messiaen devised the piece’s name from two Sanskrit words: “Turanga,” a word that describes the fleeting nature of time, and “lîla,” which refers to a universal love associated with birth, death, and the circle of life. Composed between 1946 and 1948, the work is the product of an incredible commission from the Boston Symphony that gave Messiaen free reign to compose a new work with no limit on length, instrumentation, or thematic subject. Talk about a composer’s dream!

Thursday’s concert opened with a brief orientation by Ludovic Morlot, with the help of the orchestra and guest soloists. The conductor discussed Messiaen’s life and the story behind the Turangalîla Symphony, introducing the piece’s four principal musical themes, which were performed by the orchestra. Since these themes are repeated again and again throughout the the piece, it was helpful to hear them played by themselves.

The two soloists both had fascinating stories to relate to the audience. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who studied the work’s difficult piano part with Messiaen’s wife Yvonne, recollected his experiences with the Messiaen family. Cynthia Millar, one of the world’s leading performers of the ondes Martenot, explained the history of the instrument, which was invented in 1928 by French engineer Maurice Martenot. Millar demonstrated the instrument’s wide range of electronic sounds — which range from brief bleeps and bloops to whooshing glissandos — and performed one of her own compositions.

The performance itself was an immersive auditory experience like no other. Messiaen’s thick orchestral textures and colorful musical imagery came to life at Thursday’s concert — the piano was transformed into a flock of chirping birds, a massive drumroll morphed into the rumble of an oncoming freight train. The performance reached a dramatic climax in the monumental fifth movement, titled “Joy of the Blood of the Stars.” Here, everyone seemed to be playing something completely different, at full volume. The myriad of sonic layers threatened to descend into chaotic noise, but Morlot held it all together, channeling the energy into a musical whirlwind of epic proportions. It sounded like the birth of a star.

Morlot emphasized the cyclical nature of the work, highlighting the complex web of relationships between the different instruments, which constantly imitate and echo each other. The distinctive and versatile tone of Millar’s ondes Martenot echoed many of the sections of the orchestra, engaging in dialogue with the strings and trading chirps with the woodwinds. Pianist Thibaudet’s interpretation of the physically demanding piano part emphasized the percussive qualities of the instrument, imitating the shimmer of the cymbals and roll of the bass drum.

Seattle Symphony musicians gave stellar solo performances throughout the evening. The brass section projected an ominous majesty in the piece’s “statue theme,” a chorale-like figure that reappears again and again throughout the piece. Principal clarinetist Christopher Sereque and principal flutist Demarre McGill demonstrated the vast expressive power of their instruments in numerous solo sections. The hard-working percussion section was on their feet for the entire concert, playing everything from woodblocks and maracas to chimes and vibraphone. Their efforts created an entire world of percussive sound that propelled the performance forward.

At nearly 80 minutes long, the Turangalîla Symphony is exhilarating and exhausting to experience live. It’s a must-hear for local classical music lovers. Seattle Symphony’s performance represents a musical and cultural triumph. The piece is an enormous undertaking for any orchestra. It’s exciting to see one of the city’s major musical institutions rising to the challenge to bring such rarely-heard, yet important, repertoire to Seattle.

Did you miss Thursday’s concert? The Seattle Symphony presents another performance of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony  Saturday evening at Benaroya Hall.