Messiaen Vingt Regards

[pies]

Which of the 20 pieces are your favorites? Mine are 4, 6, 10, 13, and 14.
Particularly 14, because you can really hear the birdsong influence that Messiaen is known for.

[jre58591]

my favorites are 1, 6, 10, 11, 15 and 20. i enjoy the tranquility of those like 1, 11, and 15 at times and the fury of 6, 10, and 20 at times. i love that central theme (thème de dieu) that is introduced so well in the 1st and carried through the rest of the set.

[dnephi]

I personally like some of the effects but even with repeated hearing I can't appreciate the music.  Perhaps if I became very ambitious I might transcribe #6 for conventional tonality for fury.  That would be awesome... Those are very ambitious effects.  .

[mephisto]

I love all of them, this is just one of the true masterpieces of the literature.

No16 is maybe the most furios, while no6 has the most insane climax.

I play no9(because it is the easiest), and I really love the love theme in no20.

[dnephi]

I hear that listening to vingt regardes is not a good intro to messiaen and that other works might lead one in to appreciate vingt regardes.  Is that true?  I hear chaos, I confess.

[jre58591]

Perhaps if I became very ambitious I might transcribe #6 for conventional tonality for fury.  That would be awesome... Those are very ambitious effects.

i disagree. that would be very blasphemous. its good the way it is. the reason why you do not understand it is because you have not seen any analyses on it or havent analkyzed it yourself. roger muraro has a great analysis on it that all should see who dont like messiaen's music.

I hear that listening to vingt regardes is not a good intro to messiaen and that other works might lead one in to appreciate vingt regardes.  Is that true?  I hear chaos, I confess.

the preludes are a good intro to messiaen. they are his lightest and most tonal works. also, i think the 1st vingt regard is the most "normal" of them all. also, i think that one is the easiest (i play it).

[counterpoint]

The Vingt Regards are one of the greatest masterworks for piano ever composed, as important and unique as Bach's WTC. So unbelievable, that Messiaen could write such a giant work in 1944, in time of war.

It's almost impossible for me to say, which one of the twenty pieces is "best". Each single piece has it's special qualities and I think, they should be played all together in sequence, but this is near impossible in concert.

Some of my favourite pieces

I didn't like the first piece "Regard du Pere" for a long time, until I heard the recording of Anton Batagov, who's playing is extremely slow (even slower as Messiaen indicates) and extremely soft, which gives a feeling of floating eternity and powerful peacefulness.

Then no 2. "Regard de l'etoile" - buoyant and funny. It's like in the computer games, when you get an extra life 

no 4.Regard de la Vierge - innocence et tendresse - wonderful athmospheric piece

no 6. Par Lui tout a été fait  - some sort of cosmical big bang athmosphere, a modern version of Haydn's chaos in "Creation"

no 10. l'Esprit de joie - a real strange sort of happiness with a hunting theme in the middle part 

no 11. great meditative piece

no 12. Parole toute-puissante - a less peaceful piece, God seems to be very angry sometimes 

no.13 Noel - now we are in the cinema, great special effects!

no.15 Le baiser - I always must think of Elvis singing christmas songs, when I play or hear this piece 

no. 19. Je dors, mais mon coeur veille - music as played in paradise

no. 20 l'eglise d'amour  - I don't understand the title of the piece, but it is phantastic 

[desordre]

The Vingt Regards are one of the greatest masterworks for piano ever composed, as important and unique as Bach's WTC. So unbelievable, that Messiaen could write such a giant work in 1944, in time of war.
(...)

I do agree: that's one of the landmarks of piano music. By the way, the World War II was a very harsh time to Messiaen, but also the time of some of his masterpieces. Beyond the cycle in question, in 1940/1 he composed his Quatuor, when he was a prisoner-of-war (to be played with fellows in the same prison). And just after the end of the war, he crafted Turangalila.
 Best wishes.