Messiaen Vingt Regardes sur L'Enfant Jesus

[dnephi]

Well, could someone a little more familiar with the work discuss?

How difficult is it to play, for instance, no. 6? 

Would they be good for a competition, or perhaps selections from them?

What, besides the usage of the leitmotif, should a listener be aware of?

Thanks .

[mephisto]

I would say that no6 is extremely difficult, probably the most difficult one of the set.

When I first heard it complete I noticed the themes quite quickly. He has one called theme de Dieu, and some others to. The theme de Dieu is extremely beautifull and it is amazing how it fits together perfectly with so many of the pieces. The same can be said about the other themes.

I find the "suite" amazing harmonicly, rythmicly and melodicly. This is music that can make you cry and music with insane Lisztian virtousity wich makes my adrenalin pump.

A special moment for me is the rythmic canon in no13. Makes me smile each time

Some are more dissonant than others, but even if you hate the music at first you may end up loving it. Another point may be to listen to some of Messiaen's otehr music. The most famous being; The quartet "pour la fin du temps" and the Turangalila symphony.

[soliloquy]

No. 10 is usually a pretty good piece for competitions.  Nos. 6 and 18 are also decent.  But yeah some of them are very hard.

[iumonito]

Check out Ozzy's in the audition room:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/board,9/sort,starter/start,600.html

Great work, really hard at all levels.

[jre58591]

if you want an easier regard, definitely try the first (the easiest and simplest of the set) and possibly number 11, for a little bit more of a challenge. nos 6,10, and 20 are the hardest i think.

[imbetter]

XI is the best IMO. It's a very emotionaly heavy piece. Quite nice. I requested it in the audition room before but I didn't get it because it's under copyright

[jre58591]

if you want an emotionally heavy regard, look at number 15. i like that one more than number 11. actually, number 15 is in messiaen's favorite key (f sharp major), and that key seems to hold emotions better than b flat major (number 11). it can move one to tears if played by the right person (steven osborne, for example).

btw, ibty, durand publishes the vingt regards in one big set. its somewhere aroung $60, but its about 200 pages of good (and sometimes impossible) music.

[dnephi]

You know, F-sharp major was also Scriabin's favorite key.  Also, F-sharp major was the key Liszt used to symbolize the unattainable and the divine, as in his Lieder, the Paradiso from the Dante Symphony, the Andante Sostenuto from the Sonata, etc.

[jre58591]

that is indeed true. take scriabin's prometeus and messiaen's des canyon aux étoiles, for example. both are largely atonal, but both end on the tonal f sharp major chord. it pops up in the messiaen many times, actually (not just the end).

[shoenberg3]

Although I love these pieces, I really don't think these are good competition pieces. Too dangerous and underappreciated for what they are. I played the 10th on for a concert, which was received with not much enthusiasm.