The Turangalîla-symphonie is the only symphony by the French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992). It was written for an orchestra of large forces from 1946 to 1948 on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with two soloists playing piano and ondes Martenot. Along with the Quatuor pour la fin du temps, the symphony is one of the composer's most notable works.
Leonard Bernstein conducted the premiere in Symphony Hall in Boston on 2 December 1949, followed by the New York City première at Carnegie Hall on 10 December (Messiaen's 41st birthday). The latter two performances included an intermission after the fifth movement and were the only work on the programme. The commission did not specify the duration, orchestral requirements or style of the piece, leaving the decisions to the composer. Koussevitzky was scheduled to conduct the première, but fell ill, and the task fell to Bernstein, who never again conducted the work. Yvonne Loriod, who later became Messiaen's second wife, was the piano soloist, and Ginette Martenot played the ondes Martenot for these first performances.
From 1953 on, Yvonne's sister Jeanne Loriod was the ondes Martenot player in many performances and recordings.
Concept
While most of Messiaen's compositions are religious in inspiration, at the time of writing the symphony the composer was fascinated by the myth of Tristan and Iseult. Turangalîla forms the central work in his trilogy of compositions concerned with the themes of romantic love and death; the other pieces are Harawi for piano with soprano and Cinq rechants for unaccompanied trios of soprani, alti, tenors, and basses. It is considered one of the greatest musical compositions of the twentieth century, being described by its commissioner as 'the most important piece of classical music ever written since Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring<nowiki/>'. A typical performance runs around 80 minutes in length. Messiaen once summarised the entire symphony as being "a love song; a hymn to joy."
The title of the work, and those of its movements, were a late addition to the project, chosen after Messiaen made a list of the work's movements. He described the name in his letters from 1947 to 1948. He derived the title from two Sanskrit words, () and Lila (Hinduism)| (), which he explained thus:
:"Lîla" literally means play – but play in the sense of the divine action upon the cosmos, the play of creation, destruction, reconstruction, the play of life and death. "Lila" is also love. "Turanga": this is the time that runs, like a galloping horse; this is time that flows, like sand in an hourglass. "Turanga" is movement and rhythm. "Turangalîla" therefore means all at once love song, hymn to joy, time, movement, rhythm, life and death.
Messiaen described the joy of Turangalîla as "superhuman, overflowing, blinding, unlimited". Early on, Messiaen authorized separate performance of movements 3, 4, and 5, as Three tâlas (not to be confused with the original use of the term for the three Turangalîla movements), but later came to disapprove of the performance of extracts.
Recordings
thumb|252x252px|[[Maurice Le Roux conducting the Turangalila-Symphonie]]
No recording was made of the world premiere, and Bernstein himself did not return to the work in either concert performance or in the recording studio, but a recording exists of part of the rehearsals for the premiere in Boston, featuring the fifth and sixth movements.
It was released in 2013 as part of a set of previously unissued Bernstein recordings (Music and Arts WHRA-6048).
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+Recordings of Turangalîla-Symphonie
|-
! Conductor !! Orchestra !! Piano !! Ondes martenot !! Label !! Catalog !!data-sort-type="date"| Released !! Format !! Notes
|-
|data-sort-value="Désormière"| Roger Désormière || Orchestre National de la RTF ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Martenot"| Ginette Martenot || INA || || 1950 || || Live recording on 25 July 1950, of the European premiere at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
|-
|data-sort-value="Rosbaud"| Hans Rosbaud || SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Martenot"| Ginette Martenot || Wergo<!--? how Wergo, which was only founded in 1962, could have released this in 1951.--> || WER 6401-2 || 1992 || || Recorded 23/24 December 1951
|-
|data-sort-value="Leroux"| Maurice Le Roux || Orchestre National de la RTF ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || Vega/Accord
|
- VAL 127
- Vega C 30 ST 20033/4
- Vega C 35 X 940
| 1962 ||
- Box set
- 10-inch LPs
-
| Recording supervised by Messiaen in 1961. Released in France
|-
|data-sort-value="Fournet"| Jean Fournet || Netherlands Radio Philharmonic ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || Q Disc || || 1967 || || Live
|-
|data-sort-value="Ozawa"| Seiji Ozawa || Toronto Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || RCA || || 1967 || ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Previn"| André Previn || London Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Béroff"| Michel Béroff ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || EMI || SLS 5117 || 1977 || Double LP ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Defroment"| Louis de Froment || Orchestre Symphonique de RTL ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || Forlane || || 1982 || || Live
|-
|data-sort-value="Salonen"| Esa-Pekka Salonen || Philharmonia Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Crossley"| Paul Crossley ||data-sort-value="Murail"| Tristan Murail
|
- CBS Masterworks
- Sony
|
- I2M 42126
- G010003836824C
|data-sort-value="1985"|
- 1985
- 2018
|
- 2 LPs
- CD
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Rattle"| Simon Rattle || City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Donohoe"| Peter Donohoe ||data-sort-value="Murail"| Tristan Murail || EMI
|
- EX270468-3
- 747463-8
| 1986 ||
- LP
- CD
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Chung"| Myung-Whun Chung || Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Yvonne Loriod ||data-sort-value="Loriod"| Jeanne Loriod || Deutsche Grammophon || 0289 431 7812 9 || 1990 || CD || First recording of the revised version, supervised by Messiaen.
|-
|data-sort-value="Chailly"| Riccardo Chailly || Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Thibaudet"| Jean-Yves Thibaudet ||data-sort-value="Harada"| Takashi Harada || Decca ||
- London 436 626–2
|data-sort-value="1993"|
- 1993
- 2012
|
-
- CD
|
|-
|data-sort-value="Janowski"| Marek Janowski || Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France ||data-sort-value="Muraro"| Roger Muraro ||data-sort-value="Hartmann-Claverie"| Valérie Hartmann-Claverie || RCA || 09026 61520 2 || 1992 || ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Tortelier"| Yan Pascal Tortelier || BBC Philharmonic ||data-sort-value="Shelley"| Howard Shelley ||data-sort-value="Hartmann-Claverie"| Valérie Hartmann-Claverie || Chandos || CHAN9678 || 1998 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Wit"| Antoni Wit || Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Weigel"| François Weigel ||data-sort-value="Bloch"| Thomas Bloch || Naxos || 8.554478-9 ||data-sort-value="1998-12-01"| 1998 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Vonk"| Hans Vonk || Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Ohlsson"| Garrick Ohlsson ||data-sort-value="Laurendeau"| Jean Laurendeau || Pentatone || || 1999 || || Live
|-
|data-sort-value="Nagano"| Kent Nagano || Berliner Philharmoniker ||data-sort-value="Aimard"| Pierre-Laurent Aimard ||data-sort-value="Kim"| Dominique Kim || Teldec || 8573-82043-2 || 2001 || CD || Live recording in March 2000 in Berlin
|-
|data-sort-value="Iimori"| Norichika Iimori || Tokyo Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Fujii"| Kazuoki Fujii ||data-sort-value="Harada"| Takashi Harada || Canyon || || 2001 || ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Numajiri"| Ryusuke Numajiri || Japan Philharmonic Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Nodaira"| Ichiro Nodaira ||data-sort-value="Harada"| Takashi Harada || Exton || || 2002 || || Live
|-
|data-sort-value="Fischer"| Thierry Fischer || BBC National Orchestra of Wales ||data-sort-value="Muraro"| Roger Muraro ||data-sort-value="Tchamkerten"| Jacques Tchamkerten || BBC Music || || 2006 || || Live
|-
|data-sort-value="Iwaki"| Hiroyuki Iwaki || Melbourne Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Kimura"| Kaori Kimura ||data-sort-value="Harada"| Takashi Harada || ABC Classics || 4812873 || 2007 || CD || Live recording in 1985. Re-released 2007.
|-
|data-sort-value="Cambreling"| Sylvain Cambreling || SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg ||data-sort-value="Muraro"| Roger Muraro ||data-sort-value="Hartmann-Claverie"| Valérie Hartmann-Claverie || Hänssler Classic || 93.225 || 2008 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Mena"| Juanjo Mena || Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Osborne"| Steven Osborne ||data-sort-value="Millar"| Cynthia Millar || Hyperion || A67816 || 2012 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Lintu"| Hannu Lintu || Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Hewitt"| Angela Hewitt ||data-sort-value="Hartmann-Claverie"| Valérie Hartmann-Claverie || Ondine || ODE12515 || 2014 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Sado"| Yutaka Sado || Tonkünstler Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Muraro"| Roger Muraro ||data-sort-value="Hartmann-Claverie"| Valérie Hartmann-Claverie || Tonkünstler Orchestra || TON2005 || 2018 || CD ||
|-
|data-sort-value="Gimeno"| Gustavo Gimeno || Toronto Symphony Orchestra ||data-sort-value="Hamelin"| Marc-André Hamelin ||data-sort-value="Forget"| Nathalie Forget || Harmonia Mundi || HMM905336 || 2024 || CD || Live
|-
|Andris Nelsons
|Boston Symphony Orchestra
|Yuja Wang
|Cécile Lartigau
|Deutsche Grammophon
|UPC00028948670451
|2024
|CD (2025)
|
|}
See also
- Classic 100 Music of France (ABC)
- Leela, a character from Futurama named after the Turangalîla-symphonie
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
- Turangalîla-Symphonie The Philharmonia Orchestra's Olivier Messiaen Website. Featuring films, photos, documents and much more. An interview with Esa-Pekka Salonen, a look at the percussion used and a visit to the site of the premiere in Boston.
- Programme notes for the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Ronald Gallman
- About the ondes Martenot : facts, videos, pictures, recordings, players...
- Audio excerpts from all 10 movements of the Symphonie