WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

MES SI A E N ’ S
TURAN G A LÎ LA-
SY MP H O N I E

Further Reading,
Listening and Watching
 THE EXPERTS

Tom Service Nigel Simeone

Tom Service writes about music for The Guardian. He
has presented Radio 3’s Music Matters since 2003, and
is a regular presenter of Hear and Now, the Proms, and
special features. His books Music as Alchemy and Full of
Noises: conversations with Thomas Adès are published by
Faber. For BBC television, he has made documentaries on
Handel, Verdi, Shostakovich, Mozart, and Rachmaninoff,
and since 2013, he has presented regular series of Proms
broadcasts. His PhD at the University of Southampton was
on John Zorn’s music, and he was Guest Artistic Director
of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2005.
Nigel Simeone is a musicologist, teacher and conductor.
He was born in London in 1956 and is a graduate of
Manchester University. He worked for several years
in music publishing, as a music antiquarian, and as a
secondary school teacher. Since 2012 he has returned to
teaching part-time at English Martyrs’ Catholic School in
Leicester.
A prolific author with a strong interest in French
twentieth-century music, Nigel has written Paris: A
Musical Gazetteer (Yale), and a number of books on
Messiaen including Messiaen, a full-length biography
(Yale, co-author), a monograph on Oiseaux exotiques
(Ashgate, co-author) and a catalogue of works (Schneider).
Nigel’s other interests include American and Czech
music, and he has published Leonard Bernstein: West
Side Story (Ashgate), The Leonard Bernstein Letters (Yale),
and Janáček’s Works (OUP, co-author). Nigel’s books have
won two major international prizes: Janáček’s Works was
awarded the 2000 book prize by the Janáček Foundation
(Brno) and the French edition of Messiaen was awarded
the Prix René Dumensnil by the Académie des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, for the best music book of 2008.

Gillian Moore
Gillian Moore is Director of Music at Southbank
Centre. She was appointed Head of Classical Music in
December 2011, having joined the organisation as Head
of Contemporary Culture in 2006. Before 2006, she had
a long association with both Southbank Centre and the
London Sinfonietta. She was the Artistic Director of the
London Sinfonietta from 1998 to 2006, combining that
post with running the audience development programme
Inside Music at the Royal Festival Hall and being a Visiting
Professor at the Royal College of Music.
Gillian regularly writes and broadcasts about music. In
particular, she is a regular contributor to BBC Television’s
coverage of The Proms and to BBC Radio 3. Gillian is a
council member of the Royal College of Music and of the
Royal Philharmonic Society.
 AT A GLANCE
Olivier Messiaen and Leonard Bernstein in
rehearsals for the premiere of Turangalîla-
Symphonie in Boston in 1949
In today’s presentations, we will take an
in-depth tour of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-
Symphonie. By exploring both Messiaen’s
personal and sonic worlds, we aim
to place Turangalîla in context of the
composer’s life and consider its influence
as part of Messiaen’s lasting legacy.
We will discuss each of the piece’s ten
movements to dissect Messiaen’s unique
compositional structure, instrumentation,
and use of themes and ‘rhythmic
characters,’ as well as how Turangalîla,
described by the composer as a ‘song
of love,’ differs from much of his other
work. After this session, we hope you will
have envisaged the world that influenced
Messiaen’s composition of Turangalila
and developed a kind of ‘road map’
to guide you through his emotionally-
charged symphony.
Nigel Simeone on the Origins
and Reception of Turangalîla
Turangalîla was several years in the making - and from
Messiaen’s original four-movement plan it grew into the
ten-movement work that Aaron Copland mischievously
described as ‘The Messiaen Monster’. Commissioned by
Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Messiaen worked on it for four years. A trial performance
of three movements in Paris gave him the chance to hear
how his extraordinary orchestration sounded. A rare
rehearsal recording of Leonard Bernstein and the Boston
Symphony Orchestra preparing the premiere is introduced
by Koussevitzky himself, who described it as the most
important orchestral work since Stravinsky’s Rite of
Spring. Today, the genesis of Turangalîla will be examined
through Messiaen’s diaries and notes. We’ll also consider
the piece’s largely hostile critical reception, and explore
some of the ideas the original reviews provoked, including
Turangalîla as an example of musical surrealism.
AT A GLANCE

The Music of Turangalîla

Taking each movement in order, today we will examine
some of the central musical themes of Turangalîla
including its use of leitmotifs, it’s extremely unusual
orchestration and instrumental colours, its exploitation
of rhythm as an emotional life-force, its harmonies,
its relationship to the “Tristan” myth (and to Wagner’s
“Tristan und Isolde”, a work that obsessed Messiaen
throughout his life), and its stunning originality: hearing a
performance of Turangalîla is an experience like no other,
and our aim will be to explore how Messiaen created such
a unique sound world.
Messiaen described Turangalîla to Claude Samuel as
‘the most melodic, the warmest, the most dynamic and
the most coloured’ of his works. Elsewhere, he raised an
intriguing question of genre: according to the composer,
the piano solo part is of such importance and requires
such virtuosity, that ‘one could say the Turangalîla-
Symphonie is almost a concerto for piano and orchestra.’
Alongside this, Messiaen called Turangalîla ‘a song of love,
a hymn to joy. It’s also a vast counterpoint of rhythms’. ...

Messiaen explained the meaning of ‘turangalîla’

as a combination of two Sanskrit words: turanga,
meaning time which flows, movement or rhythm; and
lîla, meaning a kind of cosmic love involving acts of
creation, destruction and reconstruction, the play of
life and death. The composer thus saw his symphony
as “a song of love, a hymn to joy”... - Robert Markow,
Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
 AT A GLANCE
In terms of the musical argument of Turangalîla, Messiaen
adds a further dimension with his employment of so-
called ‘personnages rythmiques’ (‘rhythmic characters’).
Messiaen coined this term to describe the expansion
and contraction of rhythmic motifs in Stravinsky’s Rite of
Spring, and, by extension, to identify distinctive rhythmic
groups in his own music. He employs the technique quite
extensively in Turangalîla. … In terms of its orchestration,
the omissions in Turangalîla are almost as surprising as
the additional instruments of Messiaen’s psychedelic
gamelan, though the absence of timpani and harps may
be the last thing we notice in this super-charged and
surreal sound world. Solo piano and ondes martenot mix
with a vast array of tuned and untuned percussion, as
well as strings, woodwind and brass, to produce music
with a kind of erotic opulence that is like nothing else in
Messiaen.
Nigel Simeone
Invented by cellist and radio telegrapher
Maurice Martenot, the ondes Martenot
was used frequently by Messiaen in
his compositions and is today further
popularised by Radiohead musician
Jonny Greenwood.
Source: The Globe and Mail, 2008,
Trish McAlaster
 TURANGALÎLA IN-DEPTH
The Turangalîla-Symphonie is the central pillar in Messiaen’s trilogy of works inspired by
the legend of Tristan and Isolde (framed by Harawi and the Cinq Rechants). The composer’s
programme notes for the Boston premiere gives short descriptions of each movement, and
of the work’s recurring themes:

Movement Messiaen Programme Notes (Premiere) Notes

I. Here are heard the first two cyclic
themes—the first, in heavy thirds on
Introduction the trombones; the second, in tender
arabesques, on the clarinets.
II. A refrain, evoking two violently
contrasted aspects of love: passionately
Chant d’amour 1 carnal love, and tender and idealistic
love.
III. A nostalgic theme on the ondes
martenot; a weightier theme on the
Turangalîla 1 trombones; slow songlike melody for the
oboe. Rhythmic play on three planes for
the maracas, wood-block and bass drum.
IV. A scherzo with two trios. In the
restatement, the scherzo and two trios
Chant d’amour 2 appear simultaneously, making a musical
scaffolding in three tiers.
V. The climax of sensual passion expressed
in a long and frenzied dance of joy. The
Joie du sang des development contains a reversible
étoiles rhythmic canon between trumpets and
trombones, while the piano adds its
vehement brilliance to the movement’s
wild clamour.
VI. Here appears the third cyclic theme: that
of love. A long slow melody for ondes
Jardin du sommeil martenot and the strings, decorated by
d’amour the vibraphone, the glockenspiel and the
bird-song of the piano. Tender, idealistic
and ethereal love.
VII. Rhythmic pattern for the percussion,
together with ‘rhythmic chromaticism’ of
Turangalîla 2 the time-values.
VIII. This movement develops the three cyclic
themes.
Développement de
l’amour
IX. A rhythmic mode, using a ‘rhythmic
chromaticism’ of 17 note-values: it uses
Turangalîla 3 five percussion instruments... Each
percussive sound is reinforced by a
string chord which is a realisation of its
particular resonance, thus uniting the
quantitative and phonetic lines.
X. Here are two themes: (1) a joyful fanfare
of trumpets and horns; (2) the ‘love’
Final theme. The coda is based on the love-
theme.
TURANGALÎLA-SYMPHONIE

THE FOUR CYCLIC
THEMES
TURANGALÎLA-SYMPHONIE: THE FOUR CYCLIC THEMES
TURANGALÎLA-SYMPHONIE: THE FOUR CYCLIC THEMES
TURANGALÎLA-SYMPHONIE: THE FOUR CYCLIC THEMES

1. Statue Theme
1. Statue Theme
1. Statue Theme
1. Statue Theme

2. Flower Theme
2. Flower Theme
2. Flower Theme
2. Flower Theme

3. Theme of Love
3. Theme of Love
3. Theme of Love
3. Theme of Love

4. Theme of Chords
4. Theme of Chords
4. Theme of Chords
4. Theme of Chords

 NOTES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
 NOTES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
 FURTHER LISTENING,
READING AND WATCHING
LISTEN VIEW
Olivier Messiaen - BBC 3 Radio Messiaen and Turangalila
Composer of the Week Podcast
Esa-Pekka Salonen on Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie,
Messiaen’s interview with Claude Samuel (in French) Philharmonia Orchestra
This was included on a little 10-inch record as a bonus
Film about Turangalîla-Symphonie Premiere,
to the first ever recording of Turangalîla in 1961.
Philharmonia Orchestra
Suggested Playlist Percussion in Messiaen,
Pelléas et Mélisande - Claude Debussy Philharmonia Orchestra

Daphnis et Chloé - Maurice Ravel Messiaen on Debussy and Colour

Tristan und Isolde - Richard Wagner Ondes Martenot

Harawi - Olivier Messiaen A Guide to the ondes Martenot,

Philharmonia Orchestra, inside
Cinq rechants - Olivier Messiaen the Musée de la Musique, Paris
Fête des Belles Eaux - Olivier Messiaen Music from the Ether,
Maurice Martenot’s 1934 Introduction
Trois Petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine - Olivier
to his new electronic instrument
Messiaen
The Synthesis of Synthesis,
How to Disappear Completely (Live) - Radiohead
Moog Foundation, technical and historical
Where I End and You Begin (Live) - Radiohead (dedicated to introduction to the ondes Martenot
the memory of Jeanne Loriod)
Geneviève Grenier Introduction to the ondes Martenot,
(ondist), Calgary Symphony Orchestra
Valérie Hartmann-Claverie Interview
READ (ondist)
The Technique of My Musical Language, Jean Laurendeau and the Ondes Martenot
by Olivier Messiaen (ondist)
TURANGALÎLA-SYMPHONIE,
The Philharmonia Orchestra by Dr Caroline Rae
Love, Nature, and the Divine,
by Nigel Simeone
Turangalila-Symphonie, Programme Notes,
The Philharmonia Orchestra by Nigel Simeone
Turangalila-Symphonie, Recording Notes,
Hyperion Records by Nigel Simeone
Turangalila-Symphonie, Programme Notes,
SMCQ (Quebec) by Robert Markow
Hey, What’s that Sound: Ondes Martenot,
Guardian Online Newspaper
Messiaen Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone
(Yale University Press, 2005)
The Life of Messiaen Christopher Dingle
(Cambridge University Press, 2007)