Concert | Berlin-based Orchestras
The 10th of December 1908 was a significant day in music history. In Avignon the poetess Cécile Sauvage Messiaen gave birth to her son Olivier. In New York Modest Altschuler conducted the world premiere of Alexander Scrjabin’s Poème de l’Extase. »Spirit, winged with thirst for life, is drawn into flight […] and thus the universe resounds …«, it is said in the accompanying poem. Messiaen too thought cosmically. His ›celestial city‹ was inspired by the visions from the Bible and Aristophanes, who envisioned a city of birds as paradise between heaven and earth. Bird voices (as with Stravinsky) and vibrant colours (as in Grisey’s congratulation to Messiaen’s 70th birthday) determine the sound.
Gérard Grisey [1946–1998]
Modulations [1978]
for 33 musicians, dedicated to Olivier Messiaen
Igor Strawinsky [1882–1971]
Le Chant du rossignol [1917]
Poème symphonique for orchestra
Olivier Messiaen [1908–1992]
Couleurs de la cité céleste [1963]
for piano, wind instruments and percussion
Alexander Skrjabin [1872–1915]
Le Poème de l’extase op. 54 [1905-08]
for large orchestra
An event of the musikfest berlin | Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin