Simon Rattle has a knack for unearthing large-scale orchestral works that pack a punch. Olivier Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà … (Illuminations of the Beyond …) was completed in 1991, a year before the composer’s death, and is both a reflection on mortality and a summation of his life’s work. Quotations from the Book of Revelation head many of the movements, and Messiaen envisions the heavenly world through expansive string movements, with muted violins intoning long, plaintive melodies. Huge percussion and brass sections provide weight and colour, though the mood remains serene.
Best of all, the woodwind add birdsong into the mix. Birdsong had been an obsession for the composer throughout his adult life, and in 1988, at the age of 80, he visited Australia for the first time, and was introduced to a whole new continent of birds. For this final orchestral work, he embraced this new resource, transcribing many Australian birdcalls into joyous and raucous choruses.
His communication with the orchestra was efficient and relaxed
The concert was the third in a week-long series, in which the London Symphony brought their summer touring repertoire back to the capital to open the winter season. So Rattle and the players already knew this music well. Rattle waxed lyrical in praise of Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà …. He introduced the work from the stage, and recalled how, when he first heard it, he wept uncontrollably for almost the entire piece. Fortunately, he has the technique to marshal such strong emotions, and to shape this expansive music. His communication with the orchestra was efficient and relaxed. Often, no beat was required at all, and he would just cue the woodwind players, as each entered with a new birdcall. In one movement, flute and clarinet players came out of the orchestra to perform their birdcalls around the audience, a rich and immersive aural experience, all expertly coordinated by Rattle from the podium.
Messiaen eventually achieves closure for this complex aural tapestry, with a final movement scored only for strings accompanied by a light triangle, “Christ, Light of Paradise”. Again, muted violins perform broad, almost static melodies, at the quietest dynamics and with the utmost control of tone and texture. The harmonies are ambiguous, but eventually settle on a consoling consonance, the timing of that final resolution perfectly judged by Rattle and expertly delivered by the LSO strings. Exquisite.
- This concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for broadcast on Thursday 19 September