Katchikatchi les étoiles, the last but one song of the Harawi cycle, is a macabre death-dance as the lovers are physically disassembled prior to their final resting. It’s the pianist that’s to the fore; the singer having a constantly repeated figure until, that is, her final scream.
The last Turangalîla – number three, and the penultimate movement of the whole work – is, like its two predecessors mainly an exercise in rhythm. A series of variations on an opening woodwind theme plays out against the background of a rhythmic series in the percussion. Being Messiaen the variations don’t arrive as discrete entities but are piled up on one another!
Olivier Messiaen:
Harawi
XI. Katchikatchi les étoiles
Turangalîla-symphonie:
Turangalîla 3
I. Introduction 0:00:48
II. Chant d’amour 1 0:07:31 ∙
III. Turangalîla 1 0:15:58 ∙
IV. Chant d’amour 2 0:21:30
V. Joie du sang des étoiles 0:32:56
VI. Jardin du sommeil d’amour 0:39:53 ∙
VII. Turangalîla 2 0:52:02
VIII. Développement de l’amour 0:55:45
IX. Turangalîla 3 1:07:25
X. Final 1:12:38 ∙
Albert Roussel:
Albert Roussel (1869-1937), like Chausson, bridged the gap between the ‘Impressionists’ and the more classically orientated French composers. But, while Chausson didn’t survive into the twentieth century (died 1899) and influenced and was partly influenced by Debussy et al; Roussel, who lived well into that new millennium, started out as an Impressionist and then, following maybe in Stravinsky’s footsteps, moved on to neo-classicism.
Two neo-classical examples below, the ‘baroque’ Suite in F with its Preludium, Sarabande and Gigue; and, generally acknowledged to be his best known work, the Third Symphony in g.
Suite en fa, op. 33
Prélude – 0:00
Sarabande – 4:00
Gigue – 9:23
Symphony No. 3 in g, op. 42
00:10 Allegro vivo
06:39 Adagio
15:58 Scherzo. Vivace
18:53 Allegro con spirito
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The Art of Listening 