Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_NOV_DEC | Page 11

(Left to Right) ondes Martenot; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marin Alsop and the
BSO take a bow following their performance at the BBC Proms in London;
Nathalie Forget, ondes Martenot, will perform with the BSO in January.
One innovation that Messiaen utilized to paint his world of
mysticism and transcendence was the instrument known as the
ondes Martenot, which produces a kind of ghostly, outer-space
sound.
According to Barbara L. Kelly in her Music and Ultra-
Modernism in France: “In their search for new sonorities and
means of extending an exploiting natural resonance, [André]
Jolivet, Messiaen and [Edgard] Varèse…experimented with
the potential of the ondes Martenot, which was developed
by Maurice Martenot (1898–1980) in 1928 and subjected to
successive developments in the following decades. Messiaen
worked closely with the inventor to influence subsequent
models of this fascinating electronic instrument. Central to
the attraction of the ondes Martenot was its ability to achieve
ethereal, melodic and rhythmic effects simultaneously.…
Indeed, there is a clear association of the instrument with the
ethereal and other-worldly in contemporary works.…”
challenge! Beyond that, the point is to balance the sound right so
that it fits in with the orchestra – but not too much. It’s supposed
to sound a little out of place, like a visitor from the cosmos.”
For January’s performances, the BSO has engaged Nathalie
Forget, the First Prize-winner in ondes Martenot at the
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Forget also earned a
master’s degree in musical philosophy, with a focus on the music
of Olivier Messiaen.
Complementing the ondes Martenot in Turangalîla is the
solo piano, which will be played by French pianist Jean-Yves
Thibaudet for the BSO’s performances.
“Jean-Yves Thibaudet and I have a long musical history of
friendship and collaboration, and we trust each other musically
in everything, from beloved masterworks to more adventurous
works like this one,” says Alsop. “We just returned from a
triumphant tour to the U.K. and Ireland, where he performed
the music of Gershwin and Bernstein with us. The orchestra and
“Audiences will experience the full range of sounds an
orchestra can produce and really get a sense of what makes
a symphony orchestra a unique live music experience.”
— A B S E N G U P TA , B S O D I R ECTOR O F AR TI STI C P L AN N I N G
“At this time when tape recorders were rare and expensive, the
ondes Martenot provided a ready access to the world of electronic
sound,” writes Paul Griffiths. “Generated by oscillators, the
ondes’ tones could be altered in colour, across a range from eerie,
quasi-vocal wailing to metallic resonances, and it could produce
either regular notes, played on a keyboard (but only one at a
time), or glissandos, made by moving a ring along a ribbon to
control a variable resister.”
But the use of this rare and distinctive instrument in
contemporary performance poses challenges, according to
Alsop: “Finding someone who has one and can play it is the first
I look forward to adding to our rich partnership with Jean-Yves
by bringing this seldom-performed gem to Maryland audiences.”
What might seem a flurry of disparate elements in any other
work, are in fact somewhat standard for Messiaen. Mythical
lovers, Sanskrit, divine inspiration and the ondes Martenot might
seem an intimidating and extensive starting point for many. But
combine all the various influences and effects, and what is left is
a musical masterpiece that ranges from the bizarre to the truly
supernatural. Of course, Messiaen himself was best able to distill
the explanation of Turangalîa to the purest and most simple of
terms: “Turangalîla is a hymn to joy.”

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