Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was born in Avignon, France, into a literary family. He showed an early talent for the piano and entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11. By then he was already deeply absorbed in poetry and drama, and had adopted the Roman Catholic faith, which was to sustain him throughout his life.

The adult Messiaen combined careers as organist in Paris’s Sainte-Trinité church, conservatory professor, and composer in a variety of genres. His musical style was grounded in a mystical and ecstatic experience of his faith, and expanded by his studies of other musical traditions—especially Indian and classical Greek—by interactions with his colleagues and students, and by his lifelong study of the songs of birds, nature’s own musicians.

The Turangalîla Symphony was written from 1946 to 1948 on a commission from Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered by that orchestra in December 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Messiaen’s wife, Yvonne Loriod, played the solo piano part and the ondes Martenot was played by Ginette Martenot, sister of the instrument's inventor. In many subsequent performances and recordings, Yvonne Loriod was joined by her sister, Jeanne Loriod, on the ondes Martenot. Messiaen revised the work in 1990, and this is the edition we are performing. The symphony is about 80 minutes long, comprises ten movements, and is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th century music.

At the time, the composer was fascinated by the secular myth of Tristan and Isolde. The symphony is the central composition in a trilogy exploring different aspects of romantic love and death, in marked contrast with Messiaen’s usual, more contemplative and devotional approach. His distinctive mystical and spiritually optimistic voice, though, still permeates the work.

Also drawing on his study of Indian music and ideas, Messiaen derived the title of the work from two Sanskrit words, turanga and lîla, each with complex meanings that roughly translate as “love song and hymn of joy, time, movement, rhythm, life and death.” He described the joy of Turangalîla as “superhuman, overflowing, dazzling and abandoned.” The composer further told Antoine Goléa that the word Turangalîla was chosen for its sound as well as its meaning. He added: “turanga has a sense analogous to our use of ‘tempo’, while lîla means ‘life-force: the game of creation, rhythm and movement’.”

The topics of the symphony, then, are time, joy, and love. In music, time is expressed as rhythm, and Messiaen’s rhythms can be primitive and infectious, or intellectual and abstract. His joy is no mere passing euphoria, but an overwhelming transport of blinding light. Love is depicted not as an idealized romantic notion, but in all its human and transcendent complexity: playful, tender, joyful, passionate, irresistible, and even obsessive.

Here, Messiaen mixes compositional elements unapologetically and unselfconsciously. A murmuring string orchestra and the haunting tone of the ondes Martenot combine with wind and brass sounds which are almost oriental in their colorful exoticism. Luscious Hollywood-style harmonies are set to a rhythm that is based on the Fibonacci series, a numerical pattern which also appears in nature. Simple birdsong appears alongside percussive effects that follow an abstract mathematical sequence. Still further rhythmic complexities reflect the composer’s study of Greek and Indian musical forms. In his hands these combinations can be mesmerizing in their power—but whereas the details may be of interest to the performer and specialist, all the listener needs is a readiness to be transported to a new world of sound, to be engaged at both a sensual and an emotional level, and to be moved.

The Turangalîla Symphony is scored for piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, and an orchestra comprising piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, trumpet in D, cornet, 3 trombones, tuba, celesta, several percussionists (playing vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, triangle, temple blocks, wood block, various cymbals, tamtam, tambourine, maracas, snare drum, tabor, and bass drum) and a large string section.

Movements of the Turangalîla Symphony

The even-numbered, longer movements present the depictions of love inspired by Tristan and Isolde. We progress, with the mythical couple, from their initial confused encounter and mutual recognition (No. 2) through an intimacy that is both playful and passionate (No. 4) and eventually to complete trust and repose (No. 6). Throughout this sequence, the “love theme” gradually takes shape. Next, passion grows towards obsession (No. 8), but by the final movement love reaches its apotheosis and, in Messiaen’s words, “glory and joy are without end”.

Movements 3, 7 and 9 are atmospheric pieces in which Messiaen creates unique sound-worlds using his full palette of creative techniques. The central fifth movement—a mighty scherzo and the best-known section of the symphony—is like the keystone of an arch, both a high point and a pivotal moment in this epic musical journey.

1. Introduction Modéré, un peu vif
   After an opening flourish, the stage is set as two central, recurring ideas are presented: the “statue theme” for heavy brass, evoking dread; and the “flower theme”, a quiet, caressing flourish announced by two clarinets. A piano cadenza is followed by an ostinato dance section.

2. Chant d’amour 1 (Song of Love 1) Modéré, lourd
   Physical and tender love. The movement is in refrain form with alternating sections: fast and energetic; slow and gentle.

3. Turangalîla 1 Presque lent, rêveur
   A quiet melody shared by the clarinet and ondes Martenot introduces this piece, which has been called a representation of death and pain. Its melodic themes are played separately and together, and later joined by a purely rhythmic theme played by the percussion ensemble.

4. Chant d’amour 2 (Song of Love 2) Bien modéré
   The playfulness and expressivity of love. A perky tune on the piccolo and bassoon is subjected to imaginative variations, and the movement contains restatements of the “statue” and “flower” themes.

5. Joie du Sang des Étoiles (Joy in the Blood of the Stars)
   Vif, passionné, avec joie
   A wild celebration of physical and carnal love. This is a frenetic, delirious jig, an almost unrecognizable version of the statue theme. In Messiaen’s words, it depicts the union of true lovers, creating a transformation on a cosmic scale.

6. Jardin du Sommeil d’amour (Garden of Love’s Slumber)
   Très modéré, très tendre
   A depiction of the tenderness which follows physical exuberance. The strings gently play the unifying “love theme” in its full form, while the piano and other instruments imitate birdsong. Time flows almost imperceptibly; the sounds and scents of the garden surround the lovers.

7. Turangalîla 2 Un peu vif; bien modéré
   An invocation of terror. Insistent rhythms in the percussion section are combined with a sense of closing walls from the ondes Martenot and trombones. A central section featuring woodwind, cello, and piano brings a moment of charm.

8. Développement d’amour (The Growth of Love) Bien modéré
   Messiaen intended this title to be terrifying: Tristan and Isolde, united by a love potion, can never separate, and, in a sense, are doomed to an ever-growing passion. In musical terms, this is the development section of the work, considering and expanding on themes heard earlier, in rapid and obsessive alternation.

9. Turangalîla 3 Bien modéré
   A calm movement, concealing the interplay of a theme, initially heard in the woodwinds, and gradually superimposed on itself at multiple levels. Overlapping percussion figures are echoed by complex string chords.

10. Final Modéré, presque vif, avec une grande joie
    A celebratory, joyous fanfare of transcendental physical energy, leading to a triumphant statement of the love theme. A torrent of sheer light and joy.

Notes by David Brooks and Geoffrey Simon