Messiaen - Oiseaux Exotiques - Aimard, Boulez Part 1

[blinkslide]

Pieces like this should be memorized and performed in flash mob settings.

[lucatancredi]

Mi piace molto, musica, colori, suoni della natura, colpisce anche un agnostico indefesso come me

[AFcunningham]

A brilliant piece. messiaens melody, rhythm, harmonies I think are all wonderful and unique to him.

[rjr1967]

I think this piece benefits a lot from the dry acoustic. It's funny that every piece needs a different acoustic these days - I once heard Messaien's Des Canyons aux etoiles in a similar acoustic to this and it didn't work at all.

[kandinskaya]

bellissimo!! ♥

[Myleso]

An amazing achievement but I prefer listening to the birds.

[ElisRacun]

@Myleso BOLUDO. PLEASE, LEARN SPANISH AND YOU FIND UP THE MEANING OF THIS WORD

[2300skiddo]

This is really special. The pacing is perfect, and Boulez is at his very best with this kind of orchestration: French, complex, full of colors and uncompromisingly modern. In his and in Ainard's hands, it all seems so natural that one can enter with no difficulty and follow the unfolding path with a renewed sense of wonder at all the beauty on this earth, natural and made by man. i must look for this version on record. THANK YOU!

[jre58591]

@2300skiddo I am glad you enjoy it. However, this is not available on disk. Aimard has not recorded this piece, except in this present video. Quite a shame, for, I believe this is the best recording of it.

[mannvishnu]

Aujourd'hui quand j'écoute du Messiaen je ne trouve plus cela expérimental comme beaucoup l'affirme sur cette page mais je trouve cela complètement organique et vivant, nous sommes très loin du laboratoire, cette musique grouille de vie!

[MelroseVick]

At 4:25, a rare performance by the young Charlie Sheen.

[ostercy]

Exotiques indeed :) Awesomely entertaining.

[Redrenso]

b.o.r.i.n.g

[lovesGenet]

I'm amazed that Babbit thought it was bad taste to rename his article on American music "who cares if they listen" . I'm a composer & that is exactly how I feel. To hell with unimaginative illiterate AMERICANS

[miiwiiplay]

@lovesGenet thats a bit prejudiced. I'm American.

[afried01]

@lovesGenet What the hell are you talking about? Have you even read that article? It's called "Who cares if you listen" and it's not even about American music. It's about experimental music - his music. Yes, classical music is a European tradition, but don't be such a fucking bigot. I'm American, too, and I'm utterly in love with Oiseaux Exotiques. Fuck you.

[4LeaftClover]

@lovesGenet you must be truly illustrated to call a whole continent illiterate...

[IpsaPaphum]

Saved by the birds!

[MYRHAH]

bien que très descriptive, cette oeuvre reste originale et piquante. Et très bien interprétée: bravo au pianiste, à l'ensemble et surtout au chef, dont la gestuelle est d'une précision et d'une efficacité sans failles.

[2300skiddo]

Love this piece. Boulez always seems to soften the corners of these angular modern pieces and makes them so delectable. Gorgeous - thanks for this!

[patrickandrews]

Have no words to describe this masterpiece

[fredericfranc]

That wisp at the back of his head made Mr.Boulez look like a bird too, in a three piece suit. Pretty dignified.

[GominaCom]

! !

[GominaCom]

! §

[maddindafirst]

do you mean it goes backwards when you say it has a circular structure? as this happens in vingt regards

[MrLacidaremlamano]

Aimard looks like Shostakovitch on this video

[SonofDostojevskij]

Random!

[ShevanelSaeglopur]

@SonofDostojevskij

Not at all, actually.

[dazamaru]

fantastic! this will do fine at the barbeque...in between compositions by little wayne and beyonce......its that hot beat..

only kidding....i love messiaen

[aguilapulpo]

debes estar bromeando maxi36372394924892#&%@ esta pieza es casi bailable, la tocan en el transporte público, que oyes tu britney spears??????

JA!

[maxi36440529]

@aguilapulpo britney?? XD

no :p

amo la musica clasica, pero esto se va un poco de mi estilo x)

no digo q no me guste la musica clasica moderna/contemporanea, pero... esto es DEMASIADO :p

ps. obviamente escucho otras cosas aparte d musica clasica xD

[maxi36440529]

i don't like this experimental music at all, i don't know why, but it doesn't really... fills me :\

[rufescens75]

@maxi36440529 You call this "experimental?" This music is more than sixty years old, and is standard repertoire! You need to get out more!

[ILiveInJapanButIdont]

I think it sounds a bit too experimental

The chord progressions are just bizarre, i just don't feel that there's he consistancy or content

[blowthingsup]

@ILiveInJapanButIdont

hmmm to make it simple: the title of the piece is exotic birds. close yours eyes, listen, and try to turn these abstract sounds into visual exotic birds. the music itself is not experimental at all. it was maybe at the time it was made, but it's completely acknowledged as music. i've been to a live concert of this piece at the berlin philharmonic. it's really intense and quite beautiful.

[Chrysostomus2]

Impressionnant !

[musicalidea]

Boulez's cool, effortless, business-like exactitude is startling. He requires a minimum of emotional involvement to facilitate his body and concentration's necessary conformity to the demands of the score.

[patriperris]

this is not the way music should be composed, this is going back to prehistory of sound. After Rachmaninov, music died!

[Felinestance]

In fact prehistory of music consisted solelly in making it harmonius. So no, its the opposite

[britandveg]

How Messiaen loved his student's wealth of knowledge and expression!!!

[rvn10rvn17]

is that pierre boulez, who is also the composer?

[Aquired2]

No, Pierre Boulez conducts a piece of Messiaen, the first to recognize him as a real Composer.

[Killmajoro]

@rvn10rvn17 Yeah that is Boulez the composer, he was famous for his conducting (still is).

[Kcure57]

I found this very beautiful and unfamiliar, 5*

[Ryusuken55]

Dans 2000 années les gens écouteront ce genre de compositions et se moqueront de notre époque.

En tout cas ces sonorités m'énervent, si c'est l'objectif de cette musicalité alors je trouve ça absurde. J'aime ce qui m'apaise, pas ce qui me rend fou.

[Emlomor]

Non ce n'est pas le but...

[fj5a017]

Might be you get less frustrated by this music, when -listening to it- just look out of the window and observe what the birds are doing. Then you get a correspondence on which you can perhaps build up.

[kmal16]

Je comprend ton point de vue. Par contre, pour moi, depuis gosse, j'ai toujours entendu ces sonorites dans ma tete, pour moi ces melodies sont tres similaires a ce que j'entends dans la nature, et ma vie en Afrique. Bien sur j'adore les melodies plus traditionnelles, mais j'ai un penchant pour ce genre d'harmonies. C'est ce que mon oreille entend naturellement.

[lscully3]

Laurent-Aimard reminds me of Shostakovich :P

[lovesGenet]

UCHIDA did this many years ago . Messiaen is so different from Boulez but here the music diffespec the piano music with Mess piano scores . Boulez does something copletely diferent with the piano. Mess obviously likes repetition more . A lot is obvious of course i need to see the score it is not temporal complexity as in Boulex. In fact Boulez sems irrelevant when discussing this music.

 JUST LISTEN ..It's Webern playful, sped up . It is not violent .

[RickvanVeldhuizen]

First of all, it's not classical, it's modernistic. Secondly... are you tripping?

[sergeuleski1]

magnifique

[fj5a017]

When I started this I was very confused. I am still very confused but on a much higher level.

[Heronjim]

I love this comment, thank you, you made me smile so

:))))))))))

[Jafuet]

:D :D

[leviandades777]

Fantastique!!!

Merci!

Obrigado.

[muesk3]

You're an idiot...

[Fish23792]

Silly

[ChicorelliOfficial]

This the most brilliant piece Ive heard by Messiaen

[ClarinetistJuan]

It doesn't really sound like birds to me. At all.

[nicodagger]

i read that in many, if not most, cases, birdsong is the expression of anger, fear and agression in general, as opposed to a romanticized idea of their "joy", and this piece captures that feeling beautifully. Or maybe I'm projecting my anger onto the birds. Sorry birds!

[sstuddert]

0:57 - 1:06 reminds me of Eroica.

[curlyman217]

2:02 is the best!

[mariusfelix]

@curlyman217 Two major triad-chords combined (C major and Db major), that makes it sound so bright.

[Archimagister]

Contemporary music doesn't get any better than this... I'm not so fond of Messiaen in general, but this is so beautiful you want to get down in the street and scream. Impressive performance, too

[BallofBase]

Gorgeous lack of structure, really lets feelings of chaos radiate.

[jre58591]

It actually doesn't have a lack of structure. Like many of Messiaen's works, it has more of a circular, rather than a linear, structure.

[hmoy24677]

@jre58591 

[ch252525]

@jre58591 What is circular structure??

[YossarianTheMeerkat]

@jre58591 oh don't be such a douche to a fellow lover of Messiaen. It does have a non traditional structure so just shut up and stop scaring people away from this beautiful music that deserves an audience.

[Zinkalt]

@BallofBase

When I first listened to the piece, which is a brilliant work and one of Messiaen's best by the way, I was actually stunned by the beautiful and linear coherence of the rhythms and pitches that represent strokes of colors and birdsong.

[bobsiedrummer6]

This piece made me go and listen a bit more closely to birdsong and I realised how spot on this music is and how much polytonality there is in nature and how they stand out in music but walking through a park you wouldn't even notice distinct tritone and minor second intervals, brilliant piece of music.

[venusasaboy]

♥♥♥♥

[bitachar]

yes, is even more beautiful than everything i know of Messiaen

[Archimagister]

Word!

[njagala]

for future reference i do believe the technical term is "werd" (haha)

[AnacletoWildejagd]

My favorite music from Messiaen out of his works I have listened to date - such a lively music, it just makes my day. I feel I could listen to this all day long.

[wbarco]

agreed

[urgodmiles]

Great piece, great performance!!!

Thanks a lot.

[LETSGOHEAT31]

Good song. I love to play these type of songs!

[fotosonic]

la musique est superbe, mais il manque un sourire à monsieur Boulez

[mad00002]

Not to say this sort of music is worthless or anything, but I wonder how those musicians don't burst out with laughter and go practise something more tonal. It must be an acquired taste.

[venusasaboy]

Yeah, it's an acquired taste. It's a really rewarding one to acquire aswell!

[emperorIng360]

Charles Ives said it best.

"Why music should completely abandon tonality, I don't see why.

Why music should always keep itself strictly tonal, I don't see why either."

This stuff is far milder than say, Stockhausen music, which is akin to construction work noise, and this is just me, but even loving Romantic music, I would jump at the chance to play something different every now and then.

[mad00002]

I agree with that quote. Abandoning tonality seems to be a trend among modern and expressionist composers, and I dislike it. To me, atonality is like a strong spice, a powerful tool - it doesn't work well on its own, but if used right, can work to a piece's favor.

[GreggaryPeccary]

Fantastic quote, thanks

[yumyumwhatzohai]

and this isn't really a tonal music, it's just tonality at it's very extreme. Each individual birdsong moment has it's own seems to have it's tonal center.

[InnocentFilth]

Reminds me of a 70's horror movie! I love it =D

[BlueCDS]

... genio...

[chobinet]

no comment :[

[whatabigthing]

orchestras don't need conductors.

[paideianow]

go tell that orchestras and conductors.

[thebloads]

I can enjoy myself better in a park

[Eisenhoit]

So why do you sit in front of your computer?!

[thebloads]

i have to at least try listening to it , otherwise i would be making an uninformed judgement

[NICOLAS000099990000]

Quel bel exemple d'objectivité de la part du maître BOULEZ quand il dirige !

Bravo au soliste Pierre-Laurent AIMARD et aux musiciens de l'EIC !

Que de merveilleux chants d'oiseaux notés par notre Maître MESSIAEN !

[reotnu]

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing that. I don't know how the Piano player played all that from his memory.... Amazing!

[cliveso]

On the other hand, how could one play this extremely difficult music without having practised so much that it becomes part of one's memory?

[DougYfunnie]

touche

[mariusfelix]

@reotnu Well, probably he memorized it before playing it! ;-)

[guitars2112]

i like boulez' combover

[answerplz3000]

As Charles Ives said,

"most people believe that beautiful music leaves the ears in an easy resting armchair"

Messian explores and exploits harmonies which exist outside of the dead and long figured western understandings.

A truer understanding can be reached of this music, when we drop our egotistical pre-determined understandings of what music should be, and we leeean back and listen to another unique and beautiful interpretation of auditory painting.

[Hazeon777]

Totally agreed, that Ives quote is simply perfect.

[greatsea]

@answerplz3000 -- It's like when we speak of the music of birds or forests, or when the ancients (Western and Eastern) spoke of the music of the spheres orthe human body. There would be nothing more modern sounding than these 'musics' being transposed into an orchestra. The artistic form may be new but the music is very old. Rap music, for instance, is a great transposition of the old and natural music of punk-ass-arrogance into form. Even stupidity has its own music.

[pappuali]

shitsux

[thomasmoredamian]

Freak.

[paideianow]

you shitsux too, grandpa.

[PereUbu86]

Funny. You say this music sucks, which you may. It is your opinion and you are entitled to that. Although I would just not listen to it and leave but that's what I would do. At the same time though you have video's of Mingus and Zappa on your page. Both very experimental musicians. I don't understand.

[paideianow]

Evidently, you don't understand. I was replying to pappuali and thomasmoredamian up there. They are the ones saying this sucks, not me.

[PereUbu86]

I am sorry!

[aidssweetaids]

How can this be enjoyable?

[Nuditeaf]

Easily! If fools like you stay away from it, and go and lick some tonal bullsacks!

[ChocloManx]

jeez, no need to be an ass about it.

[John11inch]

As opposed to...?

[ChocloManx]

not being an ass about it? I disagree with aidssweetaids, but I don't think he should go 'lick some tonal bullsacks' for disliking Messiaen. Maybe something like "dude you are so wrong you don't even know" or "go listen to some Bartok and then come back"

[John11inch]

I haven't found that approach remotely successful. I think one should be an ass, but with a bit more intellectualism than ball-sac jokes.

[ChocloManx]

haha, perhaps.

[missymoo03]

i use to hate this sort of stuff but ive really grown to appreciate it. The different timbres used in this piece are exquisite

[drcajus]

boulez has the best fashion sense out of any conductor today. I love his suits! Especially the coat he is wearing on the cover of his recording of the Bartok piano concertos!

[FungoBoy]

how about gergiev's hairdo?

[xxxyyyzzzar]

You can start seeing a world in every litl bit of it if you're enough into it.very true.

Now there's this thing called choice and we as Humans can choose not to hurt our ears with something we don't like.

First I hated Debusy.got over it.Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Berg, Scriaben, early Bartok.got over all of them and now I can definitely know how to enjoy their music.

but the trouble is...ther r simply too many pipl with a world of sonic chaos in ther heds. why go on?

[drcajus]

"Now there's this thing called choice and we as Humans can choose not to hurt our ears with something we don't like." You are lucky you didn't have to hear my old roomate do his vocal exercises in the shower!

[AutumnRide86]

Astonishing precision. Aimard is a God.

[nirvanacin]

this birds are huge LOL good messiaen RIP

[pawdaw]

OMG Aimard plays this FROM MEMORY!

[bony789]

This is a great resource and wonderful performance. I just want to play the xylophone part before I die.

[jamesaellis]

boulez was spectical of messiaen colour ideas but he is conducting his music so that shows something! he muisc is great. saw his opera in amsterdam. MOVED to tears and ive heard Turangalia 3 times!

[QueFumas]

This is beautiful!

Ppl, don't go hard on Poupougne89, especially since he states his opinion politely, which can't be said for most YouTube users. Still, I agree with eniutubestatodo, sometimes more than one listening is needed, and that is true not only for Messiaen, but also for Mozart and Brahms (and whoever else).

[dpauken24]

This is a really great performance of this piece, really amazing. Et expecto is still my favorite though, the last movement especially.

[chad410]

It has Stravinsky influence but with a unique harmonyy

[Poupougne89]

I just don't understand how people can ENJOY listening to this...

[jre58591]

what's not to like about it? just because it doesnt have an obvious melody or tonal chords and harmonies all over doesnt mean it is a bad piece of music. on the contrary, this is an amazing piece of music.

[Poupougne89]

Ok sure it's "original"...But as we say in french "chacun ses goûts"...Just on a personal level, this "music" doesn't inspire me...my ears just scream for help...

[sequenzaVII]

You're a saint for posting this, thanks a million.

[floorembden]

it's easy! People can enjoy listening a music who explores new countries of sensibility, and exceeds the force of habit

(excuse my bad english)

[memodrumcorp]

It's because "we" feel, we enjoy sound and noise and we are sons of our own time, you should try... it's wonderfull to feel!!!!!!!

[Poupougne89]

Honey, if I'm here it's because I tried! I just don't appreciate it, but i respect people who do! And just as you said...It's noooiiise, and for me, music is supposed to transform "noise" into "beauty" and this just ain't working xD...I'm only giving my point of view, nothing to be offended by!I'm sure there's some composers you people don't like!

[glitchesandglitter]

sorry, but no "music" is to structure sound in some way. it doesn't always have to be a certain type of way. go pick up a dictionary, and actually search for definitions. i respect your opinions, just don't fill somebody elses head with your ignorance please.

[eniutubestatodo]

I understand you? but let me tell you, and believe me, just spend some time listening, close your eyes and forget all what you know about music... forget all what you believe music is, (forget all you what you believe "the act of listen is") and i promes that little by little, you will beging enjoying a new world,, but be carefull... there is no return!!

[coltman]

I've never seen a glockenspiel that dampens like a vibraphone. that's awesome

what a great piece

[jamesaellis]

Pierre-Laurent Aimard is great but Boulesz is the best conductor around toaday. talk about conducting traffic!

[GreggaryPeccary]

Yeah, Boulez is like a policeman in the middle of the road

[ireadmrbee]

it's a wooden picc with a metal headjoint, not uncommon.

I love this piece, I'm a big Messiaen fan

[skitzo429]

Im not exactly sure why anyone in a professional situation would be playing a metal piccolo, they sound aweful, the tone is extremely harsh.

[ProgwereldTV]

Maybe because the music requires it to be harsh??? The title of the piece in plain English is Exotic Birds and there are lots of birds that have quite a harsh call.

[firesidebenny]

Aimard is a huge legend. Anyone heard his recording of Charles Ives' Concord Sonata? The man is possesed!

[Lillars]

Merci ! Je n'étais pas sûr.

[Lillars]

Quel orchestre ?

[jre58591]

ensemble intercontemporain

[jamesaellis]

i took my mother to see Et Expecto WHICH WAS A BIG MISATKE!!!!!!!!!!

[L0sendos]

its safe to say the whole piece is absolutely redic

[TheBlackPage1]

Its ridiculous to say this is ridiculous.

[revoltz7]

No it is rediculous to say this isn't rediculous!

[TheBlackPage1]

"Rediculous" isn't a word..

[TheBlackPage1]

Mine too. Rivaled only by the fifth movement from Quartet for the end of time

[GreggaryPeccary]

Aah, is that the movement with the fast notes, diminished and augmented rhYthms?

[TheBlackPage1]

Hmm, the notes definitely aren't fast.. The piano plays on the beat throughout, the instrumentation is Cello and Piano solo. Very reflective, spiritual music. something present (i feel) in all of Messiaen's work.

[L0sendos]

i've heard that the glock part to this piece is absolutely ridiculous...by listening i can definitely believe it

[jre58591]

forget the glock part. the piano part is ridiculous! looking at the score is quite a fright.

[lovesGenet]

Fascinating and the sound.these sounds.A Former teacher( Cortot pupil of course) GAVE ME THE SCORE TO VINGTS REGARDS.Nothing compares to this gift .I wonder if there r people without knowledge of tonalityand Webern etc. who could write nature music and city music like this.Xenakis was trained mathem engineer,architecture so he doesn't count.A person who could c purpose fot these sounds w/out sophistication of education etc.would be my choice of a person to study with.

[jamesaellis]

there is a year long festival in LONDON all this year for the muisc of Messiaen at the south bank centre called from the canyons to the stars. this work has already been doen (iheard it in cardiff 1 day before it was done in london) Turanalila has also been doen.

the only thing they appearnot to be doing is his opera which will be in amsterdam in june and new yourk next year.

THIS IS HIS YEAR. HEAR WHAT YOU CAN PEOPLE!

[aldebussy]

I like the pianist's technique!

[abracadabra32]

I've always loved birds, but when you have to play messiaen, believe me, you suddenly want to shot them all!! Technically, it's difficult. Beautifull, but difficult!! Just think of the opera, or of his organ compositions, there are so many birds everywhere!

[gibou1303]

Pierrot ne parle pas de musique quand tu écrits de la merde.

te comparerais tu à Mozart ou Bach ?

eux c'est la vrai musique, toi c'est de la MERDE

[NormanicusDiabolicus]

I think many birds would love to hear this. Good stuff, Messiaen, and what a great rendition.

[hotelflamingo]

wow what a treat!! great humour, last 30 seconds sounds like a traffic jam with boulez looking like a gruff policeman as he solemnly directs it. Loved the piano and the filming ... great stuff, thank you

[organboi]

most conductors really do look like they're directing traffic and that's what many should have done for a career instead.

[shampoosuicide190]

fascinating and hypnotic music

[orecul42]

More Fermium in Seattle!

[alkanlover]

Thanks for posting this video. This is a great performance, but the best recording I have ever heard of this piece is by Jack Gibbons. He's more well known for his Alkan and Gershwin recordings but his Messiaen is suberb. His performance of Regards de l'Esprit de Joie made my hair stand on end when I heard him play it live in London many years ago.

[joerules03]

oh my god I love this piece. Thank you for posting this! Is this recorded? I've never been able to find a recording of this piece. Great percussion writing.

[jre58591]

many people have recorded it. a recording of it just won a grammy, actually.