MESSIAEN Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (1944)

• Molly Morkoski, piano
  

Regard du Père
(Contemplation of the Father)
Regard de l'étoile
(Contemplation of the Star)
L'Echange
(The Exchange)
Regard de la Vierge
(Contemplation of the Virgin)
Regard du Fils sur le Fils
(Contemplation of the Son upon the Son)
Par lui tout a été fait
(Through Him All Was Made)
Regard de la Croix
(Contemplation of the Cross)
Regard des hauteurs
(Contemplation of the Heavens)
Regard du temps
(Contemplation of Time)
Regard de l'esprit de joie
(Contemplation of the Spirit of Joy)
Première Communion de la Vierge
(The Virgin’s First Communion)
La Parole toute-puissante
(The Word All-Powerful)
Noël
(Christmas)
Regard des Anges
(Contemplation of the Angels)
Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jésus
(The Kiss of the Infant Jesus)
Regard des prophètes, des bergers et des mages
(Contemplation of the
Prophets, the Shepherds and the Magi)
Regard du silence
(Contemplation of the Silence)
Regard de l'onction terrible
(Contemplation of the Terrible Unction)
Je dors, mais mon coeur veille
(I Sleep, but My Heart Keeps Watch)
Regard de l'Eglise d'Amour
(Contemplation of the Church of Love)

For what do you make art? Once upon a time the answer was simple: you make art for the greater glorification of God. And so, in the west, images from the life of Christ dominated the visual—and the architectural—for centuries. A cathedral may be based on the Holy Trinity, as may the composition of a painting. Within that cathedral you may glimpse paintings through dim light, with those shadows accentuating the drama of the painted image. And then art was loosened from the tether of God’s glory; but not for Olivier Messiaen: a passionate Roman Catholic, yet one who nonetheless constructed his glorifications from a deeply personal musical idiom. And so as we view “Old Masters” through antique light in a modern architectural masterpiece, we hear an old story re-imagined in a series of miniatures, jazz fragments, stained shards.

The Ideal (Dis-) Placements Concert Series at the Pulitzer is held in collaboration with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The pieces performed relate directly to the exhibition Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer and are performed by members of the Saint Louis Symphony. Each of the programs are chosen by Music Director David Robertson based on the way they relate to the exhibition concepts and the works of art on view.