Klarinet Archive - Posting 000059.txt from 2004/05

From: "rien stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] Abime des oiseaux
Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 17:13:25 -0400

One is never too old to make new experiences: today I made my debut as a
soloist. During the local Commemoration of the Victims of World War II I
played "Abîme des Oiseaux". When I was asked to do so I had said I deemed it
an absolute must to give an explanation to what I would be playing, and told
the organisers what Messiaen himself had told me about it. Then I thought
however it would not be good if I would tell about the birds you hear in the
KZ, indicating life goes on, there is still hope, exemplified by the four
beats at the end, meaning "Espère toujours", keep always hope, and after
this to start to play in that very miserable mood. So one of the organisers
was going to speak he text I e-mailed him -- but he forgot his script, had
to improvise, and forgot the in my opinion most important part of it: the
hope it contains!

Nonetheless it was a good thing the explanation was given: many people
understood the meaning of the piece.

When we were sitting in the church where the Commemoration was to take
place, about 20 minutes before I had to play, may nerves were beginning to
think it absolutely necessary to show they were there. It took me a great
effort to make my lips not tremble on that very long first note, but when I
inhaled in a controlled way after playing it, I thought something like
"well, I can handle this one, so the rest won't be a problem", and, though
my nerves still were a bit tense, I had a good control. Could start those
long, great crescendi from next to nothing (the conductor of the band said
he didn't hear me beginning them, he just suddenly realised I was playing a
note), and make the crescendi very straight, very smooth, as if at any
moment there was nothing happening, yet you were gradually aware the sound
was getting stronger.

The bird sounds posed no problems: that is only technique. Only in the very
last one I made a mistake: where you have to play g-sharp, f-sharp, d-sharp,
I inserted an extra d: my right hand was a bit slow. But in that tempo no
one noticed - not even that one person knowing the "Quator pour la fin du
temps".

Many people said afterwards that I played very fine, but I was happier with
the comment a few others made: "That was very touching". The greatest
compliment I think was made by an old man who said: "I survived
Bergen-Belsen. I had to weep". In my opinion that was even more a compliment
to the man who wrote it: Messiaen, God bless his soul.

Rien

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