Ensemble "Venera" 2024

　- tourangalira symphony - the greatest symphonic legacy of the 20th century by Olivier Messiaen
　Olivier Messiaen, one of the greatest French composers of the 20th century, has created a musical legacy that stands at the pinnacle of 20th century symphonic music. This great masterpiece, which is considered an immortal milestone of 20th century music, is twinned with the Rite of Spring, and its themes are "time" and "love". It is a magnificent story of love that transcends time and space, from ancient times to the present day.
　The word "Turangalîla," derived from Sanskrit, the sacred language of ancient India, is a compound word with diverse and complex meanings. Messiaen describes the symphony's worldview: "Turaṅga means 'time,' 'duration,' 'weather,' 'movement,' and 'rhythm,' and Līlā means 'play,' 'competition,' 'action,' 'performance,' 'love,' 'romance.'" He stated. Therefore, Messiaen wrote that the Turangalila Symphony is a "love song," a "praise of the joy of love," a "time and rhythm," a "divine game in the universe (and a game of creation, destruction, and re-creation)," and a "praise of life and death.
　The 10-movement, 80-minute work is a gigantic musical picture scroll of "time" and "love," drawn out by an almost unorthodox orchestration that includes a variety of percussion instruments, a solo piano, and a solo electronic instrument, the ondes martenot. However, Messiaen did not stop there; he also wove in various tone colors such as "birdsong," "the sound of flowers," "ancient statues," "the joy of the blood of stars," "the sleeping garden of love," and "the rapture of heaven" into this symphony as if it were a kaleidoscope.
　Religious and secular, theosophical and sensual, sacred and profane, love and sexuality, life and death, creation and destruction. Like a mirror reflecting the contradictions of contemporary human society, these two sides of the same coin are intricately intertwined, but through divine play, they are fused into one and unified in the cycle of "time. And "love" that envelops this world is omnipresent. We, the Ensemble "Venera", would like to challenge this overwhelmingly majestic work with a sense of awe and reverence.
　March 16, 2024 at MUZA Kawasaki. We hope that you will come to the concert to experience the flood of sound, the ultimate in colorful extravagance, by Messiaen, the legitimate heir to the fluidity of French music.