ABSTRACT
Messiaen’s Quatre Études de rythme (1949–50) not only occupy a unique place in his output, but present a unique challenge to the pianist. Partly what makes them so unusual is the leeway Messiaen leaves for the interpreter. Because of the music’s radical and experimental nature it is often far from self-evident how it should be played. Yet on many of the most important issues the score is vague. Tempo, for example, is marked only by generalized indications (‘Vif’, ‘Un peu lent’, and so on), and while some passages have fingering, in those that are the most difficult Messiaen offers no help at all – as in the fiendishly awkward ‘drumming’ towards the end of Île de feu 2. All this is so uncharacteristic in a composer who took such care over his scores that one is left wondering whether Messiaen was entirely sure of his intentions. Given this, Messiaen’s commercial recording, made on 30 May 1951, 1 only a few months after completing the Études, becomes of paramount importance. The recording is doubly precious as it is the only one of Messiaen as a solo pianist.
