Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur Richard Gowers

• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992): La Nativité du Seigneur:
• 1 La Nativité du Seigneur: I. La Vierge et l'enfant 06:54
• 2 La Nativité du Seigneur: II. Les bergers 07:10
• 3 La Nativité du Seigneur: III. Desseins éternels 06:51
• 4 La Nativité du Seigneur: IV. Le Verbe 16:19
• 5 La Nativité du Seigneur: V. Les enfants de Dieu 03:59
• 6 La Nativité du Seigneur: VI. Les anges 03:42
• 7 La Nativité du Seigneur: VII. Jésus accepte la souffrance 05:13
• 8 La Nativité du Seigneur: VIII. Les mages 07:56
• 9 La Nativité du Seigneur: IX. Dieu parmi nous 09:32
• Total Runtime 01:07:36

Info zu Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur

Nine extraordinary meditations by one of the twentieth century’s musical titans, performed on the magnificent King’s College Chapel organ by former organ scholar Richard Gowers.

Written in 1935, La Nativité du Seigneur is one of Messiaen’s most popular organ works, and a piece that helped to establish the then 27 year-old as an important figure in contemporary music. Premiered in February 1936 at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris, where Messiaen was organist for more than sixty years, the debut performance was shared between three of his close friends; with Daniel-Lesur, Jean Langlais and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald each tackling three movements.

A testament to Messiaen’s devout Catholicism, each movement follows a portion of the Christmas story, from the Virgin Birth to Epiphany, with the number of movements symbolic of the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy. Significantly, the work contains early examples of Messiaen’s signature compositional elements, such as birdsong, rhythmic inspiration from Hindustani and Carnatic musical traditions, and the ‘modes of limited transportation’, which he would later publish in La technique de mon langage musical.

Born in 1994, Richard Gowers is a British organist, pianist and conductor. After becoming a prize-winning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 17, he won first prize at the 2013 Northern Ireland International Organ Competition and studied at the Mendelssohn Conservatoire in Leipzig. From 2014 to 2017 he held the distinguished position of organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge and in September 2017 he became Chapel Choir Organist at the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban. His career as a concert organist has seen him perform in prestigious venues around the world, including Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Richard Gowers, organ

Richard Gowers
(b. 1994) is a London-based pianist, organist and conductor. After becoming a prize-winning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at 17, he won first prize at the 2013 Northern Ireland International Organ Competition and went to the Mendelssohn Conservatoire in Leipzig to study organ and piano with a Nicholas Danby Trust bursary. From 2014 to 2017 he held the distinguished organ scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge, graduating with a starred first class degree in Music. He regularly plays live on BBC Radio 3, as well as Radio 4, MPR, Norddeutsche Rundfunk and BBC Two and BBC Four television. ​

In his time at King’s, the choir’s concerts included the Concertgebouw, Bridgewater Hall, regular performances at the Royal Albert Hall including the 2016 BBC Proms, the Aldeburgh Festival and tours to the United States, China, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2016 he played for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. ​

His career as a concert organist has seen recitals around the world, including major UK venues: Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Albans International Organ Festival, Reading and Leeds Town Halls and King’s College, Cambridge. He has made three solo tours to the United States. Past recitals also include a Bach series at Brisbane City Hall in Australia for the 2015 Brisbane Baroque Festival, the Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik, Iceland, Dresden Cathedral and the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, Germany. In March 2018 he gave the premiere of Nico Muhly's cycle for organ, The Lenten Gospels. His debut CD, Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur will be released in September 2018 by the King's College Label. ​

He currently holds a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is studying for a Masters in Piano Accompaniment with Michael Dussek and Joseph Middleton and has won several prizes for song accompaniment and chamber music. In May 2018 he participated in the Kyoto International Music Students Festival, performing chamber music by Chopin and Schumann. ​

As a pianist, organist and continuo player he has performed with several of the country’s leading orchestras, including the AAM, Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, CBSO, Endymion, Hanover Band, LPO, OAE, Philharmonia, and The King's Consort. He is the rehearsal pianist for Fulham Camerata, and has also played for the Philharmonia Chorus and BBC Singers. ​

As a conductor, recent projects include Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé Suite no. 2, Sibelius Symphony no. 1, Brahms Symphony no. 1 and a period-instrument performance of J. S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Cantatas 1-3) in collaboration with Margaret Faultless and Cambridge University Collegium Musicum. In the field of Opera he has repetiteured productions of Kepler’s Trial, The Marriage of Figaro, The Rake’s Progress, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hansel and Gretel and Don Giovanni.

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