Sunday, October 17, 2010
12:30pm - 4:30pm
This trip is for current USC students only. You must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Due to limited space, tickets will be distributed on a lottery basis. To sign up for the lottery, click on the link above on Wednesday, September 22, between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Check-in for the event will begin at 11:45 a.m. on campus. Buses will depart at 12:30 p.m. and return to campus at 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided at check-in.
Turangalîla-Symphonie is a massive 10-movement work by composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), written between 1946 and 1948. It was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was the composer's first major international work. This
was the largest of three works the composer wrote while he was immersed in the Tristan and Isolde
legend. The piece is scored for symphony orchestra with an unusually large percussion section, and features the ondes martenot, an early electronic keyboard instrument, pictured here. A few other composers wrote for this instrument, but its popularity waned, and production of the instrument stopped in 1988. Recently, the ondes martenot has experienced a second life, as Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead began playing it extensively, along with it's electronic cousin, the Theremin.
The Philharmonia Orchestra has an excellent listening guide for Turangalîla-Symphonie on their Messiaen website.