Boy is this far from my usual Black Metal or even my own bluesy acoustic playing style! I've heard the words 'onde martenot' in the past and most likely a bit of it too, but this is the first time I'm listening to an album dedicated to this unusual instrument. I'm even surprised this is being classified as classical music and that musicians can study it in conservatories.
The onde Martenot is a combination of two high frequency generators, an oscillator, electronics, valves, a loudspeaker and some resonators. Sound rather scientific and industrial isn't it? Well, these things can also make some music, even beautiful tonalities too. This album covers instrumental compositions written by Olivier Messiaen and some of his peers like: Jacques Carpentier and Tristan Murail. The piano parts are mostly drawing the melodic lines, while the onde Martenot are taking care of the atmosphere, so to speak. A nice eerie/spooky and haunting ambience is floating around during most of this relaxing recording. In other circumstances, the onde can sound more adventurous or psychedelic. Once again, I can hear Dave Stewart going nuts on the tone generator. Some references to Pink Floyd's Ummagumma can be drawn too. This disc is very different and pretty pleasant to listen to. There are quite a few good compositions to be found, including: "Louange à l'éternite de Jesus", "Bai Tap", "Lent" and "Suite Kamatique".
Track Listing:
1 – Louange à l'Eternité de Jésus
2 – Bai Tap
3 – Presque Lent et Berceur
4 – Lent-Modéré
5 – Bien Modéré - Un Peu Plus Vif – Modéré – Très Lent
6 – Lent – Un Peu Plus Vif – Lent
7 – Suite Kamatique
8 – Vocalise –etude
9 – Tigres de Verre
10 – Louange à l'Immortalité de Jésus
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
