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kmmcdonald · 14th November 2009

Your electronic music education is not complete until you have heard an Ondes Martenot sextet.

Many years ago, I acquired the LP "Music for Ondes Martenot" from the Musical Heritage Society (MHS-821) in the USA. The setpiece of this LP was "Fete des Belles Eaux," a composition for six Ondes Martenot, by Olivier Messiaen. For the past few decades, this LP has been a prized possession, and was virtually irreplaceable. I have digitized it, and
cleaned up the clicks and pops, and converted it to CD.

For this composition, there is no classical instrument accompaniment to bind the composition to any point in time.

Now, there is a more contemporary performance available on ATMA Classique (ACD2 2621), from Canada. While I prefer the performance of the older older one somewhat, the production in which each of the six instruments are more individually defined, and the metallic screeches
more forward, the newer performance benefits from improved fidelity, and the different performance is refreshing.

If you have not heard Fete des Belles Eaux before, I am certain that you have not heard anythying like it. Check it out.

14th November 2009	#1
kmmcdonald Gear Head Joined: May 2008 Posts: 60 Thread Starter	Ondes Martenot Sextet Your electronic music education is not complete until you have heard an Ondes Martenot sextet. Many years ago, I acquired the LP "Music for Ondes Martenot" from the Musical Heritage Society (MHS-821) in the USA. The setpiece of this LP was "Fete des Belles Eaux," a composition for six Ondes Martenot, by Olivier Messiaen. For the past few decades, this LP has been a prized possession, and was virtually irreplaceable. I have digitized it, and cleaned up the clicks and pops, and converted it to CD. For this composition, there is no classical instrument accompaniment to bind the composition to any point in time. Now, there is a more contemporary performance available on ATMA Classique (ACD2 2621), from Canada. While I prefer the performance of the older older one somewhat, the production in which each of the six instruments are more individually defined, and the metallic screeches more forward, the newer performance benefits from improved fidelity, and the different performance is refreshing. If you have not heard Fete des Belles Eaux before, I am certain that you have not heard anythying like it. Check it out.