200e

Friends:  from the time I first touched the Haken Continuum, I'd  
dreamed of using it to play a composition by Olivier Messiaen called  
"Oraison". I first heard "Oraison" years ago as a student of  
electronic music, and had fallen in love with its simple, beautiful  
harmonies and profound sense of mystery.

"Oraison" is not only a lovely piece of music, but has historical  
interest too - it may be the first piece of purely electronic music  
written expressly for live performance. Also of note is that Messiaen  
re-arranged "Oraison" for cello and piano and used it for the fifth  
movement of  "Quartet for the End of Time", which he composed in a  
German prisoner-of-war camp in 1941; the "Quartet" is one of the great  
classics of 20th-century music.

"Oraison" ("prayer") is from a suite of pieces for six Ondes Martenot  
called "Fete des Belles Eaux" ("Celebration of the Beautiful Waters"),  
composed for the Paris International Exposition in 1937. The Ondes  
Martenot was among the first electronic instruments, and is still  
among the most expressive. The Continuum's own expressive qualities  
seemed at least the equal of the Ondes Martenot's, while allowing for  
polyphony and the possibility of performance of the work by a single  
player. I transcribed "Oraison" for my Buchla 200e/Continuum system,  
programmed the modern system in homage to the sound of the Ondes  
Martenot, and now offer this performance to you.

Oraison, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1937 for six Ondes Martenot,  
transcribed for Buchla 200e synthesizer and Haken Continuum  
Fingerboard controller and performed by Richard Lainhart in 2009:

http://vimeo.com/5194438
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKky73-9yOU

Be sure to watch the HD versions for best audio and video.

http://www.otownmedia.com/OraisonStill.jpg



Richard Lainhart
http://www.otownmedia.com
http://www.downloadplatform.com/richard_lainhart
http://www.vimeo.com/rlainhart
http://www.youtube.com/rlainhart
http://richardlainhart.bandcamp.com/






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