Classical Music | Music for Duo

Recorded on 01/27/2016, uploaded on 08/26/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

French composer and organist Olivier Messiaen wrote his Theme and Variations early in his career as a wedding gift for his future wife, premiering it with her a few months after their marriage. This work is divided into six characteristically contrasting sections, embracing the entire emotional palette. We travel from the intimate and gentle, pure chords underneath the melodic theme of the lone violin, through shifting moods, which gradually accumulate energy and liveliness. The final variation’s sheer volume and majesty of the instruments as a pair evokes the full might of an organ. The soft chords and modest violin theme, in a revelation of its ultimate potential, transfigure into an explosion of exaltation towards something larger than life, larger than us.    Tekali Duo

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.