Ode à la musique | Tête de linotte | In terra pax

L’ODYSSÉE FRANK MARTIN – Concert d’ouverture de l’Odyssée Frank Martin

Frank Martin Ode à la musique (1961)
Frank Martin Tête de linotte (1899)
Henri Dutilleux Tout un monde lointain…
Frank Martin In terra pax (1944)

Every voyage has a point of departure. Ours begins with genesis. Genesis as the creation of art. Genesis as the inception of a life and career. Genesis as sensorial awakening. Genesis as rebirth after war. The programme that launches our Odyssey opens with a tribute to the art form that inspired Frank Martin and is the reason why we are celebrating this Swiss composer today: music. There can be no doubt that Frank Martin believed fervently in the words that inspired his Ode à la musique (1961). Taken from a treatise by medieval poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut, the verses pay homage to the joys, comforts, and sacred power of music.

Frank Martin’s own musical career began early. He was only nine when he composed Tête de linotte (1899), a children’s song for voice and piano. After this return to childhood, we take a detour with Henri Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain…, a work for cello and orchestra commissioned by legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Based on a poem by Baudelaire, the words evoke a sensual and sensorial journey inspired by a loved one’s locks. Finally, this initial leg of our musical expedition concludes with In terra pax, an oratorio that Frank Martin wrote for the ceasefire of 1945. Composed in the wake of destruction and horror, this work encapsulates both the devastation of war and the hope for renewal and peace. Music becomes the gateway to find life again after death.

photo: Thierry Fischer © Marco Borggreve

This concert is part of L’Odyssée Frank Martin.