Search - Jolivet :: Works for Martenot Waves

Ondes ondes and more ondes

Homiski | 09/28/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This disc programs works from ondes solo, ondes with piano, ondes and percussion all the way up to ondes quartet by French composers Jolivet and Charpentier. I must confess I bought 2 discs on ondes martenot on the whim coupled with a little curiousity. I had first heard the ondes on Messiaen's epic "Turangalila-Symphony" and wanted to hear music devoted solely to it, unhampered by the volume of the full orchestra. Jolivet's Trois Poemes is probably the best performance on the disc with Messiaen's wife on piano and sister on the ondes. The ondes has a diversity of sounds it can create. While Jolivet and Charpentier write effectively and lyrically for this chosen medium, the other disc I bought (Estelle Lemire-Ondes) programs works which fully realize the total potential of the ondes. The ondes is not for everybody (probably one of the more esoteric and arcana of electronic instruments of the 20th century) but a good intro for the curious at heart!"