Maurice Ohana - Livre des prodiges
"Maurice Ohana’s Livre des prodiges is a work for large orchestra completed in 1979. It is dedicated to Serge Baudo and the Orchestre de Lyon, who gave its world premiere.
Conceived as a commentary on The Rite of Spring and set in the same world of pagan ritualism, Livre des prodiges is not only a concerto for orchestra, but virtually a catalogue of Stravinskian allusions. Composed of two parts, in reference to The Rite of Spring, it is divided into titled subsections that proceed without interruption (also in the style of The Rite), and the overall continuity between the sections of the first and second parts of Livre des prodiges is created by progressive variation and the extension of material from one section to another.
The score, as well as Ohana’s orchestration, is very similar to that of Stravinsky (although Ohana employs a larger percussion section); similar effects include the use of trumpets and horns with mutes in fortissimo "pavillon en l'air" in sections evoking frenzied tribal dances, as well as flutes and bassoon in pianissimo accompanied by sustained string harmonics to suggest vast plains of emptiness. The powerful rhythmic drive of Ohana’s score, his use of ostinato, and the modal melodies—many of which incorporate Stravinskian acciaccaturas, particularly in the wind writing—further enrich the numerous textual references. In "Cortège des taureaux ailés" (one of the prodigious pieces giving the book its title), Ohana alludes to the "heavy" section of "Spring Rounds" with similarly incantatory interpolations from the wind instruments. The allusion goes further in "Soleil Renversé" (the inverted sun suggesting an impending apocalypse), which includes a fleeting reference to the work of another composer: strident tritones in the low orchestra, combined with a tremolo in the strings and percussion, paraphrase Mussorgsky’s Baba Yaga from "Pictures at an Exhibition."
(source: The Music of Maurice Ohana, by Caroline Rae) compositore: