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Sunday, April 20, 2014

Varese / Ameriques - Milhaud L'homme et son désir

Pacific 231
Varese / Ameriques
Milhaud L'homme et son désir
The Utah Symphony Orchestra
Maurice Abravanel, Conductor
Vocalists: Blanche Christensen and Myrene Nixon - soprano, Ronald Christensen, tenor and Pym Chartrand - bass
Vanguard - Everyman Classics SRV-274 SD
1966

From the back cover: Pacific 231 is described as a "Mouvement Symphonique" – the first of three Honegger wrote (the second is Rugby, the third has no title). It was composed in 1923 and first performed on May 8, 1924, at the Paris Opera, under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky.

Questioned as to the purpose of his, Pacific 231, Honegger expressed a "passion for locomotives." His piece was not planned for direct imitation, but to state in musical terms "a visual impression and physical enjoyment." Pacific 231 is not concerned with a locomotive in its static grandeur, but with the dramatic drive of a machine in motion.

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