Nathalie Forget - Ondes Martenot

Messiaen wrote a number of pieces featuring the Ondes Martenot including Turangalila which was performed at the Phil last night with Nathalie Forget playing the lead role. By all accounts it was a triumph, although I wasn't there to see it.

The instrument is a peculiar beast. Invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot, it's a very early example electronic synth type thing, played a bit like a theremin with pitch and volume changes done by twiddling buttons and notes produced by sliding a metal ring along the keyboard. Modern tech has made it effectively obsolete and the last one was made in 1988, although there are a few people making copies now.

You may never have heard of it, but you've definitely heard it. Used in countless film scores and by Johnny Greenwood on a number of Radiohead albums. Daft Punk used one in Random Access Memories.

So it was cool The Phil chose to make good use of its appearance last night and put on a solo show by Nathalie in the Music Room this evening for her to talk about the instrument and play a few pieces on it. Was fascinating to watch and hear her sliding her hands around and twiddle knobs to produce some eery and atmospheric sounds.

There's plenty of stuff on Youtube, but this one's quite cool.