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Pacific 231 (1923)

Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger

Title of the single: Pacific 231
Publisher: Supraphon Records, Czechoslovakia
Date: 1923, publ. 1963
Medium: record 30 cm
Cover: Ivo Holy

 

The Swiss-French composer Arthur Honegger is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and as a musician who, despite the most complex arrangements, was able to establish a connection to the living world of his fellow human beings in his music. He achieved his international breakthrough with his 1923 work Pacific 231. In it, he expresses the power and speed, the massiveness and inexorability of the steam locomotive, which played a major role in transport strategy at the time and made an impression on people with its monumentality.


The symphonic movement was premiered at the Paris Opera on the 8th of May 1924. Honegger intended to convey a sensual and physical impression of travelling on the fastest steam locomotive of the time, known as the Pacific or 231. In doing so, he creates acoustic imitations of a complete sequence of a journey, from standstill to starting, acceleration, travelling at top speed, braking and stopping.

PS