At first it may seem far more interesting to listen to Honegger’s music than to talk about his life, yet delving deeper reveals engaging stories about love, friendship, Bach, rugby, Bugatti, Montmartre and toy trains. Honegger’s Pacific 231 (1923) is a tribute to a mighty locomotive of its time with the following wheel arrangement – two, three and one axle. In the “Liturgical Symphony” (1946), meanwhile, the composer speaks of modern man’s relationship with stupidity, cruelty, suffering, technocracy and bureaucracy.
Ainārs Rubiķis