Messiaen (11/19)

M E S S IA E N (1 1 /0 9 ) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Leftovers:Shostakovich,excerptsfrom Testimony M essiaen:B iographicaldetails:K evin K rsulich Q uartet for the End ofTime ([note error]1941,publ. 1942) O iseaux Exotiques ([note error]1956,published 1959) iftime:Q uatreétudesderhythm e,2:M odedevaleursetd’intensités(1949) M essiaen,Q uartet:Style and theory reading: A nthony Pople,M essiaen,Q uatuorpourla fin du tem ps(Cambridge U niv.Press,1997) R ebecca R ischin,Fortheend ofT im e:T heStory oftheM essiaen quartet(Ithaca,N .Y.:Cornell,2003) a. H istory i. W ritten in “Stalag V IIIA ” at Görlitz (east ofDresden) ii. M essiaen w as captured but retained a collection ofpocket scores (including the Brandenburg Concertos ofBach and Berg’s LyricSuite) iii. O thermembers ofthe prison camp:a violinist,cellist,and clarinetist. 1. H indemith had w ritten forthis same instrumentation in 1938,but ow ing to the w ar,it had not been heard about by M essiaen. i.e.,independent discovery 2. Pierrot ensemble minus flute. 3. O nly first,sixth,seventh and part ofthe second movements use allfourinstruments. Practical reasons (sixth can be rehearsed w ithout the piano;no piano available untillate in the composi­ tion) iv. M yths and new research: 1. Intermède composed first. W ell… 2. Cello had three strings:hmm… 3. Just happened to have these musicians at the prison camp:actually,clarinetist and violinist in same company w ith M essiaen and the clarinet movement w as w ritten before imprisonment. 4. Cello movement rew orking ofFêtesdesbelleseaux forondesM artenots(1937) [R ischin,p.19]; V iolin movement from D iptyque[•ª](1930) 5. 5000 at premiere – probably 500 b. Isorhythm i. M edieval(13th–15th c.) technique ii. R epetition ofrhythm (often) independent ofthe melody iii. Cello and Piano ofmvmt.1 iv. Piano:∞ ∞ ∞ √ √.√ |√ √ √ √. √. √. ƒ |√ √. ∞ Ø | c. R hythms and N on-retrogradable rhythms in particular i. ii. iii. iv. v. √.∞_ƒ Ø ∞_ƒ √. | ∞ √. ∞_√. √. ∞ | √ √ √. ∞_ƒ √. √ √ R hythmic structure from Greek meterand from Indian thought (Sangitaratnakara) Freed R hythmic music from being w holly dependent on Stravinsky A dding a “point” to a note orremoving one. etc. Emphasis on prime numbers. 2 d. Synæsthesia i. Linkage among different senses,usually sight [colors]and hearing e. Spiritualdimensions i. O ne ofthe most important Catholic (oreven overtly Christian) composers ofthe mid to late 20th cen­ tury ii. La N ativitédu Seigneur iii. V ingtregardssurl’EnfantJésus iv. O rgan w orks 1. M essiaen is the most important organ composers ofthe 20th century v. Q uatuor:program music inspired by R evelation: 1. 1 Liturgiedecristal: Betw een three and four in the morning,the aw akening ofbirds:a solo blackbird or nightingale improvises, surrounded by a shimmer ofsound,by a halo oftrills lost very high in the trees. T ranspose this onto a reli­ gious plane and you have the harmonious silence ofH eaven. 2. 3 Abîm edesoisseaux: Clarinet solo. T he abyss is T ime,w ith its sorrow s and its w eariness. T he birds are the opposite of T ime; they are ourdesire forlight,forstars,forrainbow s and joyous songs! f. O ctatonic scales and “modes oflimited transposition” i. O ctatonic seen in Stravinsky,M ussorgsky,Bartók,others. ii. M essiaen in the ’40s,the most prolific user iii. B-C-D-E@-F-F#-G#-A (ora transposition orinversion ofthis scale) iv. M ode oflimited transposition – sets ofpitches that cannot be transposed 12 times to give tw elve differ­ ent pitch sets v. Employ some degree ofsymmetry 1. M ode 1:W hole tone scale (2 forms) 2. M ode 2:O ctatonic scale [beginning w ith halfstep](3 forms) 3. M ode 3:A llnotes except the augmented triad (4 forms) 4. M odes 4–7 less commonly used g. 1.“Liturgie de cristal” i. Cello:15 note melody repeated continuously. T ouch fourth harmonics (bottom note + tw o octaves); w hole tone scale (M ode 1) minus A @. Ø ∞.Ø Ø √ |√ ∞.√ √ √ |√ ∞.√ √ Ø || 33√ ii. Piano:Isorhythm:Seventeen note rhythmic set w ith a 29 note chord set. iii. V iolin:five patterns and theirvarients. mm.3–4,m.5,p.2 m.5,p.2 m.8,and the new pattern on p. 6. iv. Clarinet:birdsong,freedom from barlines h. 6. Dance ofFrenzy forthe Seven T rumpets (w ho announce the A pocalypse) i. O pening,mode 6 [ormode1 minus D and plus passing tone B),quickly moves to mode 2 (m.5) ii. rehearsalF:non-retrogradable rhythms. iii. rehearsalI:technique of“A ugmentation ofamphimacric rhythm,” mm.4–5. iv. rehearsalO :coda: i. 8:Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus:E-major,cello solo.