Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen ({{IPA2|m?sj??}} or {{IPA|/m?sj??/}}; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. He lived in Grenoble in the French Alps during World War I, and returned there during his summers, and in his retirement, to compose. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11, and numbered Marcel Dupré, Maurice Emmanuel and Paul Dukas among his teachers. He was appointed organist at the church of La Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post he held until his death.

Music

Almost no music by Messiaen could be mistaken for the work of any other western classical composer. His music has been described as outside the western musical tradition, although growing out of that tradition and influenced by it{{ref|outside_classical_tradition}}. There is much in Messiaen's output that denies the western conventions of forward motion, development and diatonic harmonic resolution. This is partly due to the symmetries of his technique — for instance the modes of limited transposition do not admit the conventional cadences found in western classical music.

Related Topics:
Western - Development - Diatonic - Symmetries - Cadences

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Messiaen's youthful love for the fairy-tale element in Shakespeare prefigured his later expressions of what he called "the marvellous aspects of the Faith" — among which may be numbered Christ's Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Transfiguration, the Apocalypse and the hereafter. Messiaen was not interested in depicting aspects of theology such as sin{{ref|sin_of_no_interest}}; rather he concentrated on the theology of joy, divine love, and human redemption.

Related Topics:
Nativity - Crucifixion - Resurrection - Ascension - Transfiguration - Apocalypse - Hereafter - Theology - Sin - Divine love - Human redemption

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Although Messiaen continually evolved new composition techniques, he integrated them into his musical style; so for instance his final work still retains the use of modes of limited transposition. For many commentators this continual development of Messiaen's musical language made every major work from the Quatuor onwards a conscious summation of all that Messiaen had composed up to that time. However very few of these major works contain no new technical ideas — simple examples being the introduction of communicable language in Meditations, the invention of a new percussion instrument (the geophone) for Des canyons aux etoiles…, and the freedom from any synchronisation with the main pulse of individual parts in certain birdsong episodes of St. François d'Assise.

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As well as new techniques which Messiaen discovered for himself, among the exotic music which Messiaen absorbed into his technique were Hindu rhythms (he encountered Śārṅgadeva's list of 120 rhythmic units, the deçî-tâlas{{ref|deci_talas}}), Balinese and Javanese Gamelan, birdsong, and Japanese music.

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While he was instrumental in the academic exploration of his techniques (he published two treatises, the later one in five volumes which was substantially complete when he died), and was himself a master of music analysis, he considered the development and study of techniques to be a means to intellectual, aesthetic and emotional ends. In this connection, Messiaen maintained that a musical composition must be measured against three separate criteria: to be successful it must be interesting, beautiful to listen to, and it must touch the listener{{ref|Messiaen_criteria}}.

Related Topics:
Treatise - Aesthetic - Emotion

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Messiaen wrote much music for piano. Although a considerable pianist himself, he was undoubtedly assisted by Yvonne Loriod's formidable piano technique and ability to convey complex rhythms and rhythmic combinations; in his piano writing from Visions de l'Amen onwards he had her in mind. Messiaen said, "I am able to allow myself the greatest eccentricities because to her anything is possible."{{ref|Loriod_technique}}

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Western artistic influences

Messiaen was much influenced by developments in modern French music, particularly the music of Claude Debussy and his use of the whole tone scale (which he called Mode 1 in his modes of limited transposition). Although Messiaen did not use the whole tone scale in his compositions (because, he said, after Debussy and Dukas there was "nothing to add"{{ref|whole_tone_use}}) he did use similarly symmetric modes.

Related Topics:
Claude Debussy - Whole tone scale

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Messiaen also had a great admiration for the music of Igor Stravinsky, particularly his use of rhythm in earlier works such as The Rite of Spring, and also his use of colour. He was also influenced by the orchestral brilliance of Heitor Villa-Lobos, who lived in Paris in the 1920s and gave acclaimed concerts there. Among composers for the keyboard Messiaen singled out Jean-Philippe Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti, Frédéric Chopin, Debussy and Isaac Albéniz{{ref|keyboard_masters}}. He also loved the music of Modest Mussorgsky, and Messiaen incorporated varied modifications of what he called the "M-shaped" melodic motif from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov into his music{{ref|Boris_M}}, although Messiaen characteristically modified the final interval in this motif from a perfect fourth to a tritone.

Related Topics:
Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring - Heitor Villa-Lobos - Jean-Philippe Rameau - Domenico Scarlatti - Frédéric Chopin - Isaac Albéniz - Modest Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov - Perfect fourth - Tritone

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Messiaen was also influenced by Surrealism, as may be seen from the titles of some of the piano Préludes (Un reflet dans le vent…, "A reflection in the wind") and in some of the imagery of his poetry (he published poems as prefaces to certain works, for example Les offrandes oubliées).

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Colour

Colour lies at the heart of Messiaen's music. Messiaen said that the terms "tonal", "modal" and "serial" (and other such terms) are misleading analytical conveniences{{ref|tonal_modal_serial}}, and that for him there were no modal, tonal or serial compositions, only music with colour and music without colour{{ref|coloured_or_not}}. For Messiaen the composers Claudio Monteverdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chopin, Richard Wagner, Mussorgsky and Stravinsky all wrote music that was coloured{{ref|coloured_composers}}. In addition, Messiaen experienced mild synaesthesia, manifested as the experience of colours when he heard or imagined music (he said that he did not perceive the colours visually).

Related Topics:
Tonal - Modal - Serial - Claudio Monteverdi - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Richard Wagner

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In certain of Messiaen's scores, the colours in the music are notated (notably in Couleurs de la Cité Céleste and Des canyons aux étoiles…) — Messiaen's purpose being to aid the conductor in interpretation rather than to specify which colours the listener should experience.

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George Benjamin said, "Messiaen's main legacy is the incorporation of colour into the technique of composition."{{ref|Benjamin_Prom2004}}

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Symmetry

Many of Messiaen's composition techniques made use of symmetries of time and pitch.

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Symmetry in time

Messiaen combined rhythms with harmonic sequences in such a way that if the process were allowed to proceed indefinitely the music would eventually run through all the possible permutations and return to its starting point — this represented for Messiaen what he termed the "charm of impossibilities" of these processes. An early example of this procedure is to be found in the piano and cello parts of the first movement of the Quatuor pour le fin de temps. In practice, of course, Messiaen only ever presented a portion of any such process, as if allowing the informed listener a glimpse of something eternal.

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From his earliest works Messiaen often used non-retrogradable rhythms (palindromic rhythms).

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Symmetry of pitch

Messiaen used modes which he referred to as his modes of limited transposition, which are distinguished as groups of notes which can only be transposed by a semitone a limited number of times. For example the whole tone scale (Messiaen's Mode 1) only exists in two transpositions: namely C-D-E-F♯-G♯-A♯ and D♭-E♭-F-G-A-B. Messiaen abstracted these modes from the harmony of his improvisations and early works{{ref|mode_abstraction}}. Music written using the modes avoids conventional diatonic harmonic progressions, since for example Messiaen's Mode 2 (identical to the octatonic scale used also by other composers) permits precisely the dominant seventh chords whose tonic the mode does not contain{{ref|dom_sevenths_mode_2}}. For Messiaen the modes also possessed colour.

Related Topics:
Modes of limited transposition - Octatonic scale

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Time and rhythm

Messiaen considered his rhythmic contribution to music to be his distinguishing mark among modern composers. As well as making use of non-retrogradable rhythms, and the Hindu decî-tâlas, Messiaen also made use of "additive" rhythms. This involves lengthening individual notes slightly or interpolating a short note into an otherwise regular rhythm (for examples of this listen to Danse de fureur from the Quatuor), or shortening or lengthening every note of a rhythm by the same duration (adding a semiquaver to every note in a rhythm on its repeat, for example). This led Messiaen to use rhythmic cells alternating between two and three units, a process which also occurs in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which Messiaen admired.

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A factor that contributes to Messiaen's suspension of the conventional perception of time in his music is the extremely slow tempos he often specifies (the 5th movement Louange à l'Eternité de Jésus of Quatour is actually given the tempo marking infinement lent); and even in his quick music he often uses repeated phrases and harmonies to make the speed seem static.

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Messiaen also used the concept of "chromatic durations", for example in his Soixante-quatre durées from Livre d'orgue, which assigns a distinct duration to 64 pitches ranging from long to short and low to high, respectively.

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Harmony

Messiaen's harmonic use of modes of limited transposition is discussed above.

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Messiaen maintained that resonance is a physical phenomenon, providing musical chords with a context which is missing in purely serial music{{ref|resonance_v_serialism}}. An example of Messiaen's use of the harmonic series is the last two bars of Messiaen's first piano Prélude, La colombe ("The dove"); the chord is built from harmonics of the fundamental base note E{{ref|colombe_resonance}}.

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Messiaen also composed music where the fundamental note was combined with higher notes played softly, these higher notes functioning as harmonics altering the timbre rather than as conventional harmony, like mixture stops on a pipe organ. An example of soft harmonics altering the timbre in this way are the song of the golden oriole in Le loriot of the Catalogue d'oiseaux for solo piano.

Related Topics:
Mixture stops - Pipe organ - Golden oriole

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Messiaen's use of diatonic chords into his music often transcends their historically banal connotations (for example, his frequent use of the added sixth chord as a resolution).

Related Topics:
Added sixth chord - Resolution

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Birdsong

Messiaen was fascinated by birdsong from an early age — indeed, his teacher Dukas is reported to have urged his pupils to "listen to the birds". Frequently he studied birdsong by notating it in the wild while his wife Yvonne Loriod assisted by making a tape recording for checking later.

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Messiaen included stylised birdsong in early compositions (for example L'abîme d'oiseaux from the Quatuor), but the birdsong episodes in his work became increasingly sophisticated, and eventually Messiaen began notating the bird species with the music in the score. With Le Réveil des Oiseaux this process reached maturity, the whole piece being built from birdsong: in effect it is a dawn chorus for orchestra.

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The birdsong in Messiaen's music is integrated into his sound-world by techniques such as use of the modes of limited transposition and of chord coloration. Even the works with bird-inspired titles, such as Catalogue d'oiseaux and Fauvette des jardins, are tone poems inspired by the landscape as much as the birds. These pieces evoke the place, its colour and its atmosphere.

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Serialism

Messiaen is credited by some critics with the invention of "total serialism", in which serialism is extended to include not only pitch, but also duration, attack and timbre. Messiaen expressed annoyance{{ref|serialism_annoyance}} that his work Mode de valeurs et d'intensités, seen by some as the first work of total serialism, was given such importance in his output.

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In a related development, Messiaen introduced what he called a "communicable language", in which he used a "musical alphabet" to encode sentences. This technique was first introduced in his Meditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité for organ; in this work the "alphabet" also includes motifs for the concepts to have, to be, and God, and the sentences encoded include sections from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

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