Barber's work contains few original observations, but is a substantial and useful compendium of information from other sources. He begins with biographical information about the composer, then discusses Messiaen's idea of a trilogy of works based loosely on the theme of Tristan and Isolde--the triptych of which Turangalila was to become the central, and by far the largest, panel. After a methodical examination of the many influences that converged to produce this symphony, Barber turns to a lengthy movement-by-movement analysis of the work. He then discusses Turangalila in the context of other 20th-century symphonic masterworks, provides a brief (and incomplete) history of performances and recordings of the piece, and concludes with an appendix offering rehearsal and performance strategies for conductors.
The most valuable part of the paper is the discussion of the influences on Messiaen's work. Barber discusses the composer's devout Catholicism; his accidental discovery of a catalogue of rhythms of the provinces of India; his fascination with numerology, palindromes, and prime numbers; his attraction to exotic sounds such as the Balinese gamelan and the ondes martenot; his invariable associations of colors with musical sounds; his encyclopedic study of the songs of birds (which he called "the greatest musicians to inhabit our planet"); his devotion to Yvonne Loriod, a phenomenal pianist for whom much of his virtuosic piano music was written and who was to become his second wife; and the music of Stravinsky, Bartok, Liszt, and Berlioz.
Barber's analytical chapters, unfortunately, leave much to be desired. He mainly rehashes the commentary in Robert Sherlaw Johnson's book, often expanding it in length but not in content. Some movements of the symphony are unaccountably discussed in substantially greater detail than others. The paper suffers from a large number of typographical errors and at least a few significant errors in content. To cite just one example, Johnson points out in his book a misprint in the twelfth measure of the fourth movement of the published score of the symphony; Barber offers an alternative explanation that betrays a lack of understanding of the systematic rhythmic processes that Messiaen follows in this movement.
(Jay Hook, 1996)
Bernard, Jonathan. "Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound Structure in his Music." Music Perception 4 (Fall 1986): 41-68.
From Olivier Messiaen's published descriptions of his works, one discerns that the color labels appearing in the composer's scores reveal his being affected by colored-hearing synaesthesia. Bernard observes that Messiaen's color responses exhibit a high degree of internal consistency. For this reason, he proposes that the analyst tabulate the available correlations between sound and color and use them to explore the various factors that govern Messiaen's color associations. In delineating his findings, Bernard emphasizes the importance of studying absolute pitch and the modes of limited transposition, as well as the conditions under which vertical spacing and pitch-class identity may assume primary significance in color delineation. Bernard has identified three basic types of color labels; the monochromatic, the mixture of two colors in a uniform hue, and the simultaneous combination of three colors. In accordance to Messiaen's writings in the Technique of My Musical Language, Bernard has determined that Modes 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Messiaen's modes of limited transposition constitute the color modes. Bernard goes on to tabulate the presence of modally based coloration in the following works: Préludes (1929), Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus (1944), Catalogue d'oiseaux (1956-58), Chronochromie (1959-60), and Des canyons aux étoiles (1974). However, he notes that although the same individual modal transposition tends to bear similar or identical color labels, particular shades involved may be slightly or substantially different. In "measuring" the differentiation, pitch-class sets are suggested as a useful index of differentiation. However, the issue of spacing and its color affinities often override set identity. Analysis has shown that two different spacings of the same set may correspond to two different colors; or conversely, two different sets may, by virtue of superimposition, correspond to the same color or color complex. Although Bernard's work leaves many questions unanswered, he feels optimistic about solving the remaining enigmas of color correspondence, and harbors hopes of generalizing what is learned from the color correspondences into a theory of harmonic structure for Messiaen's music which is based upon characteristic interval content and order.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Bruhn, Siglind. "Religious Symbolism in the Music of Olivier Messiaen." The American Journal of Semiotics 13, nos. 1-4 (Fall 1996 [1998]): 277-309.
In this article, Bruhn establishes the fact that Messiaen's musical language remained uniform throughout his life. This constancy arose from the fact that Messiaen was unwavering in the intent that the purpose of his creative activity was to praise God and share through his music his profound enthusiasm for the Truths of his Catholic faith. Messiaen's work was essentially inspired by three topics: God's Love as it manifests itself in the Incarnation of His Son; humanity's love of God as well as other fellow-beings; and bird song. In this article, Bruhn probes deeper into each topic, and identifies many more which are subsumed under Messiaen's broad categorisation. Bruhn's adopts a hermeneutical approach in the article. She explores Messiaen's symbols in a way that organizes them according to their musical appearance on the one hand, and their manifestation of or deviation from symmetry and congruency on the other hand. Specifically, Bruhn takes a four-pronged approach. She considers the following: the symmetric organization of tonal material, particularly in expressions of divine perfection and love; symmetric and dissymmetric unfolding of temporal units in representations of time and eternity; congruency and incongruency in superimpositions, and their message regarding reality; and the eloquence of the musical language in leitmotifs and themes. While the symbols Bruhn refers to comprehensively apply to works ranging from Le banquet céleste (1928) to Éclairs sur l'au-delà (1987-91), most of the concrete examples in her article are taken from Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus (1944).
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Bruhn, Siglind. ed. Messiaen's Languages of Mystical Love. New York: Garland, 1998.
A collection of essays by multiple authors. Following are some contents.
"Messiaen and the representation of the theological illusion of time" by Ian Darbyshire discusses Messiaen's claims to write theological music as opposed to "mystical" music that implies a scientific conception of the nature of music whose precision is not suggested by the word "religious." His perspective and some advanced ideas of modern physics concerning nature and behavior of time are introduced in arguments of his interesting theology. His technical structures are the modes of limited transpositionk non-retrogradable rhythms, and symmetrical permutations.
"Rhythmic technique and symbolism in the music of Olivier Messiaen" by Robert Sherlaw-Johnson traces the development of rhythm in Messiaen's music with a consideration of large-scale time proportions. In addition, the importance of silence and the religious symbolism of his early works are discussed.
"Magic and enchantment in Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux" by Theo Hirsbrunner describes three vital sources that Messiaen drew his strength and the energy to live and compose: the Roman Catholic faith, the love of nature, and the myth of Tristan and Isolde. Music was to him a tool with which he could sing God's greatness that is revealed in nature and human love. Hirsbrunner introduces Messiaen's Catalogue of d'oiseaux that consists of thirteen pieces symbolizing different bird species and symmetrically divided into seven books, each preceded by his own commentary.
(Mariko Morita)
Bruhn, Siglind. "The Spiritual Layout in Messiaen's Contemplations of the Manger." In Messiaen's Language of Mystical Love, 247-67. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998.
In this essay, Bruhn argues that a close examination of the musical symbols used throughout Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, as well as the spiritual messages for which they represent, reveals an uncanny structural design not immediately evident from superficial analysis. Bruhn discovers a structure which bears an analogue to the sonata principle: the structure of the twenty-piece cycle encompasses an initial "exposition" comprising the first five pieces in the cycle, followed by an intricate but extraordinarily symmetrical interplay of pieces constituting what she terms to be "development," "contrast," and "synthesis." In considering the five initial pieces in the cycle, Bruhn demonstrates that they jointly present the full array of musical components that recur cyclically throughout the Vingt Regards. These components are introduced in their basic form and matched with their respective spiritual message, which remains consistent throughout the cycle. The basic musical symbols representing these spiritual messages span the phenomena of pitch and rhythm, horizontal and vertical tonal organization, structural design, texture, developmental transmutation, as well as the following three cyclical themes: the Theme of God, the Theme of Love, and the Theme of the Star and the Cross. In the fifteen pieces after the exposition, Messiaen reserves those with odd numbers (numbers 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19) for the development of musical and theological symbols. Numbers 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 constitute the "contrast" pieces, reflecting the manner in which the world as a whole reacts to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Pieces 6 and 20, which frame the fifteen pieces represent both theological and musical syntheses. While number 6, entitled "Through Him All Was Made" represents a look back towards the past , and traces "all things" to the moment of God's Creation, number 20, entitled "The Church of Love Contemplating the Infant Jesus," is directed towards the future.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Covington attempts to demonstrate how to see and hear the total serialization techniques used by Messiaen in the movement "Mode de Valeurs et d'Intensites" from the piano work titled Quatre etudes de rythme. Messiaen did serialize pitch, duration, articulation, and dynamics in this work, although he did not serialize the order of pitches, which is a departure from the Vienese school. After showing the initial three lines of the notes used in the piece, Covington then explains how they are used as six planes of sound in the work, and how each plane has its own aural characteristics. She also uses graphs to demonstrate how the planes are "counterpointed" against each other. After seeing the mechanical aspects of the planes clearly defined and after learning their aural differences, one can hopefully see and hear the work better.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
This book contains a large overview of Messiaen's historical and compositional life, and it includes how he adapted serialism, modes, rhythmic modes and so forth into his own style. Griffiths uses important works from important points in the composer's musical life as a basis for a discussion of the key compositional elements used at that time. One work is focused upon as an example of how Messiaen incorporated specific musical elements into his compositions, and other works from the time are mentioned and receive some explanation. The chapters are titled by variations on the title of the main composition to be discussed in the text.
A fairly-good explanation of the Modes of Limited Transposition is given in the early chapter dealing with the conservatory. Messiaen's use of birdsong in Reveil des oiseaux is detailed including written explanations, descriptions, and charts which identify the type of bird. There are also brief discussions of eastern rhythms used in pieces, but just as with the birdsong, only the specific rhythms used by Messiaen in the work discussed are shown and explained.
Because it is so important to Messiaen's use of technical elements, Griffiths constantly explores the contradictions of time which appear in the music. The use of static time versus linear time is very important to the listener and performer of Messiaen's music. Due to his deep Catholic faith, which inspired the creation of wonder, mystery, awe, and even eternity (which is definitely non-temporal), Messiaen used the rhythms and modes to re-enforce the passage or non-passage of time.
The chapters arrange the compositions and styles chronologically, and at the end is a brief chronology of Messiaen's life and important compositions. Also there is a catalog of works arranged by performing ensemble.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Griffiths, Paul. Olivier Messiaen and the Music of Time. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985.
The work consists of 14 chapters in various contents, including biographical information in specific time periods, his environmental and religious influences, his insights in compositional styles and thoughts, and his representative works and their historical backgrounds. It also contains a list of Messiaen's life events and times of his compositions in chronological order, and an annotated catalogue of his works.
(Mariko Morita)
This is a collection of essays/analyses to pay homage to a 20th century musician who was an optimist and who ventured into new compositional territories with purpose and conviction. There are three sections to the book: Part I, which contains five essays about early compositions arranged by performance medium; Interlude, essays dealing with important inspirations which are perhaps less "college theory" and more philosophically oriented; and Part II, late compositions divided into seven essays arranged by performance medium, with separate analytical ones for La Transfiguration, Des canyons aux etoiles, Saint Francois d'Assise, and Eclairs sur l'au-dela. Some of the essays are more analytical than others, especially the four just mentioned which are each dedicated to single composition.
Dealing with modes, rhythm, magic and other elements, the opening essay which deals with Messiaen's musical language is extremely clear and informative; definitions are given and examples are used which show how the composer used compositional elements in his early works. The bulk of Part I has four specific topics, one essay for each subject: organ, piano, vocal, and instrumental music. The Interlude contains topics of color (including modal color), mysticism, birdsong, and an analysis of Quatuor pour la fin du temps, all of which are detailed and insightful. Part II of the book contains three general analyses of post-1950 piano, organ, and orchestral music, and it also has detailed analyses of the four previously mentioned works.
Especially useful for organists is a stop list for the organ at La Sainte Trinite and the changes done to it during Messiaen's life. After a brief chronology of Messiaen's life and works is a detailed discography arranged by performance forces complete with publishers and record labels.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Holloway's dissertation gives a large overview of Messiaen's organ compositions and the techniques used in them, and how they relate to Messiaen's compositional style as a whole. The works are presented chronologically with an analysis of rhythmic, motivic, and harmonic components in the works.
The first two hundred pages is called the glossary, and it deals with compositional techniques and their basis or source. Including techniques such as Hindu rhythm, Greek meter, plainchant, birdsong, Modes of Pitch, of Attacks, and of Intensity, and many other sources, the glossary also includes examples from the organ works to show how the various techniques are used. Holloway clearly uses charts, musical examples, and historical evidence to support his analyses.
The bulk of the text deals with each organ composition individually and the important compositional devices therein, however no one work is analyzed in great detail. Consideration is given to how the stop colors specified by Messiaen make the various lines and textures have a very specific and unique sound. In this section, as opposed to the glossary, the examples are mostly given by description rather than musical excerpt or graph.
Lastly, appendices are given which give translations of prefaces and texts by Messiaen, organ specifications, and a complete list of bird songs used in the organ compositions. A now-dated discography is given to cover all the works listed, and the bibliography is complete to the time of publication.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Hook, Julian L. "Rhythm in the Music of Messiaen: an Algebraic Study and an Application to the Turangalîla Symphony." Music Theory Spectrum 20, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 97-120.
In this article, Hook establishes the distinctive role that rhythm played in Messiaen's music. Messiaen adopted many rhythms (known as desitalas) from the thirteenth-century Indian treatise Sangita-ratnakara, and applied these in his music, the earliest notable example being the Quartet for the End of Time (1940-41). Messiaen's use of these rhythms did not reflect traditional Indian practice. Rather, he was interested in the contributions these rhythms could make to his personal idiom. The main bulk of Hook's essay deals with a systematic investigation of rhythm in Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony (1946-48). Hook notes that several passages in the work contain 'intricate constructions involving many simultaneous rhythmic processes, each synchronized to its own clock'. As a point of reference for his study, Hook enumerates the rhythmic principles outlined by Messiaen in The Technique of My Musical Language, and specifically explicates the term "rhythmic characters" as used by the composer. While many analytical studies have been done with regard to rhythm in the Turangalîla Symphony, Hook finds these studies to be lacking in a consistent and comprehensive methodology. Hook introduces a system of algebraic terminology and notation for the study of "rhythmic characters" in the Turangalîla Symphony. He expounds on concepts such as generative, periodic, progressive, and recursive rhythms, and illustrates their pertinence by classifying fifty rhythms from the Turangalîla Symphony according to these concepts. Hook also observes that Messiaen maintained an intricate and inventive relationship between rhythms and pitch-related structures, clearly delineating between instances of clear dependence or independence between the two parameters. Rhythms when presented in combination with each other also exhibit a wide variety of interrelationships.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Hsu shows how Messiaen, who drew from many sources effectively such as mysticism, plainsong, Asian music, serialism, and more, also has clearly traceable connections to the music of Liszt, Debussy, and especially Bartok. Messiaen's use of non- 12 tone sets such as the Modes of Limited Transposition are considered also.
Through analysis of Preludes and Regard de l'Esprit de joie, Hsu shows a considerable amount of evidence to support her thesis. After analyzing Messiaen's pitch sets, progressions, and rhythmic structures, the larger categories of sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and growth are considered. Hsu then demonstrates by excerpt or parallel passage, ideas and techniques which are common to Messiaen and the other composers. Historical documentation is given as well as the author's personal contact and association with Messiaen as support to the thesis.
After a guide to interpretation of the analyzed works is given, Hsu
more clearly addresses the possibility of Bartok's music being an inspiration,
or at least a similar creation, to Messiaen's music by showing parallel
influences, ideas, and techniques.
Lastly the summary and appendices show the figure of Messiaen as a
great synthesizer through his person, religion, and music.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Hsu, Madeleine. Olivier Messiaen, the Musical Mediator: A Study of the Influence of Liszt, Debussy, and Bartók. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996.
In her monograph on Messiaen, Hsu provides analytical insights into Messiaen's Préludes (1929) and Regard de l'Esprit de joie, the tenth piece of Vingt Regards sur l'Énfant-Jésus (1944). Drawing largely from the principles as outlined in the Technique of My Musical Language, as well as from the writings of Paul Griffiths, Harry Halbreich, Robert Sherlaw Johnson, and Michèle Reverdy, Hsu presents a comprehensive analysis of the works according to Jan La Rue's parameters in the latter's Guidelines for Style Analysis. Apart from considering the pieces in terms of pitch sets and progressions, rhythmic structures, and formal conceptions, Hsu tackles pertinent issues of stylistic genesis and influence which she traces back to Liszt, Debussy, and Bartok most particularly. While there were differences between Bartok and Messiaen, Hsu suggests a close musical kinship between the two composers and argues that the former served as the latter's master of thought. Among the common traits shared by both composers, Hsu highlights both composers' preoccupation with folksong, the use of new rhythmic techniques, and the use of the piano as both a percussive and orchestral instrument. Background information on Messiaen's philosophy of music is offered, particularly the religious, literary, visual, and musical experiences that affected his compositions. Other than the three composers mentioned in the title of the book, the influence on Messiaen's music of plainsong, the Orient, Stravinsky, and the overall importance of rhythm and mathematical relationships are discussed. Hsu's approach is holistic. While her study demonstrates historical, biographical and theoretic-analytical stances, she also fulfills practical pedagogical needs by showing how the analyses of the selected piano compositions contribute to interpretation and performance.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Biographical chapters are interspersed with analytical ones, so that Messiaen's works are considered approximately in chronological order. Independent chapters are given to discussions of Messiaen's use of rhythm and the recurrent appearance of birdsong in his music. The valuable appendices include a chronological list of all of Messiaen's compositions through the early 1970s; a tabulation (in modern notation) of the 120 13th-century Indian rhythmic patterns that Messiaen discovered as a young man; and a list identifying (by Messiaen's name, scientific name, and common English name) some 350 birds whose songs are quoted in Messiaen's works.
In a book as comprehensive as this, the analyses are necessarily brief, but Johnson's are consistently well-focused and insightful. The three pages devoted to the Quartet for the End of Time, for example, include a diagram of relationships among the work's eight movements; a thorough dissection of the texture of the first movement, in which two independent rhythmic pedals are combined with two independent birdsongs; and briefer discussions of noteworthy features of the other movements. Johnson also points out the derivation of some of the quartet's musical materials from earlier works by Messiaen. The longest analysis in the book is that of Catalogue d'oiseaux, described by Johnson as Messiaen's greatest piano work; this chapter includes detailed full-page diagrams of each of the 13 pieces in the set.
If Johnson's book has a failing, it is the inevitable one of age: one longs to be able to read comparably lucid discussions of Messiaen's later music, such as the orchestral work Des canyons aux etoiles and the gigantic opera Saint Francois d'Assise.
(Jay Hook, 1996)
Johnson, through a detailed study of major works, traces the compositional techniques of Messiaen in a lucid and concise manner. The chapters on musical language and rhythm are especially helpful, as they address the use of the Modes of Limited Transposition in both harmony and melody. Charts, graphs, and examples from works help to show the reader what is being said about compositional techniques.
The largest portion of the text is devoted to significant compositions which demonstrate techniques such as birdsong, Hindu rhythms, color chords or modes, and cyclic patterns. Messiaen's use of melody in early compositions is contrasted with the blocks of sound which are more typical of his later works. Through graphs which show the original rhythms and their expansions, Johnson demonstrates clearly the use of Hindu rhythms and how they are expanded.
The appendices contain a chronological list of works, a table of 120 deci-talas, and a very complete catalog of bird names with the compositions in which they appear. The table of rhythms is most helpful in that it presents the rhythms in unaltered or pre- interpreted form so that one can see the rhythms is their "natural" state.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Messiaen begins with rhythm. He systematically presents his techniques of added values, augmentation and diminution, retrogradation, palindromic rhythms, rhythmic pedals, and polyrhythms, and discusses the special problems associated with notating some of these rhythms. He then turns to matters of melody, phrase, and harmony, and concludes with a discussion of modes based on symmetrical divisions of the octave. The accompanying volume of musical examples consists largely of quotations from Messiaen's own compositions, although an occasional example appears from the music of Ravel, Mussorgsky, or, interestingly, Edvard Grieg.
In many ways, Messiaen's explanations are of interest less because of their direct potential as analytical tools than for what they reveal about the genesis of his musical materials. For example, to regard his rhythmic techniques as rules for generating new rhythms, in the manner of a formal grammar, would be foolish; in fact, using his "rules" one can readily generate any rhythm whatsoever as long as its values are multiples of some common smallest value. But the techniques are of interest nevertheless, as they demonstrate that rhythm for Messiaen does not arise hierarchically, by elaboration of an underlying pulse (as traditional rhythms in western music do), but rather by systematic accumulations of small rhythmic values. Another revealing tendency is Messiaen's curious habit of referring to symmetry in terms of impossibility: palindromic rhythms, for example, are called "non-retrogradable rhythms," and the symmetrical modes are "modes of limited transposition." Only occasionally does the individuality of Messiaen's approach border on the bizarre, as when he explains (Chapter 8, Example 71) that the note F-sharp that occurs as the eleventh harmonic of a low C has as its "normal resolution," in C major, the descent by augmented fourth to the tonic C!
A composer's own description of his musical techniques is not necessarily complete, clear, or pedagogically sound, but it must surely be taken as definitive. "It is always dangerous to speak of oneself," begins Messiaen's introduction, but those who study his music must be thankful that he did.
(Jay Hook, 1996)
Messiaen, Olivier. The Technique of My Musical Language. 2 vols. Trans. John Satterfield. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1944.
One of the most important references by Messiaen on his musical languages that he exclusively developed in 1930's and 1940's. The first volume consists of chapters in which he summarized his interests and specific factors that influenced his music. Such as the nature of Hindu rhythms from which Messiaen developed his own theory in non-retrogradable rhythm (symmetrical) and added rhythm, a total of 8 modes with limited transpositions, birds' songs, are explained in detail with his insights that go with the musical examples compiled in the second volume. In addition, he also included some chapters on his environmental circumstances; the influences of his mother, who was a poet, and his father, who was the translator of Shakespeare, and his religious background as a devote Catholic. In order to understand his music, this is the vital resource.
(Mariko Morita)
Messiaen, Olivier. Traité de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'Ornithologie (1949-1992). Bk. 5, vol. 1, "Chants d'Oiseaux d'Europe." Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1999.
Messiaen's Traité de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'Ornithologie (1949-1992), hereafter referred to as Traité, is a monumental work and is being posthumously issued in seven "tomes" or books. As of the present moment, the first five books have been published. In dealing specifically with the issues of rhythm, color and bird-song in this treatise, Messiaen demonstrates how these elements feature in many of the works from 1944 onwards. Unlike the case of separate presentation of text and musical examples in the Technique of My Musical Language (1944), text is integrated with musical examples in this later treatise. Whole movements of music are presented in the Traité and this ranges from piano to orchestral scores. One distinctive feature of the Traité is the emphasis given to the analysis of the works of other composers. These include Printemps by Claude Le Jeune (in Book 1); Le Sacre du Printemps by Igor Stravinsky (in Book 2); Mozart's twenty-one piano concerti (in Book 4); and passages from Debussy's Préludes, Images, La Mer and Pelléas et Mélisande. In doing this, Messiaen demonstrates that his musical techniques are derived from masters of an earlier vintage. Book 5 is issued in two parts and broadly deals with analysis of bird song and their use in the works of Messiaen. Sept Kaikai, a piece for piano and orchestra, is also analysed The first volume of Book 5 centers on birdsongs of Europe. In his analyses, Messiaen draws from many of his works which contain the 'style oiseau', such as Catalogue d'oiseaux (1956-58), Chronochromie (1959-60), Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité (1969), La Fauvette des Jardins (1970), Saint François d'Assise (1975-83), Petites esquisses d'oiseaux (1985), Éclairs sur l'au-delà (1987-91), as well as the many birdsong transcriptions carried out in the woods with his wife Yvonne Loriod. In analysing birdsong, Messiaen provides the provenance and basic characteristics of each bird, and proceeds to speak of their musical utterances in terms of neumatic note collections, Greek prosodic rhythms and structure. Messiaen also employs his limited modes of transposition in describing the pitch collection of his birdsong. He also refers to the chords of contracted resonance, chords of transposed inversion and turning chords when describing the chordal constructs of the birdsong passages, and conceives of the music in different color hues, thereby demonstrating his adherence to the phenomenon of synaesthesia in music. In orchestral pieces, instrumental timbres and nuances also serve to bring across the provenance and characteristics of individual birds.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
This book gives a brief overview of several compositions of Messiaen and how he used various techniques in them. No one work is given special preference, but with each discussion of a compositional technique, an example from a work is given. The volume gives a quick view of most of Messiaen's work through the early 1970s, but details and lengthy explanations are few.
For examples, La Nativite and works for the organ seem to be given preference over other instruments, but important works such as Quatuor pour la fin du temps and Chronochromie are included. No general charts or tables that show the raw material or basis for birdsong, rhythms, and so forth are included.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Pople, Anthony. Messiaen: " Quatuor pour la fin du temps." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Pople takes a multivalent approach in his analysis of Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps. He paints a compelling picture of the events surrounding the genesis of the work, and proceeds to illustrate the biblical inspiration from which the eight movements of the work are conceived. His analysis of each movement is eclectic yet thorough. Having given the historical and theological basis for the work, he goes on to provide technical analysis of various musical features. However, the emphases vary for each movement. For instance, while he considers the function of color and form in the second movement Vocalise, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps, the third movement of the work Abîme des oiseaux deals with issues of rhythm and birdsong. Pople draws widely upon Messiaen's writings and published interviews in his writings, and demonstrates an awareness of pertinent concerns, such as the inability in pinning down chord associations to color. In his final chapter, Pople suggests that the unusual circumstances surrounding the composition of the work might offer some insights into the creative output as well as the vocational pursuits of the composer directly after the Second World War. He also considers the work to be seminal in influencing Messiaen's subsequent development as an artist.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
This is a record of interviews with Messiaen, and it gives Messiaen himself a chance to speak about his music. Samuel asks questions about compositions and techniques and the composer answers the questions with his own view about compositional-style changes, techniques, inspirations, and symbolisms. Samuel asks pertinent questions which uncover some of the mystery and awe which must accompany the music of Messiaen along with the technical analyses. For example Messiaen felt basically that the more defined and impenetrable the obstacle, the more powerful the process and refinement must be. Therefore, the Modes of Limited Transposition, non- retrogradable rhythms, and symmetrical permutations all created the vehicle for a more forceful artistic statement. Also the technical description of adapting birdsong to the twelve tones of the Western scale is informative.
The chronological list of works is selective, but the discography is a valuable source as it contains items available on compact disc. The bibliography is varied and complete; it includes works by Messiaen as well as periodicals and articles about his music.
(R. Ward Scott, 1997)
Samuel, Claude. Olivier Messiaen Music and Color. Conversations with Claude Samuel. Trans. by E. Thomas Glasow. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1994.
Originally published in 1986 by Editions Belfond, Paris, as a dedicatory work to Olivier Messiaen. After the death of Messiaen, the work was translated into English and Japanese with some revisions and additions. The book consists of a selected dialogues between Olivier Messiaen and the author, Claude Samuel. This is one of the most beneficial resources, which provides directs words by Messiaen about his insights and unique perspectives of the world, including the perception of music associated with colors, way of thinking influenced by both internal and external factors of his surroundings. In addition to the dialogues on various topics, the work also contains a selected list of works in chronological order, discography categorized by collections and instrumentations, and a selected bibliography with a comment by E. Thomas Glasow.
(Mariko Morita)
This well-researched pair of articles documents Messiaen's use of Indian rhythms and his further developments of similar techniques. Included are a table of the talas used by Messiaen and a list, apparently complete, of all of his compositions in which such rhythms appear. Some of the rhythmic devices used in the Quartet and in Turangalila are examined in detail, and there is in the second article an exhaustive study of the rhythms used in Oiseaux exotiques (1955).
The International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music is published in Zagreb, and each article is accompanied by a summary in Serbo-Croatian. The articles under consideration--as their slightly clumsy title suggests--are written in not-quite-idiomatic English, with many idiosyncrasies of grammar and usage: prime numbers, for instance, are consistently referred to as "primary numbers," and we read not of chromaticism but of "chromatism." Such vagaries aside, this study comprises a valuable addition to the Messiaen literature.
(Jay Hook, 1996)
Sun, Shu-Wen. "Birdsong and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen's L'Alouette Calandrelle." D.M.A. diss., University of Oregon, 1995.
Sun addresses the problem of developing a concept of Messiaen's L'Alouette Calandrelle based on an understanding of its structural details. She also proposes her analysis of her piece to be a possible model for the analysis of other pieces in the Catalogue d'Oiseaux (1956-58), as well as other works by Messiaen. Messiaen's Technique of My Musical Language (1944) serves as an important source for her research as she incorporates theoretical ideas therein into her analysis. Sun expands upon Messiaen's categories by creating three large-scale parameters of time, sonority, and pitch, and analyzes the music in accordance to these three parameters. In determining pitch and interval content, Sun employs principles of pitch-class set theory in her analysis. Her findings reveal details of continuity, similarity, and variety on three levels: background, middleground and foreground. Her results also suggest relationships between different appearances of the same birdsong, and between one birdsong and another. Sun observes that her results would aid in providing the pianist with a clearer understanding of the piece, so that an artistic interpretation of the work could be effected.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Walker, Rosemary. "Modes and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen: A Brief Discussion of Première communion de la Vierge." Music Analysis 8, nos. 1-2 (March/July 1989): 159-168.
Walker's article employs aspects of pitch-class set theory in examining modal and non-modal pitch collections in Première communion de la Vierge, the eleventh piece from Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus (1944). She sets out to explore the possibility of associations between modal and non-modal pitch collections in the work, with the intention of explaining the extra pitches that are introduced at certain points in the piece. Walker observes that the modes are often "impure" in practice as they can borrow notes from other transpositions. The use of pitch-class set theory is particularly pertinent in this respect as it aids in the identification of the transpositions of particular chords within the mode. To illustrate this distinction, Walker employs Larry Solomon's "B" suffix for those sets that appear as inversions with respect to the listing provided in Allen Forte's The Structure of Atonal Music.
(Gary Laycock, 2000)
Waumsley, Stuart. The Organ Music of Olivier Messiaen. Paris: Alphonse Leduc Éditions Musicales, 1975.
New edition updated in 1975. A reference work about Messiaen's organ works. Its first chapter introduces his musical languages and the remaining three chapters discuss three different compositional periods and his works of there periods. A chronological list of organ works as well as bibliography is included at the end.
(Mariko Morita)
Youngblood analyzes the methodology used by Messiaen in the construction of each part of the rhythmic texture, and also studies the ways in which the parts interact with each other. The accompanying musical and graphical illustrations are accurate but less clear than they might be. A tantalizing observation likening Messiaen's ostinato rhythms to certain (unspecified) features of a 14th-century isorhythmic motet leaves the reader wishing for more details.
(Jay Hook, 1996)