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P Birdsongin the Music of Olivier Messiaen A thesissubmitted to MiddlesexUniversity in partial fulfilment of the requirementsfor the degreeof Doctor of Philosophy David Kraft School of Art, Design and Performing Arts Nfiddlesex University December2000 Abstract 7be intentionof this investigationis to formulatea chronologicalsurvey of Messiaen'streatment of birdsong,taking into accountthe speciesinvolved and the composer'sevolving methods of motivic manipulation,instrumentation, incorporation of intrinsic characteristicsand structure.The approachtaken in this studyis to surveyselected works in turn, developingappropriate tabular formswith regardto Messiaen'suse of 'style oiseau',identified bird vocalisationsand eventhe frequentappearances of musicthat includesfamiliar characteristicsof bird style, althoughnot so labelledin the score.Due to the repetitivenature of so manymotivic fragmentsin birdsong,it has becomenecessary to developnew terminology and incorporatederivations from other research findings.7be 'motivic classification'tables, for instance,present the essentialmotivic featuresin somevery complexbirdsong. The studybegins by establishingthe importanceof the uniquemusical procedures developed by Messiaen:these involve, for example,questions of form, melodyand rhythm.7he problemof is 'authenticity' - that is, the degreeof accuracywith which Messiaenchooses to treat birdsong- then examined.A chronologicalsurvey of Messiaen'suse of birdsongin selectedmajor works follows, demonstratingan evolutionfrom the ge-eralterm 'oiseau' to the preciseattribution of particular materialto particular birds. in later periods,the composerexplores new instrumentationand accompanying harmonies (or , chordalcomplexities) to create,as closelyas possible,the uniquetimbres and other idiosyncrasies of birds' vocalisations;at the sametime, Messiaenbegins to introducea much larger variety of speciesinto his music,using birdsong from all overthe world. 7be representationsof birdsongare muchmore 'authentic',or at leastmore colourful, than in previousworks andperhaps, with the accompanyingportrayal of landscapein (for example)Catalogue, greater verisimilitude is created. The inclusionof so manyexotic speciesin the scoresof, for instance,Sept Harkar and Chronochromieis a resultof Messiaen'smeticulous ornithological investigations and painstaking notations.More importantly,the monophonicbird styletends increasingly to be replacedby other texturessuch as two-voicehomophony, hornorhythin, hybrid forms andpolyphony. The mostpertinent works of this final periodare evaluated,clearly displayingthe manyfeatures of eachbirdsong and call, andtheir part in the structureof the pieces.Conclusions are drawn concerningthe technicalmeans by which the composerrealises the distinguishingfeatures of each birdsong.The thesisis sustainedby a closestudy of threeelements governing Messiaen's treatment of birdsong;(rbythm., melody and structure),especially considering the closerelationship between them. Therehas not previouslybeen a systematicattempt to analyseMessiaen's pieces in this way. This researchprovides a coherentstructural overview of Messiaen'semployment of birdsong, displayingrecurring patterns found in the useof rhythm,melody and structure.Further, the recent publicationof Messiaen's'Trait6 de Rythme,de Couleuret d'Ornithologie' enablesthe researchto be genuinelyup-to-date, using the composer'spersonal comments on, and analysesof, birdsongs found frequentlyin his music. ii Acknowled2ements I shouldlike to thank AlphonseLeduc in generaland Hilary Thomsonat United Music PublishersLtd in particularfor permissionto quote extractsand musicalexamples from copyright material.I shouldalso like to thank ProfessorMichael Bridger, my tutor for the four years,and MichaelFrith, my secondsupervisor. Special thanks must go to my parents for their continuedsupport and financialhelp: they havegenerously paid for fees,books and scores.Finally, my thanksto PerryKeenlyside and PeterHill for additionaladvice. iii Foreword In a critical study of this kind wherea musicaldevelopment is surveyedover a substantial period (1928-1987),it is inevitablethat certainworks aregiven more attentionthan others:as importantinnovations are cited, the correspondingsection is given a higherlevel of analysis,and theseinnovations are shownboth in the "motivic classification'tables and in the musicalexamples. Nevertheless, in order to follow the thesisin detail, it will be usefWto havescores to hand.Throughout the thesisI haveemployed a numberof symbolsin bold in order to give specificdirections to the reader.For example,[p6, s2, b4l signifiespage six, systemtwo, at bar four, further, IH/7 indicatesa musicalexample in ChapterIII, numberseven. iv Contents ChapterI Background 1-14 ChapterII Issuesin MessiaenResearch 15-44 ChapterIII MusicalLanguage of Messiaen 45-59 ChapterIV The Notation of Birdsong 60-72 ChapterV Characteristicsof 'Le Style Oiseau'in Works 1933-1948 73-127 ChapterVI The ExperimentalPeriod 1949-1951 128-168 ChapterVII R6veil desOiseaux and OiseauxExotiques 169-219 ChapterVIII Catalogued'Oiseaux 220-263 ChapterIX Use of Birdsongin SelectedWorks 1960-1987 264-336 Conclusion 337-356 MusicalExam ples 357-457 Bibliography 458-463 Dissertations 464 Discography 465466 V Gloi-tarv Key: - DK- original terms 0: ornithological terms NI: Nfessinen'sterms agrandissementasymmitrique (1%1):This tcchniqueinvolves the repetitionof a melodiccell: notesare transposed up or down, while othersremain the same. alternator (DK): Two notesinterchange one after the other in a patternof equal durations,often serniquavers.Common intervals are the tritone or augmentedoctave. bird call: A short, declarnatorysequence of pitches. birdsong:A sectionof musicwhich has been identified by the composerwith a specificbird. A birdsongcan be shortwith repetitivefeatures, but morecommonly it is melodicand more elaborate than a call. block for7n: This term is usedby a few musicologists.It refersto an episodic compositionalstyle which is contrary to a more 'developmental'form. Most of the piecesin CataloguedDiseaur juxtaposemany passages, usually representations of bird vocalisationsand depictionsof habitats.The phrase'block form' is extendedto encompassthe devicewhere instrumentalgroups within the ftmework of an orchestralwork - typically strings,piano and tunedpercussion, woodwind and xylophone-trio- play in their respectivegroups. chirp (0): A shortýoften staccato,high-pitched sound which is usuallyat leastan octaveabove surrounding pitches. chromatic rhythm (M): A seriesof durationsin which eachnote progressively diminishesor augmentsby one primaryunit (see'Regard de I'Onction Terrible' from Vhigl Regardssur I'Difwit Jesus). - chordal-complexes:An inventedchord which is often usedto simulatethe timbre of birdsong. circadian time-scale(M): Tenn employedby Messiaendescribing the form of a piece beinga microcosmo& andrelating to, the 24 hour daily cycle. ethologist: Scientistof animalbehaviour, attempting to elucidatedevelopment, function and evolutionof animals. harmonic litany (51): A melodic cell of two or more notes repeated with several different harmonisations. vi hors tempo (NI): This techniqueis almostaleatoric in effect, althoughthe birdsongs are notatedprecisely. Certain birdsongs, played by specificinstruments, are heralded by a sign from the conductorand, therefore, play in their 'own time' independentof the rest of the orchestra.This effect is found in 'The Sermonto the Birds' from Saini Franýois d Assise(1975-83) and in the polyphonictutti sectionsof Un 111railel des Oiseaux.(1986). inferior resonance/lowerresonance (M): This techniqueis frequentlyused by Messiaenand is producedwhen a chordis playedloudly in the bassof a pianoand set againstother chordsor notes.In CataloguedDiseaux, the fiandamentalphrases of birdsongare often accentuatedby the coloursproduced by superioror inferior resonances.See also "superiorresonance'. interruption call (DK): In earlyworks, thereare manyshort exclamatoryfigures that interrupt anothertexture: I refer to theseappearances as 'interruption calls', although they arevery often not labelled'style oiseau'.Frequently, the complexityof the chord usedin an 'interruption call' may give it an alarmingquz! ity. Theseshort 'interruption calls' appearthroughout birdsong. interversion system(M): A systematisedform of permutation:by additionor subtraction,rhythmic values increase or decreaseby one durationalvalue (e.g. the serniquaver).This systemis usedin retrogradeorder or, in the caseof Chronochronfie (for example),durations may be subdividedinto sets,providing rhythmic patternsfor the structure. melograph mona (0): An apparatusthat providesan objectiveregistration of frequencyand pressure level in musicalsounds. There is a markedimprovement over the sonagram:the analyserhas a fasterresponse, and a 'variable"filter is included, isolatingthe fundamentalmelodic line in the birdsong. motivic classirication(DK): A tabularmethodology which showsunderlying characteristicsin somevery complexbirdsong. The phrase'motivic classification'is my short handfor this codification.The 'motivic classification'develops from a table usedto investigatethe chorusof larks in Messede la PentecOte.Each rhythrn and pitch characteristicis given a letter: x, y andz... representpitch predominance,while a, b and c... areused to demonstrateother features.Metrical forms and plainsong terminologyare alsoused in conjunctionwith thesecodes. These findings are set out in a table which givesa comprehensivebar-by-bar or phrase-by-phraseaccount
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