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Birdsong in the Music of Olivier Messiaen Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Kraft, David (2000) Birdsong in the music of Olivier Messiaen. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/6445/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy 220 Chal2ter VITI: Catalogue d'Oiseaux Catalogued'Oiseaux (1956-1958) The year 1958brings the epic work for solo piano,Catalogue d'Oiseaux, the complete performanceof which lastsjust underthree hours. This seminalwork comprisesthirteen pieces,set in sevenvolumes, forming a symmetrical(arch-shaped) design': Book I I Le Chocarddes Alpes (alpinechough) H Le Loriot (goldenoriole) IH Le Merle Bleu (blue rock thrush) Book 2 IV Le TraquetStapazin (black-eared wheatear) Book 3 V La ChouetteHulotte (tawny owl) VI L'Alouette Lulu (wood lark) Book 4 VU La Rousserolle Effarvatte (reed warbler) Book 5 VHI L'Alouette Calandrelle(short-toed lark) IX La Bouscarle(Cetti's warbler) Book 6 X Le Merle de Roche(rock thrush) Book 7 M La Buse Variable (buzzard) XH Le Traquet Rieur (black wheatear) XIII Le Courlis Cendr6 (curlew) 221 Thecentral, pivotal Book 4 is devotedto thelongest piece which depicts the songsof the reedwarbler and its surroundingdomain. Indeed, Books 2 and6 alsoportray but one principalbird and its immediateenvirorunent. The palindromicstructure of the books is thus: 3-1-2-1-2-1-3.In terms of the numberof piecesin eachbook, the structureis palindromic;indeed, throughout his music,Messiaen was fascinatedwith mirrored arrangements- nonretrogradable rhythms, for example. Eachpiece depicts a principalbird, surroundinghabitat and songstersfrom a specific regionof France.A verbaldescription is includedas a prefaceto everypiece, while a descriptionof the principalbird's enviromnent,and the other birds associatedwith it, is alsogiven. However,the manyartistic reconstructionsof habitatare not the only non- birdsongmaterial to be utilised throughoutthe work. Messiaenincludes frequent sound- colour associationsand elaborateprogrammatic descriptions wWch are all written into the score;in addition,many of his previouscompositional procedures, such as the earlier modesof limited transpositionand the experimentalquasi-serial techniques, are also employed.Catalogue d'Oiseaux is a compendiumof numeroustechniques, materials and birdsong.In his dissertation,Shu-Wen Sun divides these aspects into three chronological categories.The Mowing categorisationis derivedfrom both Philips" and Sun's approaches: 222 (1) 'Technique'Mateda]2 a) modesof limited transposition b) Greekand I-Endu rhythmý c) characteristicharmonies from early period d) useof TurangalUamotives (2) 'ExperimentalPeriod' Material dynamice(as in Mode de Valeurs. a) quasi-serialtreatment: modes of pitch, rhythm and .) b) twelve-tonemodes (appearing in any sequenceor p.;,mutation) (3) Birdsong a) varied species(77 different songsters) b) using full gamut of complexsonorities available on the pianoforte c) hybrid, polyphonicand manyone-voice-dominant textures (4) Innovations a) use of chordal-complexes(not belongingto Messiaen'smodes) b) attemptsto depict bird habitats,animals, human perceptions c) experimentaluse of pedalmarkings d) hybridtextures using both inferior and superior resonance effects e) homorhythm.and homophony(one voice or part dominant) f) quasi-glissandoeffects g) polyphonyon piano 223 It is importantto understandthat Johnson'sclassifications and insight remain authoritative and comprehensivesources for the studyof CataloguedDiseaux, an issueto which he devotesan entire chapter.However, it is, as before,imperative to build on thesepast discovcries. Further,Johnson has subdivided Messiaen's use of rhythm and pitch in non-birdsong materialinto five groups:these features are accommodatedwithin the abovenew catego6sation. It is essentialto includethe use of 'invented'Greek and Hindu rhythms, although often theyare hard to detect.Additionally, the abovecategorisation (an adaptation of Sun's) mentionsthe traditionalMessiaenic harmonies. In manypieces, Messiaen employs traditionaltriadic chordsalong with one or two addedchromatic inflections. The opening two chordsof Te Loriot', for example,are F# major (with an addedminor Vh) andE major. Similarly,the hybrid openingtextures of VAlouette Calandrelle'are set up by F# major chordsand followed by two-voiced homophonic(lower voice dominant)cries from the short-toedlark. Messiaencleverly juxtaposes non-birdsong material with birdsong. The 'modal' chordalcomplexes of 'la nuit', at the beginningand end of L'Alouette Lulu are interspersedwith the insistentlyrepeated calls of the wood lark, the principalbird. A superimpositionof non-birdsongon birdsongis not found in Catalogue,but polyphonic counterpointsbetween birds are numerous.Non-birdsong and birdsong material remain 224 distinctfrom one another in rhythm,dynamic, pitch and intervallic content, texturally and with the varyinguse of tempi. It is not only Messiaen'ssubdivision of the work into books that givesit a graspable symmetryand form: eachindividual piece is carefullyorganised by the composer.The form of most piecesincludes either a refrain,which alternateswith other material,or a palindromicstructure. In manycases, the form is dictatedby the unfolding of night and day: onceagain, Messiaen disregards traditional formal organisation.Often, like a painter, the composer'ssynaesthetic imagery manifests itself in the symbolismof coloursand the changein the time of day. Owing to the fact that birds often sing at four o'clock in the morning,it is inevitablethat Messiaenfrequently depicts night time. 'As to the form, thereis nothingleft of the traditional.Excepting a reminderof the Greek triad (Strophe,Antistrophe, Epode) with interpolatedcouplets, in the "Chocard desAlpes!, and exceptingthe singingphrase harmonised by colouredchords of mode3 which unfolds slowly as the river, in the'Sascarie,....15 Where an entireday is depicted,the form is more easilydeterrnined: Ta Rousserolle Effarvatte', for example,depicts, in a Circadianfashion akin to Reveil des Oiseaur, a periodof twenty-sevenhours from midnightto threea. m. the nextday, in a pieceof half anhour. However, every piece has its own distinctform, urunistakably defined by different blocksof material.These blocks of material,which range in lengthfrom onebar to several 225 pages,are programmatic in thatthey portray highly specific subjects -a naturalhabitat, a birdsongor songs,an animalor a subjectiveimpression of nature. Harmonyis extremelyuseful in seekingto representthe timbre of a bird vocalisation. Harmonyalso can createa numberof different 'illusions'.- For example,the tawny owl's cry (in Ta ChouetteHulotte') not only hasmeticulously marked chordal complexities and a suddendiminuendo normally using 'resonancecontractee'-type chords, but alsogives, as describedby PeterEll (1995), an illusion of a glissandowith the minor third C-A and accompanyingchromaticismý. Other quasi-glissandoeffects are createdby fluid runs. In 'RousserolleEffarvatte' (reedwarbler), tlis principalbird is depicted,on one occasion,by a rapid group of slurredhemidemisemiquavers which interchangewhite andblack notes. Of course,both listener and performer must imagine the speedbeing three or four timesas quick: as the composeradvises, the glissandois like that of a harp lei VIII/I - 'La RousseroHeEffarvatte', p331. There are several occurrences of non-birdsong material that are influenced by the 'experimentalperiod'. The openingof Ta ChouetteHulotte' embodiesan integration(or 'mode') of pitch, duration and dynamics:in other words, eachnote is allocateda specific dynamicand duration.The A naturalabove middle C is given the duration one demisen-dquaver,and eachnote, progressivelydown to the bottom A natural on the piano, is given a durationone demisemiquaverlonger than its predecessor- that is to say,the last note hasa durationequivalent to forty-nine demisemiquavers.The dynamics,too, are 226 arrangedin a palindromiccontinuum: the
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