Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) 100th Year Anniversary David Palmer “He connects with me in the same way that Bach does.” So said Jack Bruce, the British singer-composer and bassist with the rock group Cream, when asked about the effect of Messiaen’s music on him, after one of the concerts of the big Southbank Festival in London ear- lier this year. “I’m not religious, but the spirituality touches me,” he continued. “There is a spirituality about it that you recognize.”1 So grows the impact of Mes- siaen in this centennial year of his birth, as his unique voice from the last century delivers a message that resonates more and more in the 21st century. Musicians love to use anniversary ob- servances to generate performances and study of composers’ works. Often, these commemorations serve to bring forward less familiar music: last year, we heard Buxtehude’s music far more than usual. Messiaen in the 1930s (photo © Malcolm On the other hand, Bach has received Ball, www.oliviermessiaen.org) three major outpourings in my lifetime: 1950, 1985 and 2000, commemorating either his birth or his death. These festi- vals simply gave us Bach lovers an excuse to play his music more than we usually do (or did)—which was already a lot. Messiaen in our time Coming only 16 years after his death, Messiaen’s 100th anniversary celebra- tions embrace both outcomes. In one way, performances and studies of his out- put have never slackened since his death, unlike many composers who go into eclipse. Great Britain has led the way for some time, and now North America is beginning to take Messiaen into the mainstream. Festivals and performances are fl ourishing all this year, and already are continuing unabated beyond De- cember 10, the day of his birth. The music world, in particular the young, is discovering Messiaen in a big way. Re- porting a performance of the Turangalî- Messiaen at Sainte Trinité in 1973 (from the private collection of Nigel Simeone) la-Symphonie, Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times wrote, “A large and ative career, Messiaen was in tune with tists’ depictions of black holes, in which Messiaen in the 1960s (photo © Malcolm noticeably young audience turned up at the scientifi c world of our day. Concepts huge amounts of matter are sucked in Ball, www.oliviermessiaen.org) Carnegie Hall to hear this unorthodox in cosmology, such as time moving at dif- and jets of energy are spewed out over and exhilarating 10-movement work.”2 ferent speeds, found expression in his thousands of light years. In another way, the centennial is stimu- music—indeed, such ideas are the foun- Second, Messiaen’s profound respect lating performances of works not heard dation of his sense of rhythm. The tumul- for creation allies him with the green very often, from Harawi to La Transfi gu- tuous whirling palindrome of Regard VI: earth trends of our time. His abhorrence ration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ to “Par lui tout a été fait” (Vingt Regards sur of the city is well documented, as is his the opera St. François d’Assise. L’Enfant-Jésus) makes me think of those admiration for Debussy and his contem- Two elements in the music may be part marvelous Hubble telescope images of plation of nature. Wherever Messiaen of its growing appeal. Early in his cre- the birth and death of stars, or of scien- traveled, he made time to visit the coun- /44/(%533/2'!.0!243 Messiaen in the 1980s (photo © Malcolm 4RADITIONAND0ROGRESS Ball, www.oliviermessiaen.org) tryside nearby, taking great pains to no- tate the songs of the indigenous natural &ORMORETHANYEARSWEHAVEBEENDESIGNINGANDBUILDINGORGAN musicians, i.e., the birds. The near-scien- CONSOLES CHASSISANDPARTSASWELLASCOMPLETEMECHANICALAND tifi c accuracy with which he notated bird- ELECTRICALTRACKERANDREGISTRATIONSYSTEMSFORPIPEORGANS song far surpassed any other composer’s depiction of ideas from nature. In Cata- logue d’oiseaux for piano, he gives us the /URENTHUSIASMnCOUPLEDWITHTHEOPPORTUNITIESPROVIDEDBY songs of birds of France and sets them MODERNTECHNOLOGYANDFUELLEDBYOURGENUINEEXCITEMENTFOR musically in their environment. The cy- EXPERIMENTSnlNDSEXPRESSIONINTHECONTINUOUSFURTHERDEVELOP cle is an enthralling soundscape as music MENTOFTHE/44/(%533RANGEOFPRODUCTSANDSERVICES on its own, but he adds another layer of meaning by indicating in the score the specifi c birds and the details of the scen- 7HATEVERYOUTOUCHANDHEARINORGANBUILDING ery. Birdsong appears in the organ music 9OULLALWAYSCOMEACROSSONEOFOURIDEAS as early as L’Ascension (1933), but not until Livre du Saint Sacrement (1984) do %VERYWHEREANDAROUNDTHEWORLD we encounter both birds and their natu- ral setting together. In VI: “la manne et /44/(%533n9OURCREATIVEPARTNERINORGANBUILDING le Pain de Vie,” Messiaen fl ings a few in- cantations of the mourning chat and the desert lark out over the vastness and heat of the Judean desert (represented by the high drone of the Récit Cymbale and the /44/(%533'MB(n'ERMANY dry trillings of the Positif Clarinette). 0HONE ns&AX n The music for organ E -AILHALLO OTTOHEUSSDEs)NTERNETWWWOTTOHEUSSDE The organ music represents every peri- od of his creative output. Organists were among the earliest to program Messiaen 24 THE DIAPASON Dec 08 pp. 24-25.indd 24 11/12/08 11:08:01 AM logues, including reissues of earlier ones For example, if one is learning the Médi- derives from Dupré’s style, as Latry ob- packaged for the anniversary year. In the tations, listening to La Transfi guration serves. All are published by Leduc. organ repertoire, must-haves for me are de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, the mas- “The only real music for the organ is the sets by Hans-Ola Ericsson, Olivier sive work for orchestra and chorus that by Bach and Messiaen,” is a remark at- Latry, and Dame Gillian Weir, in addition immediately preceded it, will greatly tributed to Alun Hoddinnott, the Welsh to those recorded by Messiaen himself. deepen understanding. Many of the ele- composer who died earlier this year. Al- When all is said and done about re- ments new to his language at that time though Messiaen played Bach and taught cordings, hearing a live performance is are common to both: Gregorian chant analysis of the B-minor Mass and St. the surest way to feel its impact. And quoted in its literal form (not channeled Matthew Passion, he didn’t regard him- there are many in the U.S. and Canada through the prism of his own modes), self as an heir to Bach. Yet their music, this year, as two websites show. Boston thick dissonant chords dissolving into in its expression of faith through highly University’s Messiaen Project,6 edited pure triads, birdsong in profusion, and structured and uncompromising musical by Andrew Shenton, offers a calendar chorale-like movements—all of which languages, unites them. Bach never ceas- of performances and conferences going take us into the sublime in a way at once es to awe listeners, both experienced and on around the world. The site is also a more simply and yet powerfully than new. In his centennial year, Messiaen is major source of scholarly articles, list of he had achieved previously. In another fl ourishing as a parallel and potent spiri- recordings, fi lms, and Internet resourc- example, the Livre du Saint Sacrement tual voice in a crowded, secular world. ■ es, among others. Percussionist Malcolm (1984) becomes more understandable Ball has set up a similarly wide-ranging through familiarity with the opera St. Notes site.7 Admittedly most performances will François. In the latter, elements of nar- 1. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MG2eIL have already occurred by the time this rative complement the central purpose PcJc> (“Messiaen—a life in color: part 2”). 2. New York Times, April 6, 2008. article appears, but they continue on into of contemplation on the growth of grace 3. Clyde Holloway, The Organ Works of the 101st year, as Ball’s and Shenton’s in Francis. In the eleventh movement of Oliver Messiaen and Their Importance in His calendars show. YouTube presents some the Livre, we experience the disbelief Total Oeuvre. Ann Arbor, MI: University Mi- Olivier Messiaen treasures, as well. For example, a video and then the overwhelming joy of Mary crofi lms, 1974. clip from Messiaen’s class in 1953 trans- Magdalene as she sees the risen Christ. 4. Almut Rössler, Contributions to the mits his enthusiasm for discovery and for This passage of narrative is a fi rst in the Spiritual World of Olivier Messiaen. Transl. passing it on to the young.8 organ oeuvre, and calls for an appropri- from the German by Barbara Dagg and Nancy ately dramatic interpretation. Poland. Duisburg: Gilles und Francke, 1986. Messiaen and improvisation 5. Christopher Dingle, The Life of Messi- Since Messiaen’s death, Yvonne Loriod- aen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Another shows him improvising at La Messiaen, the composer’s widow, has la- 9 2007. Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone, Messi- Trinité, and proffers telling insights into bored tirelessly in gathering manuscripts aen. New Haven and London: Yale University the link between his own improvisations together and seeing them through to Press, 2005. over more than 60 years at La Trinité publication. Messiaen was never able to 6. <www.oliviermessiaen.net>. and his compositions. The freedom and fi nd time to make his lecture notes avail- 7. <www.oliviermessiaen.org>. inspiration of the moment evident in able in a treatise, as he spoke of often in 8. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSWatsi these extemporizations can teach a great interviews. Loriod has collected and ed- BErU> (“Messiaen on Debussy and Colour”). 9. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSH9s deal about performance of similar pieces ited these notes from over forty years of Vjpy8g> (“Messiaen organ improvisation”). in his output.