Charm and Simplicity: Messiaen's Final Works

Author(s): Christopher Dingle

Source: Tempo, New Series, No. 192 (Apr., 1995), pp. 2-7
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/945999
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Christopher
Dingle
Charm and Simplicity:
Messiaen's final works

composerwith
OliverMessiaenis a classically-minded The vast opera was regarded by many, with
a strongaffinityto Mozart,RameauandScarlatti.His some justification, as a summation by Messiaen
oftenintimatemusicis full of irrepressible
charmand of his musical, theological and ornithological
frequentlybetrays a whimsicalsense of humour. concerns. Within a year of the premiere of Saint
Simplicityof expressionis Messiaen'soverwhelming Francois,however, Messiaenhad written the Livre
traitandwhilehe hascomposedon a largescale,he has
du Saint-Sacrement(1984) - an 18-movement,
a penchantfor miniatures. . .
two-hour organ cycle. He had evidently not
This might seem a somewhat wayward descrip- stopped composing, but the Livre, like Saint
seems to be one 'last, big work' - a
tion of a figure whose music is more often Francois,
'summation'to the organ works which to some
describedas being 'monumental'andpossessinga
extent (by virtue of their close associationwith
'granite-like strength', as befits the composer of
his personal worship at the church of Sainte
large-scaletestamentsof faith such as the oratorio Trinite in
La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur,Jesus-Christ Paris) stand apart from the rest of
Messiaen's oeuvre.
and the gargantuanopera Saint Francoisd'Assise.
After much coaxing from Yvonne Loriod, he
How can the creator of the ecstatic excesses of
produced six short bird sketches for her to play
Troispetitesliturgiesde la PresenceDivine and the
- workswhich would appear (Petites esquissesd'oiseaux- 1985), but, as Loriod
Turangalila-Symphonie explains, Messiaen was still extremely dubious
to denote the very antithesis of classicism - be
about the prospects of composing any further
portrayedas a 'kindred-spirit'of Mozart?Yet, if works:
an unsuspectinglistener was confronted with the
works dating from the last five or six years of ... [he wrote] the Petitesesquissesas a kind of
Messiaen's life, whilst remaining blissfully relaxation. He wasverydoubtfulabouttheesquisses and
unaware of the previous 60-odd years of his said'I am tired,I can no longerwrite.The piecesare
career,then words such as 'restraint','clarity'and not verygood'.WellI workedat themandI told him
'classical' would not seem inappropriate. The 'theyaremarvellous,absolutelymarvellous'. Theyare
shortbut very difficult. . .2
most successfulpurveyorof musicaloverstatement
since Wagnerbecame, in his final years, a master Taken in the context of Messiaen's previous
of delectable understatement. works, these miniatures contain a number of
When he completed Saint Francoisd'Assisein unusualfeatures,not least of which is their length
1983, Messiaen appeared ready to enter into or, more accurately,their brevity.This collection,
retirement. He had stopped teaching at the Paris lastingless thanquarterof an hour, is also atypical
Conservatoire during the opera's nine-year amongstthe birdsongworks due to the complete
gestation period and the exertion of producing absence of depictions of the birds' habitats.
such a gigantic work had exhaustedthe 75-year- Perhapsa less obvious trait of the 'sketches', but
old composer. According to his widow Yvonne more pertinentto the discussionof this post-Saint
Loriod: Francoisperiod, is Messiaen'sapparentreluctance
to venture into the bass register of the piano.
... for the last four yearswhile he was doing the
orchestration[of SaintFrancois]he worked standingup The two orchestral works which followed -
with the score stretched out on the table in front of Un vitrailet desoiseaux(1986) and La villed'en-haut
him. He became exhausted and after the work was (1987) - are both for solo piano, wind and
finished he became very depressed - he was unable percussion and could be regarded as miniatures
to eat walk or indeed do anything.And he told within Messiaen's orchestral output, since each
everyonethathe'd finishedwith composing.1 lasts less than ten minutes. The former explores
some of the more innovative techniques thrown
I Inconversation
up by the opera - notably birdsong freed from
withPeterHill - ed. PeterHill:TheMessiaen
Companion,(London: Faber, 1995), p.301.
2 ibid.

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 Charmand Simplicity:Messiaen'sfinal works 3

the restriction of barlines - whilst the latter is
dominated by a momentous chorale of the kind
which pervades the works of the previous three
decades. As Messiaen approached 80 with this
bite-sized chunk of monumentalism (monu-
mentalette, perhaps), there was scant evidence
for any stylistic transformation. Consequently,
when it transpiredthat he had written an eleven-
movement piece for very large orchestralasting
about 75 minutes, the naturalpresumptionwas of
a colossal sequel to Turangalila
which would take
on board the multifarious developments of the
intervening 40 years.
In the event the new work, Eclairssurl'Au-Dela
.. .,3 both exceeded and confounded expectations.
3 'Illuminationsof the Beyond' - Eclairsliterally means
lightningflashes.

Olivier MessiaenreadingThomasMertonat the summitof Mt. Galibier(collectionYvonneLoriod-Messiaen).

A
44; 1 4
04i

, t I 0ioL

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4 Charmand Simplicity:Messiaen'sfinal works

Though it barely adds anything to the plenitude
of well-crafted techniques in his compositional
toolkit, the overall ambience of Eclairs is
markedlydifferent from earlierworks. Although
the orchestra is the largest ever required by
Messiaen, with 28 woodwind, 17 brass and 15
percussionparts,he rarelydraws on more than a
thirdof the ensemble at any one time. In fact, the
audacityof some of his requirementswill not find
favour with concert promoters.Bass textures are
largely suppressed,with the consequencethat the
ten double-bassesdo not make their first striking
entry until the eighth movement, LesEtoileset la
Gloire, and subsequently play just two further
notes, one each at the beginning and end of the
penultimate movement, Le Cheminde l'Invisible.
Other bass instruments fare even worse. The
contra-bassclarinet, which features in the same
two movements, is assigned a mere thirty notes,
whilst one can only pity the contra-bassoonand
contra-basstuba who only managethe two notes
in Le Cheminde l'Invisible.Apart from these rare

Ex.1

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instances, the music barely ventures below the
tenor register, thus creating the impression that
Messiaen's feet are no longer touching the
ground. Despite this, the first violins will have
little sympathyfor the underworkedbass instru-
ments, since the composer requires accurate
tuning from the rank and file on the edge of the
fingerboard.
Some indication of the fresh approach taken
with Eclairs had been given by an orchestral
miniature that Messiaen had composed for the
Mozart bicentenary. Un sourire4is a charming
little piece in which a slow, tender melody for
strings (without double-basses), coloured by
woodwind solos and harmonized with heavy
hints of tonality and modality, is interspersed
with chirpy episodes for woodwind and xylo-
phones. It is hardly surprisingthat this congenial
homage to Mozart is imbued with the same
simplicity of expression which permeatesEclairs,
as Messiaen composed the works concurrently-
anotherfeaturewhich is unique to his last years.5
The structuralframework of Eclairsis based
around three slow movements. A majestic
opening chorale for woodwind and brass,
Apparitiondu Christglorieux,sedately unfolds at a
pace which eases the listener into Messiaen's
broad timescale and away from the hustle and
bustleof everydayconcerns.Two greatadagiosfor
strings balance the chorale and both of these -
the fifth movement, Demeurerdansl'Amour. . 6
and the eleventh movement, Le Christ,lumieredu
Paradis- find Messiaen unashamedly wearing
his hearton his sleeve. In Demeurerdansl'Amour...
16 muted first violins weave a characteristic
melody based on fifths and tritones over an
iridescent bed of eighteen solo strings. For the
entire opening section the music unfolds over a
middle C pedal-note (Ex.1). This is abandonedas
the music first of all descends to the middle
registerin the short second section before making
its initial attempts to reach the heights. After
briefly repeating the opening bars, the first
violins eventually soar up from the opening Db
to a stratosphericG# on the edge of the finger-
board. At this point the middle C pedal returns
and the violins gingerly make their way down to a
saferregisterfor a subduedand equivocal conclu-
sion on an ambiguous,but tonally-derivedchord.
Le Christ, lumieredu Paradisin many ways
inhabits the same sound world as Demeurerdans
l'Amour ..., but the earlier piece's sense of
4'A smile'.
5 He also composed a three minute miniature called Piece
pourpiano et quatuor a cordes for the ninetieth birthday of Alfred
Schlee (head of Universal Edition).
6 'Abide in Love . . .'
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Charmand Simplicity:Messiaen'sfinal works 5
yearning has been removed. The melody, again
on muted first violins, no longer needs to reach
upwards, as we have already arrived at our
empyrean destination. In a touch of genius, the
tintinnabulation of three almost imperceptible
trilling trianglesadds a shimmeringluminosity to
this image of perpetuity. The long violin lines
eventually come to rest on a chord of A major
with an added ninth, the tonal goal of the work,
only to resume the seemingly endless flow of
melody and approachthe chord once more. The
implication is that there can only ever be an
arbitraryconclusion when attempting to depict
eternity.
The enchantingworld of Demeurer dansl'Amour
. . . abruptly disappears with the three resounding
thuds of the bass drum which initiate the
rhythmic processes of Les sept Anges aux sept
trompettes.Despite its forceful nature, this is one
of the most lucid of all Messiaen's orchestral
movements, drawing upon just two musical
factors - melody and rhythm. After each trinity
of bass drum whacks, three descending notes are
played on the gongs and tam-tams.By adding (or
subtracting) semiquavers to these descending
notes on each occasion, the durations fluctuate
between three and seven semiquavers.A semi-
quaver whip crack combines with the three bass
drum quavers to create an unchanging cell of
seven semiquaversbetween the telescopic gong
and tam-tam figure. Whilst this multiple tribute
to the seven Angels of the title, combined with
the three of the Trinity,unfolds in the percussion,
the horns, trombones and bassoons declaim a
robust, unison theme representative of the
trumpets.
The ensuing movement, Et Dieu essuieralarme
de leursyeux.. . , is as tender as LesseptAngesaux
septtrompettes was forthright. In marked contrast
to earlier works in which Messiaen overwhelms
us with the glory of the almighty, we here have
God as the assuager,comforting man. After the
stringshave set up a gossamerthread of trills and
harmonicson A, the woodwind twice descend to
a plain, second-inversion chord of D majorwith
a phrase marked 'commeune tendresse'in the
sketches. A horn-call moves us from the second-
inversion to the root of D major. After this
innocent gesture has been echoed by the flutes, a
Short-Toed Lark ventures a tentative, but
optimistic phrase on the xylophone whilst the
'cellos take over responsibility for the D major
chord (Ex.2). The entire orchestra falls silent
whilst a lone blackbirdcan be heard on a solitary
flute, before the preceding events are repeated -
7'And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes ...'
6 final works
Charmand Simplicity:Messiaen's
Ex.2.
&-')'7 tL
-
)
. 1. IT /
Musical examples ? copyright by Alphonse Leduc Editions Musicales
the piece ending with the Short-Toed Lark's
expectant phrase.
Apart from the three slow movements, birds
not surprisingly permeate Eclairs. Indeed, the
ninth movement, Plusieursoiseauxdesarbresde Vie,
is constructed exclusively from the songs of
twenty-five rather exotic birds played in free
tempo on ten flutes and eight clarinets, thus
providing many of Messiaen's large woodwind
contingent with their sole outing. Whilst this
magnificent ornithological me'langeis mirrored
earlier in Eclairsby another birdsong movement,
that partner is devoted entirely to the song of
one remarkablespecimen: the third movement,
L'Oiseau-Lyreet la Ville-fiancee,is a joyfully
exuberant,high-speed flight aroundthe orchestra
by the Superb Lyrebird. According to Yvonne
Loriod,8 upon seeing the bird raise its plumes
to form a lyre twice its height, the composer
'thought of the Betrothed of the Apocalypse
"adorned for her husband".'9 However, in
addition to the biblical connotations, Messiaen
seems to delight in the comic potential of this
8 In the
programme booklet for the world premiere.
9 See Revelation, 21:2.
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most extraordinary of birdsongs as it flits
between the sections of the orchestrain complex
combinations.
At the time of the premiere, this seemingly
new-found sense of humour which characterizes
the Lyrebird movement and is hinted at else-
where in Eclairslooked destined to be an isolated
chuckle at the end of a long career. However,
some time after Messiaen'sdeath in April, 1992,
Yvonne Loriod discovered the manuscriptof a
further,almost completed score: an ebullient 25-
minutework which, apartfrom its very existence,
has a numberof extraordinaryattributes.Firstof
all, it is a quadruple concerto for flute, oboe,
piano, cello and large orchestra. This is all the
more remarkableas Messiaenhad repeatedlytold
Mstislav Rostropovitch that he did not feel
capable of composing a concerto for him.
However, we should remember, I suppose, that
Messiaenwas also extremely reluctantto write an
opera! Secondly, the second movement of this
Concerta 4 is an orchestrationof a shortpiece, the
Vocalise-Etude,written nearly 60 years earlier -
another unique occurence in Messiaen's ceuvre.
Lastly,there are no poetic prefaces to any of the
 Charmand Simplicity:Messiaen'sfinal works 7

movements assigningdirect religious or ornitho- A's, leaping between registers in a manner

logical connotationsto the work. This makes the redolent of cartoon music, and its frollicking
piece Messiaen's longest abstractwork by some main theme left me wondering whether Scherzo
margin. would have been a more apt title.
Messiaen intended the four movements of It would be easy to point out many similarities
Concerta 4 to be both a homage to the spirit of between these 'late' Messiaenworks and from 30
Mozart,Scarlattiand Rameauand an admiringgift or even 60 years earlier. At first glance the
to five 'grand artistes': Mstislav Rostropovitch, opening chorale of Eclairsseems similar to that
Heinz Holliger, Catherine Cantin, Myung- which opensL'Ascension, anda structurecontaining
Whun Chung and, of course, Yvonne Loriod. two slow stringmovementsseems to be analogous
The piece displays many of the same traits as to the Quartetforthe endof time,especially when
Eclairs, notably charm and a roguish good the fifth movement is followed by a rhythmic
humour. The orchestration of the Vocaliseis a depiction of the seven angels and trumpets from
masterpiece of restraint.The original piano part Revelation.However, whereas the Quartetis a
remains virtually intact, whilst a cushion of profession of faith by a young man in the face of
strings and a Rock Thrush descant on celeste adversity,the impressiongiven by Eclairsis of an
somehow manageto turn an occasionalwork into old man who has fulfilled his task and ambitions
a profound slow movement which at the and is at peace with the world. We should count
premiere left many moist eyes. In the cadenzaof ourselves lucky that the old man in question lost
the riotous last movement, Rondeau,Messiaen none of his phenomenal capabilities, but rather
creates what is, perhaps, the most successful was able to provide a tantalizing glimpse of
birdsong passage of his career. By assigning a another aspect of his personality. As .with many
bird to each of the four soloists and allowing earlier works, these pieces will be probably be
them to sing 'Hors Tempo', he not only creates a accusedof being too ingenuous by some, and yet
wonderful rhythmic freedom, but also allows be too dissonant for others. However, most
plenty of scope for highly visual interplay. people will surely realize that in the case of
Consequently Holliger and Rostropovitch had Messiaen such questions are irrelevant, and
the audience in the Opera-Bastille laughing out simply sit back to be charmed.
loud. Indeed, the movement's concluding unison

Olivier Messiaen
1El
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