Imusique Coloréei Synest

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MUSIQUE COLOREE: SYNESTHETIC CORRESPONDENCE
IN THE WORKS OF OLIVIER MESSIAEN
by
Joseph Edward Harris
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music in the
Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
May 2004
Thesis Supervisor: Assistant Professor Michael Buchler

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
PH.D. THESIS
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Joseph Edward Harris
has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis

requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music at the
May 2004 graduation.
Thesis CommitteeL
ichle^ mesis Supervisor
Ste’
David
Gregory Marion
John Garcia

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my readers and others who provided criticism and encouragement:
Alexandra Fol, Ida Wilson, Dorit Bergen, Anne Miller, Chris Harris, Craig Sehwalenberg,
Leyla Sanyer, Susan Malecki, Keith Lencho, Lynda Hakken, Eva Wright, Leigh Maxwell,
Dan Broner, Florence Vatan, Jody Nibbe, and Glenn Lemieux.
Thanks to publisher Alphonse Leduc for kind permission to reproduce selected
works of Olivier Messiaen.
Thanks to the Graduate College of the University of Iowa for the assistance of a
Seashore Dissertation-Year Fellowship.
Thanks to my parents for always being supportive of my musical and academic
endeavors.
Thanks to members of my dissertation committee: Stefan Eckert, John Garcia,
David Gompper, and Greg Marion.
Thanks to my advisor Michael Buchler, for his support, encouragement, and
constant enthusiasm of my research.
R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m i s s io n of t h e c o p y rig h t o w n e r . F u r th e r re p r o d u c tio n p roh ibite d w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF EXAMPLES v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1
Outline of the dissertation 2

Sources of the dissertation 4
Contributions of the dissertation 8
CHAPTER 2. MESSIAEN’S SYNESTHETIC EXPERIENCE 12
Synesthesia as artistic metaphor in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth

centuries 12
Etiology of idiopathic synesthesia 19
Conclusions 22
CHAPTERS. DEFimTlON OF MUSIQUE COLOREE 24
Features of musique coloree 24

Conclusions 31
CHAPTER 4. METHOD FOR DETERMINING

HARMONIC COLORATIONS AS PERCEIVED BY MESSIAEN 32
Determining the base colors of Messiaen’s pcs 34

Mechanics of harmonic coloration 38
Summary 46
CHAPTER 5. MODES OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION AND SPECIAL

CHORDS 47
General characteristics of Messiaen’s modes with limited transpositions 48

Mode 1 50
Mode 2 51
Mode 3 52
Mode 4 53
Mode 5 53
Mode 6 54
Mode 7 54
Chord on the dominant (CD) 55
Chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas (CDA) 60
Chords with transposed inversions (CTI) 62
Chord of resonance (CR) 65
Chord with contracted resonance (CCR) 69
Chord in fourths (C4) 75
Turning chord (TC) 77
Chord of total chromaticism (CTC) 81
Summary 85

CHAPTER 6. ANALYSIS OF “APPARITION DU CHRIST GLORIEUX” 86
Ascertaining unknown harmonic colorations in “Apparition du Christ glorieux” 90

Form in “Apparition du Christ glorieux” 106
Examination of color in “Apparition du Christ glorieux” 118
Summary 123
CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS 125
Original contributions of the dissertation 126

Opportunities for further research 127
Future 129
APPENDIX. MESSIAEN’S DESCRIPTIONS OF COLORATIONS OF

MODES AND SPECIAL CHORDS 131
BIBLIOGRAPHY 157
Primary resources 157

Supplementary resources 161
IV

LIST OF EXAMPLES
Example
1.1. Notation of voicing variants in the dissertation. 7
2.1. Several graphic depictions of photisms. 20
4.1. Thirteen chords and their colors, from Traite de rythme, V/2,pp. 464-465. 37
4.2. Graphic depiction of photism evoked by the dyad C4-D4, as perceived by

Otto Ortmann’s subject D. 40
4.3. Color-wheel, with Messiaen’s pc-colors. 41
4.4. Coloristic analysis of chord 1, from analysis of Sept Hai'kai,

Traite de rythme, V/2, pp. 464-465. 43
4.5. Coloristic analysis of chord 8, from analysis of Sept Haikai,

Traite de rythme, V/2, pp. 464-465. 43
4.6. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase2,chord 6. 44
4.7. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase8,chord 10. 45
5.1. M o d el. 51
5.2. Concealed use of mode 1 in “Jesus accepte la souffrance,” mm. 15-16. 51
5.3. Mode 2. 51
5.4. Mode 3. 52
5.5. Mode 4. 52
5.6. Mode 5. 53
5.7. Mode 6. 53
5.8. Mode 7. 54
5.9. CD in root position. 55
5.10. Analysis of root-position CD. 55
5.11. CD in its four fundamental voicings. 55
5.12. The 48 CDs. 56
5.13. CDA in root position; comparison of CDA and CD. 58
5.14. CDA in its four fundamental voicings. 58
5.15. The 48 CD As. 59

5.16. Technique of transposed inversions applied to dominant-seventh chord. 63
5.17. CR in root position; overtone series. 65
5.18. Mode 3 ^ and three related CRs. 65
5.19. CR in its four fundamental voicings. 67
5.20. The 48 CRs. 68
5.21. CCR, internal construction. 69
5.22. CCR type 1, chords A and B, intemal construction. 70
5.23. T he24C C R s,type 1. 70
5.24. CD, CDA, CCR®: intemal differences. 72
5.25. CCR type 2, intemal construction. 73
5.26. The 24 CCRs, type 2. 73
5.27. C4. 76
5.28. C4s in Reveil des oiseaux, p. 4, mm. 9-11. 76
5.29. C4 trichords in “Regard de I’onction terrible,” mm. 1-2. 76
5.30. Tuming chords, three fundamental voicings. 77
5.31. The36TC s. 78
5.32. CTC, intemal constmction. 82
5.33. CTC in Un Vitrail et des oiseaux, final measures. 82
5.34. CTCs in “Le Chemin de rinvisible,” rehearsal 2. 83
5.35. The CTC in its twelve transpositions. 83
6.1. “Apparition du Christ Glorieux,” chord 1/11, coloristic analysis. 91
6.6. “Apparition du Christ Glorieux,’’ chord 4/10, coloristic analysis. 95
VI

6.7. “Apparition du Christ Glorieux, chord 6/10, coloristic analysis, 96

6.21. “Apparition du Christ Glorieux, chord 14/10, coloristic analysis. 106
6 . 22 . Annotated keyboard reduction of “Apparition du Christ glorieux.’ 108
Vll
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CD chord on the dominant

{accord sur dominante)
CDA chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas

{accord sur dominante appoggiature)
CTI chords with transposed inversions

{accords d renversements transposes)
CR chord of resonance
{accord de la resonance)
CCR chord with contracted resonance

{accord a resonance contractee)
C4 chord in fourths
{accord en quartes)
TC tuming chord
{accords en toumant)
CTC chord of total chromaticism

{accord du total chromatique)
pc pitch class
p e se t pitch-class set
ic interval class
Vlll

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) experienced a physiological
condition known as synesthesia, wherein his senses of sight and sound intermingled,
causing him to see colors whenever he heard music. Although the experience was with
him throughout his life, his sensitivity to his colored perceptions grew stronger over time.
In writings from the later part of his career, Messiaen often stressed the primacy of color in
his works: “More than the form, more than the rhythms and more than all the timbres, it is
necessary to hear and to see sound-colors in my work.”i Given the emphasis that
Messiaen placed on chordal coloration, understanding—to whatever extent possible—his
synesthetic experience seems like a reasonable step toward understanding his compositional
choices. This is particularly vital in regard to musique coloree (literally, “colored music”):
those compositions and passages of compositions wherein, for Messiaen, the musical
features were most conducive to the evocation of color.2
For decades, music theorists have grappled with decoding the sound-color
correspondences of Messiaen’s synesthesia. Messiaen reported that his synesthesia was
stimulated by chords, and described the complex colorations of many of his “special
chords” (accords speciaux) and “modes of limited transposition” (modes d transpositions
limitees).^ For example, one particular chord evoked “bumt-earth crystals, amethyst
1. “Plus que la forme, plus que les rythmes, et plus que tous ces timbres, 11 faut entendre et voir dans mon
oeuvre, des son-couleurs.” Olivier Messiaen, et al„ Hommage a Olivier Messiaen : novembre-
decembre 1978 (Paris: La Recherche artistique, 1979), 64. See also Almut Rossler, Contributions to
the Spiritual World o f Olivier Messiaen: With Original Texts by the Composer, trans. Barbara Dagg,
Nancy Poland, and Timothy Tikker (Duisburg: Gilles und Francke, 1986), 73, 129. Unless otherwise
stated, all translations are mine.
2. Unless otherwise specified, in this dissertation the word “color” is used to denote color in the literal
sense (perceived either visually or synesthetically) not color in any metaphoric sense, such as “tone
color,” “timbral color,” “harmonic color,” or “orchestral color.” The word “coloration” (and the term
“harmonic coloration,” in reference to chords) is used to describe the specific synesthetic evocation of a
mode or chord.
3. Unless otherwise specified, in this dissertation the word “mode” is used to refer to one o f Messiaen’s
“modes of limited transposition,” not the Medieval church modes or any other sort o f musical mode.
The term “modal chord” is used to refer to any pitch-complex whose constituent members comprise a
subset of a specific mode. The term “modal passage” is used to refer to a series of chords in the same

2
violet, clear Prussian blue, warm reddish chestnut, with stars of gold.”^ So how exactly
does a chord evoke a coloration? What features rendered one chord’s coloration different
from another? Decoding the sound-color correspondences in musique coloree synesthesia
poses many challenges, since Messiaen’s descriptions of harmonic colorations are
idiosyncratic and sometimes contradictory. Nevertheless, I contend that behind musique
coloree there is a discrete code, that this code is—to an extent—quantifiable, and that the
quantification of this code offers significant insight into the study of Messiaen’s work.
Outline of the dissertation
The principal goals of the dissertation are the quantification of the sound-color
correspondences in musique coloree, the provision of a method to determine unknown
harmonic colorations, and an illustration of how the study of Messiaen’s sound-color
correspondences may reveal otherwise unobtainable insight into the structure of Messiaen’s
music. The dissertation begins with an examination of synesthesia; it then presents a
method, based on Messiaen’s testimonies, for determining unknown harmonic colorations.
Messiaen’s coloristic harmonic resources are then examined. Finally, after presenting
taxonomic harmonic and coloristic analyses, the coloristic content of Messiaen’s
“Apparition du Christ glorieux” is examined.
Chapter 2 seeks to validate Messiaen’s synesthesia. Since the thesis of this
dissertation is grounded on hearsay testimony of Messiaen, it is vital to establish that his
condition was genuine and reliable—that Messiaen’s testimonies of musical color describe
a real experience, rather than an arbitrary intellectual contrivance. The chapter begins by
examining the artistic and literary fascination with cross-sensory perception in the late
mode. The word “modality” is used in reference to the five methods of sensory input (i.e., vision,
hearing, taste, touch, and smell).
4. “Cristaux de couleur terre brule, violet amethyste, bleu de prusse clair, matron chaud et rougeatre, avec
des etoiles d’or.” Olivier Messiaen, Traite de rythme, de couleur, et d'omithologie, 7 vols. (Paris:
Alphonse Leduc, 1992), V/2, 72; 513; 518. (Henceforth Traite.)

3
nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; many artists and musicians of the time, inspired by
contemporary scientific research into synesthesia, sought to create works that simulated the
synesthetic experience. Modem theories of the etiology of synesthesia are then presented,
as are a list of diagnostic criteria. Messiaen’s own testimonies are compared against the
criteria.
Chapter 3 defines musique coloree and explores nine of its features. For Messiaen,
not all music was capable of evoking color. Musique coloree contains certain essential
characteristics conducive to the evocation of color. Further, Messiaen was not always
particularly sensitive to his synesthesia. His testimony suggests that his sensitivity to his
synesthesia developed over the course of decades; changes in his compositional style reflect
his increased sensitivity to synesthetic color.
Chapter 4 defines the sound-color correspondence as perceived by Messiaen.
Messiaen spoke at length about how, for him, a single chord evoked simultaneously many
colors. He also described the colorations of dozens of chords. A consistent method for
defining Messiaen’s sound-eolor correspondences ean be established on the theory that
each pitch class (pc) corresponded to a particular color, and that a chord’s resultant
harmonic coloration depended upon the interaction of specific pc colors. The chapter
begins by establishing base colors of the twelve pcs; it then presents a method for
determining unknown harmonic colorations.
Chapters 5 examines the two main harmonic categories of musique coloree: “modes
of limited transposition” and “special chords.” Special chords include: the “chord on the
dominant;” the “chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas;” the “chord of resonance;” the
“chord with contracted resonance;” the “chord in fourths;” the “tuming chord;” and the
“chord of total chromaticism.” The stmcture, voicings, transpositions, inversions, and
colorations of each mode and each chord are examined. The examination of voicing is
particularly germane to the present study, because it is through such an examination that
Messiaen’s various classifiable harmonic stmctures can most readily be classified. The

4
chapter also presents reconstructions of the many charts (tableaux) devised by Messiaen to
assist with composition. Messiaen’s charts list the modes and special chords in all possible
transpositions and inversions, and list their respective colorations.
Chapter 6 examines the coloristic content of a work by Messiaen: “Apparition du
Christ glorieux,” the first movement of the orchestral work Eclairs sur I’Au-Dela (1992).
First, the work’s program is presented. Using the method prescribed in Chapter 4,
unknown harmonic colorations are determined; a taxonomic coloristic analysis is aligned
with the harmonic analysis. Following a brief analysis of the movement’s form, the
coloristic content of the work is examined in detail.
Chapter 7 summarizes the contributions of the dissertation, and suggests
opportunities for further research.
Sources of the dissertation
The dissertation draws on sources from two main categories: studies of synesthesia;
and studies of Messiaen’s music. An important study of synesthesia is sensory
psychologist Dr. Lawrence Marks’s 1975 article, “On Colored-Heating Synesthesia:
Cross-Modal Translations of Sensory Dimensions.”^ The article represents the first major
report on synesthesia since the 1930s and stands at the forefront of the modem renaissance
of synesthesia research. Marks examines historical research into synesthesia in a search for
common characteristics of synesthetic perceptions. The dissertation also draws on the
writings of American neurologist and neuropsychologist Richard E. Cytowic. His most
recent writings include The Man Who Tasted Shapes, which examines the characteristics of
one synesthete. Synesthesia: A Union o f the Senses, which is a comprehensive
examination of synesthesia, and “Synesthesia: Phenomenology and Neuropsychology—A
5. Lawrence E. Marks, “On Colored-Hearing Synesthesia: Cross-Modal Translations o f Sensory

Dimensions,” Psychological Bulletin 82/3 (May, 1975), 303-331.

5
Review of Current Knowledge,” which summarizes all of his research on synesthesia
Invaluable insight into synesthesia was also attained by personal interviews with
synesthetes. Principal among the synesthetes interviewed for this dissertation were AF and
LH, both—like Messiaen—organists with color-music synesthesia.
There are many valuable resources on the music of Messiaen. Principal among
primary sources are two lengthy treatises: Technique de mon langage musical and Traite de
rythme, de couleur et d ’omithologieP While Technique constitutes a systematic
presentation of Messiaen’s musical language as of 1944 and provides detailed explanations
of his compositional tools, it contains only general remarks about color. Traite, on the
other hand, stands as a comprehensive collection of Messiaen’s theories after Technique.
Messiaen worked continually on Traite—^from 1949 until his death in 1992.^ Traite
contains many specific references to color; throughout the first five volumes are
descriptions of the colorations of most of Messiaen’s special chords. The seventh and final
volume of Traite will contain coloristic descriptions of all Messiaen’s modes and chords.
Other primary sources (either authored or co-authored by Messiaen) include joumal
articles, album liner notes, score notes, and book-length interviews with Messiaen.^
6. Richard E. Cytowic, Synesthesia: A Union o f the Senses, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002);
Richard E. Cytowic, “Synesthesia: Phenomenology and Neuropsychology— A Review of Current
Knowledge,” Synesthesia: Classic and Contemporary Readings, ed. Simon Baron-Cohen and John E.
Harrison (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997), 17-39. Richard E. Cytowic, The Man Who Tasted Shapes: A
Bizarre M edical Mystery Offers Revolutionary Insights into Reasoning, Emotion and Consciousness
(New York: Putnam, 1993). Other excellent resources on synesthesia include: J. Gage, “Synaesthesia,”
Encyclopedia o f Aesthetics, 4 vols., ed. M. Kelly (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), IV, 34 8 -
351; and Andrew D. Lyons, “Synaesthesia: A Cognitive Model o f Cross-Modal Association,”
Consciousness, Literature and the Arts 2/2 (July 2001).
7. Olivier Messiaen, Technique de mon langage musical, 2 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc et Cie, 1944).
(Henceforth Technique.)
8. Traite is being edited and published posthumously, under the supervision of Messiaen’s widow Yvonne
Loriod. The first of seven volumes was published in 1992; at the time o f this writing, only the first
five volumes have been published.
9. Shorter books by Messiaen include: Olivier Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, (Paris: Alphonse Leduc,
1988); Olivier Messiaen, Conference de Notre Dame (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1978); Olivier Messiaen,
et al, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen: novembre-decembre 1978 (Paris: La Recherche Artistique, 1979).
Joumal articles include: Olivier Messiaen, “Gesprach mit Olivier Messiaen,” Melos 16/4 (April 1949),
101-104; Olivier Messiaen, “Matiere-lumiere, espace-temps, son-couleur,” Preuves 179 (January
1966), 39-41; Michael Murray, “An Interview with Olivier Messiaen,” Diapason 70/1 (No. 829,

6
Jonathan Bernard’s article “Messiaen’s Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between
Color and Sound Structure in His Music” is an important secondary source regarding the
coloristic aspects of Messiaen’s m u s i c . T h r o u g h an examination of modal harmonies and
their respective colorations, Bernard seeks to identify general structural principles in the
music of Messiaen. He applies various analytical techniques—such as pcset analysis and
voicing analysis—and weighs their respective merits. While Bernard analyzes the music of
Messiaen in terms of modal content only, the present dissertation extends Bernard’s
research by offering strategies to identify special chords.
The dissertation holds that the examination of voicing provides the simplest and
most direct means of harmonic taxonomy for the music of Messiaen. Bernard, in his
modal analyses of Messiaen’s music, concludes that voicing analysis provides mixed
results; however, voicing analysis can provide immediate and clear results when dealing
with Messiaen’s special c h o r d s . I n the dissertation, voicing analysis indicates a chord’s
consecutive intervals, listed from bottom to top. Intervals are measured in semitones;
notation consists of numerals separated by commas and enclosed within angle brackets.
December 1978), 3, 5; Roger Nichols, “Messiaen: Roger Nichols Talks to the Composer, who is 70
on December 10,” Music and Musicians 27/4 (December 1978), 20-22; Leonardo Pinzauti, “Gesprach
mit Olivier Messiaen,” Melos 1972/5, 270-273; Harriet Watts, “Canyons, Colours and Birds: An
Interview with Olivier Messiaen,” Tempo 128 (1979), 2-8; Olivier Messiaen, “Propos impromptu,” Le
Courier musical de France 8 (1964), 196-212. Longer interviews with Messiaen include: Antoine
Golea, Rencontres avec Olivier Messiaen (Paris: Rene Julliard, 1960); Claude Samuel, Entretiens avec
Olivier Messiaen (Paris: Editions Pierre Belfond, 1967); Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur:
nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986); Olivier Messiaen, Entretien avec
Claude Samuel (Erato ECD 75505, 1988).
10. Jonathan W. Bernard, “Messiaen’s Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound
Structure in His Music,” Music Perception 4/1 (Fall, 1986), 41-68. The article was later revised and
published as “Colour” in The Messiaen Companion, ed. Peter Hill (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1994),
203-219.
11. Bemard, 49.
12. In the dissertation, the notation of harmonic voicing follows John Rahn’s notation for ordered
collections, as given in Basic Atonal Theory (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), 21. Jonathan
Bemard presents two methods of notating harmonic voicing in “Messiaen’s Synaesthesia.” Within
musical examples, Bemard presents intervals in a eolumn below the eorresponding chord; within the
body o f the article, he lists intervals separated by commas. For example, a major triad in root position
has the notation 4,3. Robert Morris presents a different notation in “Equivalence and Similarity in
Pitch and their Interaction with Pcset Theory,” Joumal o f Music Theory 39/2 (1995), 207-243. Morris
uses the prefix “SP(X)” (“the spacing of the pset X”); intervals are separated by spaces and enclosed
with square brackets. For example, a major triad in root position has the notation SP(X) [4 3].

For example, the voicing of a close-voiced major triad in root position is represented as
<4,3>; the voicing of a close-voiced dominant-seventh chord in root position is represented
as <4,3,3>.
The notation for voicing variants in the dissertation easily accommodates variants of
Messiaen’s special chords.i^ Messiaen’s special chords are defined by certain fundamental
voicings; harmonic variants can be related to their respective fundamental voicings.
Example 1.1 illustrates the notation of voicing variants in the dissertation.
Example 1.1. Notation of voicing variants in the dissertation.
,1,^
Qz
ate
£
I. o n
<2,2,7,8,6,4> <2,2,7,8,6,4> <2,2,7,8,6,4> <[2],2,7,8,6,4> <[2],2,7,8,6,4>
The first chord in the Example is one of Messiaen’s special chords—a “chord with
contracted resonance” (CCR)—in its fundamental voicing; the other chords are variants of
the first. The Gl]4 in the second chord is an octave duplication of chord tone Gl]5. The
duplication is indicated by a small notehead and is not reflected in the voicing analysis. The
<^6 in the third chord is an “added note” {note ajoutee). The added note is indicated by
parentheses and is not reflected in the voicing analysis. The fourth chord lacks the low Dl:|3
of the chord’s fundamental voicing. The interval from Dl]3 to El|3, ic2, is included in the
13. In analyses o f his own works, Messiaen indicated many instances of special chords with added notes,
omitted notes, transposed notes, and doubled notes. See in particular Traite, V/2, pages 37, 71, 51 3 -
514, 518-519, 533 and 537. Harmonic variations may occur for a variety of reasons. A chord might
be truncated or compressed (certain tones transposed by octave inwards, towards the interior of the
chord) to avoid overreaching a prominent outer voice, or simply because the necessary notes lie outside
of an instrument’s range. A chord might contain octave duplications or what Messiaen referred to as
“added notes” to reinforce or preserve a prominent melodic motive.

8
voicing analysis with square brackets placed around it; the ic2 is surrounded by square
brackets in order to indicate that the interval is not present in the music. The fifth chord
contains a combination of octave duplication Gl]4, non-harmonic tone (^6, and missing
tone D[]3. For each chord, the sequence of intervals in the voicing analysis is the same.
The harmonic content of much of Messiaen’s harmonic language is readily classifiable;
voicing analysis provides a clear and consistent tool for harmonic taxonomy.
Bemard addresses the important question of why anyone should be interested in
Messiaen’s synesthesia.Given that synesthetic percepts are idiosyncratic, what does one
gain by knowing what colors Messiaen saw? The answer lies in the fact that the study of
sound-color facilitates the formulation of a general theory of harmonic structure in the
music of Messiaen; moreover, since, for Messiaen, sound is so closely linked to color, any
attempt at a general theory of harmonic stmcture must necessarily be founded upon a study
of color. While Bemard envisions a generalized theory of harmonic stmcture based upon
“characteristic interval content and order,” the dissertation posits a theory based on absolute
pitch, color-sets, and a harmonic taxonomy based on voicing analysis,
Contributions of the dissertation
Messiaen was not the only twentieth-century musician with synesthesia, but he was
perhaps the only well-known composer with color-music synesthesia. Hungarian
composer Gyorgy Ligeti (b. 1923) claims to possess chromatic-graphemic synesthesia.
Accordingly, he associates keys with colors due to the evocations of the respective letter
designations. For example, the key of D minor suggests—not “evokes”—brown because
for him the letter D evokes brown. American composer Michael Torke (b. 1961) has a
14. Bemard, 43.
15. Bemard, 68.
16. Gyorgy Ligeti, Ligeti in Conversation (London: Eulenburg Books, 1983), 58.

9
color-duration synesthesia wherein days of the weeks and months of the year evoke colors.
British painter David Hockney (b. 1937) uses his music-color synesthesia as a guide when
constructing sets for operas and ballets. For American linguist and amateur composer Sean
Day, music evokes colors; however, whereas Messiaen’s synesthesia was stimulated by
pitch. Day’s synesthesia is stimulated by timbre.
Messiaen often emphasized how important it was for listeners to appreciate the
color inherent in his works. He said, “To understand the timbres, the harmonies and the
sound-complexes of my music you must love color. You must be sensitive of color, and if
possible you must understand the connection between sound and color.’’ An appreciation
of color is helpful to understanding Messiaen’s compositional method, particularly as his
synesthesia influenced his composition. Messiaen said:
For me, certain sound-complexes and certain sonorities are linked to color-
complexes, and I use them in full knowledge of this... I use them as
colors, juxtaposing them and putting them in relief against each other, as a
painter stresses a color through its complement.
By surveying his charts of modes and special chords and their corresponding colors,
Messiaen could select individual chords and compose a harmonic succession with a
particular colored effect, Messiaen believed other people were capable of appreciating
colors in his music; he was convinced that he could convey the coloristic content of his
music to the listening public.ô It is hoped that the dissertation’s attempt to define the
sound-color correspondences within musique coloree will contribute to a better
understanding of Messiaen’s work and a greater appreciation of his compositional method.
17. Nichols, “Messiaen,” 20.
18. “Certains complexes de sons et certaines sonorites sont lies pour moi a des complexes de couleurs et je
les emploie en connaissance de cause. ,. [J]e les utilise comme des couleurs, en les juxtaposant et en
les mettant en valeur les unes par les autres, comme un peintre souligne une couleur par sa
complementaire.” Samuel (1967), 38-39.
19. Messiaen described using such a procedure during the composition of “Strophe I” (the second
movement of Chronochromie). Messiaen, Traite, III, 87.
20. Rossler, 54.

10
Fortunately, Messiaen spoke at great length about his synesthetic experiences; his extensive
writings make possible a thorough study of the sound-color relationship in his works.
Finally, it is hoped that the dissertation contributes to the study of synesthesia itself.
Most recent research in the field of synesthesia pertains to neurophysiology,
neuropsychology, etiology, and characteristics common to all types of synesthesia.
However, there has been little research into the phenomenology of synesthesia. Further,
there has been little recent research into how the elements of a stimulus (e.g., numbers,
letters, pitches) interact and influence the totality of the synesthetic response. It is my hope
that the dissertation’s attempt to decode the sound-color correspondences of Messiaen’s
synesthesia may stimulate research into other individuals’ synesthetic experiences, thus
providing groundwork for a comprehensive study of the phenomenology of synesthesia.

11
CHAPTER 2. MESSIAEN’S SYNESTHETIC EXPERIENCE
The word “synesthesia” comes from the Greek syn meaning “together” and aisthesis
meaning “to perceive.” For most people, the five sensory modalities (vision, hearing, taste,
touch, and smell) are separate and distinct; for synesthetes, two or more sensory modalities are
unified: a single sensory stimulus evokes a response in more than one sensory modality. For
example, a visual stimulus might evoke smell in addition to vision; more conunonly, an auditory
stimulus evokes vision in addition to hearing. The classical model of synesthesia is bi-modal—
involving two of the five senses—although synesthesia may involve any number of senses.
Researchers disagree as to what percentage of the population experience some form of
synesthesia; estimates range from one in two thousand people to as many as one in three hundred
people. 1 According to recent studies, the most common form of synesthesia is chromatic-
graphemic synesthesia, wherein individual letters or numerals evoke discrete colors.^ Less
common than chromatic-graphemic synesthesia is color-music synesthesia, the type of
synesthesia that Messiaen experienced. One study found that 66.8% of synesthetes experience
chromatic-graphemic synesthesia, while only 14.5% experience color-music synesthesia.^
Medical researchers sometimes refer to the physiological condition of synesthesia as
“idiopathic synesthesia” to distinguish it from forms of acquired synesthesia, such as those
induced by drugs (e.g., LSD, hashish, mescaline), certain diseases (e.g., limbic epilepsy),
brain lesions, sensory deprivation, or electrical stimulation of the brain. Idiopathic
1. Richard E. Cytowic, Synesthesia: A Union o f the Senses, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002), 33.
Brad Lemley, “Do You See What They See?,” Discover 20/12 (December 1999), 81. Siri Carpenter,
“Everyday Fantasia: The World of Synesthesia,” Monitor on Psychology 32 (March, 2001), 27.
2. Depending on the synesthete, the stimulus of chromatic-graphemic synesthesia can be either aural or
visual. Chromatic-graphemic synesthetes include Russian author Vladimir Nabokov and American
physicist Richard Feynman. Vladimir Nabokov, Speak Memory: An Autobiography Revisited
(London: Penguin Classics, 2000), 29. Richard P. Feynman, What Do You Care What Other People
Think? (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), 59.
3. These figures are drawn from a survey conducted by linguist and synesthete Sean Day, as presented in
Cytowic, Synesthesia, 17.

12
synesthesia is also distinct from literary synesthesia; although descriptions given by
synesthetes may seem to resemble literary devices such as sound symbolism, metaphor,
and rhetorical tropes, idiopathic synesthesia is distinct, as it involves a sensory experience,
and not an intellectual experience. Messiaen insisted that his synesthetic visions vêre
indeed real and not merely an intellectual contrivance: “I see these colors internally. They
are neither imaginary nor a material phenomenon—they are an interior reality.”^ Since the
descriptions of his condition follow those of verified synesthetes so closely, it would be
unthinkable not to classify Messiaen’s synesthesia as idiopathic.
The chapter begins by examining contrived synesthesia: specifically, the use of
synesthesia as an artistic metaphor in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The
chapter then presents modem theories of the etiology of idiopathic synesthesia as well as
diagnostic criteria for verifying the condition. Although Messiaen was aware of various
intellectual movements that sought to establish an artificial music-color correspondence, it
is important to understand that such contrivances are distinct from the physiological
phenomenon he claims to have experienced.
Synesthesia as artistic metaphor in the

late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries
Early medical research into cross-sensory perception focused on the
phenomenology of isolated case studies.^ The earliest research also tended to regard the
condition as optical rather than neurological, which was the case with the first published
study of synesthesia—a 1812 medical dissertation by German physician Georg Sachs that
4. “Je les vois interieurement, ce n’est pas de 1’imagination, ce n’est pas non plus un phdnomene
physique, c’est une realite interieure.” Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: Nouveaux entretiens
avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986), 43.
5. For an excellent historical overview of the scientific study of synesthesia, see Kevin Dann, Bright
Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search fo r Transcendental Knowledge (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1998).

13
examined the colored audition experienced by the author and his s i s t e r B y the middle of
the nineteenth century, researchers began to regard cross-sensory perception as
neurological and pathological—that the condition was somehow acquired or learned. In
1862, Claude Perroud became the first to attempt to explain the physiology of colored
audition {audition coloree), which by that time was the most well-documented from of
cross-sensory perception.^ Researchers coined various terms for cross-sensory
perception, including hyperchromatopsie, pseudochromesthesie, phonopsie, Farbenhdren,
chromaesthesiae, and synopsie.^ It was in 1892 that French psychologist Jules Millet
coined the more general term synesthesia {synesthesie), which applied to any sort of
intermingling of senses.^
Synesthesia was virtually unknown outside the medical world until 1883, when
Arthur Rimbaud’s poem “Voyelles” was first published. Rimbaud had been fascinated
with the idea of sensory fusion and spent much of his time searching French medical
literature for descriptions of visionary experiences. In “Voyelles,” Rimbaud ascribes
colors to the five vowels. Despite Rimbaud’s confession that the poem’s sound-color
correspondences were arbitrary, “Voyelles” became one of the most argued-about poems
among late-nineteenth century intellectuals, spearheading a movement to bridge the gap
between the senses and to create more transcendental forms of ex p r e ss io n .O v e r time.
6. Georg Sachs, Historiae naturalis duorum leucaetiopum: auctoris ipsius et sororis eius (Solisbaci
[Sulzbach]: Sumptibus Bibliopolii Seideliani, 1812).
7. Claude Perroud, Memoires et Comptes Rendus de la Societe des Sciences Medicates de Lyon 2 (1862),
37-43.
8. The term synopsie, frequently employed by Messiaen to describe the condition o f his friend Charles
Blanc-Gatti, is outdated and no longer in use. At the 1890 convocation of the International Congress
of Physiological Psychology, several prominent psychologists met and attempted to standardize the
terminology of synesthesia. Among those involved in the project was Swiss psychologist Theodore
Flournoy, who later coined the term synopsie to cover the general category of colored audition (audition
coloree), where any sort o f sound— including musical sounds and spoken sounds— evoked colors.
Theodore Flournoy, Les phenomenes de synopsie (audition coloree) (Paris: Alcan, 1893), 6.
9. Jules Millet, Audition coloree (Paris: Octave Doin, 1892).
10. For an excellent overview of the European public’s fascination with synesthesia at the turn o f the
twentieth century, see Dann, Bright Colors Falsely Seen, 17-45.

14
and owing to the works of Rimbaud and other French symbolists, the topic of cross-
sensory perception spawned a full-fledged artistic movement. By the turn of the twentieth
century, public interest in the idea of cross-sensory perception had reached “faddish”
proportions; moreover, the scientific study of associative perception had become a
fashionable branch of psychology. ^ Some artists, intrigued by the possibility of cross-
sensory perception, took drugs in an attempt to induce the condition. French poet Charles
Baudelaire—a well-known hashish user—documented the effects of hashish. He wrote that
while under the influence of hashish, “Sounds have a color; colors have a music. Musical
notes are numbers, and as the music unfolds in your ear you solve extraordinary arithmetic
calculations with alarming speed.”^^
Seeking a more transcendental form of artistic expression, many visual artists of the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries gave their works musical titles.^3 Conversely,
11. Two of the more influential studies of synesthesia from this period are Ferdinand Suarez de Mendoza’s
L ’Audition calorie and Annelies Argelander’s Das Farbenhoren und der syndsthetische Faktorder
Wahmehmung. Ferdinand Suarez de Mendoza, L Audition calorie (Paris: Octave Doin, 1890).
Annelies Argelander, Das Farbenhoren und der syndsthetische Faktor der Wahmehmung (Jena,
Germany: Fischer, 1927).
12. “Les sons ont une couleur, les couleurs ont une musique. Les notes musicales sont des nombres, et
vous resolvez avec rapidite effrayante de prodigieux calculs d'arithmetique a mesure que la musique se
dSroule dans votre oreille.” Charles Baudelaire, “Du vin et du haschisch, compards comme moyens de
multiplication de I’individualite [1851],” Oeuvres completes, ed. Marcel A. Ruff (Paris: Editions du
Seuil, 1968), 310. Baudelaire also documented the effects o f hashish on his perceptions in the essay
“Les paradis artificiels, opium et haschisch” (1860). Baudelaire’s experiences found their way into his
poetry; his poem “Correspondences” speaks of how “perfumes, colors and sounds respond to each
other.” “Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se repondent.” Charles Baudelaire, Selected Poems, ed.
Geoffrey Wagner (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1974), 22.
13. Artworks with musical titles include: James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold (1875);
Frantisek Kupka, Chromatique chaude (1912); Georgia O’Keeffe, Blue and Green Music (1919); Music:
Pink and Blue II (1919); Albert Gleizes, Symphony in Violet (1930-31); Robert Delaunay, Rythme
sans fin (1934); Paul Klee, Polyphonie (1932); Mikalojus Ciurlionis, “Sonatas” (series o f paintings,
1907-1908); Paul Klee, Nocturne fo r Horn (1921); Georges Braque, Formes musicales (1918); Wassily
Kandinsky, Harmonie tranquille (1924); Contrasting Sounds (1924); Risonance multicolore (1928);
Henri Valensi, Symphonie de la terre (1948); Symphonie en rose (1946). Artists seem to have been
particularly drawn to the idea of fugue, with J.S. Bach representing a touchstone to music-color
correspondence: Kandinsky, Fugue (1914); FrantiSek Kupka, Fugue en deux couleurs (1912); Paul
Klee, Fugue in Red (1921); In the Style o f Bach (1919); Henry Valensi, Fugue en jaune (1948); Josef
Albers, Fugue (1925); Adolf Holzel, Fuge iiber Auferstehungsthema (1916); Alexander Jawlensky,
Fuge in Blau und Rot (1936); Marsden Hartley, Musical Theme No. 2: Bach, Preludes and Fugues
(1912); Hienrich Neugeboren, Plastiche Darstellung der Takte 52-55 der Es-Moll-Fuge von J.S. Bach
(1928); August Macke, Farbige Komposition—Hommage an J.S. Bach (1912); Georges Braque, Aria
d e B a c h {\9 U ).

15
many composers alluded to color in the titles of their works. During this period, many
multimodal concerts combined music and light—and sometimes odor. Several musieians
devised keyboards capable of produeing color. In the book Les Flammes chantantes
(1875), Frederie Kastner deseribed the pyrophone, an instrument with 37 crystal tubes
with flaming gas jets. Other inventions included Alexander Laszlo’s sonchromatoscope
(1920s), Thomas Wilfred’s clavilux (1920s), Vladimir Baranoff-Rossine’s piano
optophonique (1920s), George Halls’s musichrome (1930s), and Charles Blanc-Gatti’s
orchestre chromophonique (1930s). All of these eolor-music deviees illustrate the era’s
quest for sensory fusion.
One of the more eoncerted attempts at relating musie and color was made by the
Assoeiation des Artistes Musicalistes, founded in 1932 in Paris by Charles Blanc-Gatti
(1890-1966), Henry Valensi (1883-1960), Gustave Bourgogne (1888-1968), and Vito
Stracquadaini (1891-1955). The group outlined their artistic aims in Manifeste des Artistes
M u s ic a lis te s Their prineipal aim was to translate musie into painting, often by creating
visual realizations of specifie musical works. Among the eomposers whose works they
depicted visually are Frederic Chopin, Cesar Franck, Richard Wagner, Maurice Ravel,
Arthur Honegger, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Messiaen. At a 1936 exhibition, the
Musicalistes projected “polychromatic and dynamic luminous scenes” {decors lumineux
polychromes et dynamiques) corresponding to the nine movements of Messiaen’s La
Nativite du Seigneur, Messiaen attended the exhibition and gave it a favorable r e v ie w .
While the Musiealistes had a eommon aim, individual members developed their
own methods and theories. Bourgogne eoined the term bleuisme (he also used the term
14. Examples include: Sir Arthur B liss’s A Colour Symphony (1922), in four movements, each
corresponding to a different color; and Alexander Ldszlo’s Eleven Preludes, op. 10 (1925), constituting
what the composer described as Lichtmusik. Like Bliss’s Symphony, each Prelude is named after a
different color.
15. Published in Paris on April 3, 1932. Publisher unknown.
16. Charles Blanc-Gatti, Sons et couleurs (Paris: Editions d’art chromophonique, 1934), 69.

16
plastique des ondes) to describe a music-color correspondence in which spectral colors and
chords were assigned to one another. The inspiration for bleuisme occurred to him in
1928, while listening to the grand carillon of the cathedral of Malines. Bourgogne believed
that art and music were the results of similar profound rhythms; he sought to paint the
impressions he felt while listening to music. Valensi advocated cinepeinture, a combination
of music and animation in which the artist was “a veritable musician of color and form.’’^'^
He valued this type of artwork because it was capable of integrating science, movement,
and rhythm—essential characteristics of twentieth-century society. Valensi’s most best-
known example of cinepeinture is the twenty-minute film Ouverture pour une Symphonie
Printaniere (1936-1939). Blanc-Gatti also worked with cinematic animation. From 1938
to 1940, he ran the Swiss animation studio Montreaux-Colorfilm, which specialized in
short animated advertisements. Blanc-Gatti’s most ambitious endeavor at Montreaux-
Colorfilm was the short animated film Chromophonie (1939), comprising abstract
colorations set to the music of Julius Fucfk’s Entrance o f the G la d ia to r s .Although
Blanc-Gatti experienced color-music synesthesia, his own theories of color-music
correspondence ironically ignored his condition in favor of a theory with a wider
application. In the book Sons et couleurs (1934), he coined the term chromophonie to
describe a mathematical concordance between sound and light, based on their respective
vibrations. He presented the visible spectrum and the aural spectrum of audible pitches
17. Henry Valensi, “La Cinepeinture,” Cobra 3 [1948], [19].
18. One o f Blanc-Gatti’s greatest dreams was to make a full-length motion picture with musical animation.
In 1935, he discussed the idea with American animator Walt Disney, who declined Blanc-Gatti’s offer
of collaboration. In 1940, Disney released the full-length musical animation Fantasia. Of course,
Blanc-Gatti was furious, and the Musicalistes accused Disney of plagiarism. William Moritz, “The
Dream of Color Music, and Machines That Made it Possible,” Animation World Magazine 2/1 (April,
1997). See also, R. Cosandy, 19-39: La Suisse romande entre les deux guerres (Lausanne: Payot,
1986), 261. Contemporary critic Denys Chevalier provided a detailed list of the plagiarisms of
Fantasia and called Disney’s work “a monument to bad taste.” Denys Chevalier, “Les sources
d’inspiration de Walt Disney,” Arts, Beaux-Arts, Litterature, Spectacles 93 (November 15, 1945), 1.
19. Blanc-Gatti, Sons et couleurs, 71.

17
(which he defined as ranging from the lowest pitch of the organ to the highest pitch of the
piccolo) as two homologous series, and mapped them onto each other.20
Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) is regarded by many historians
as a synesthete; however, Scriabin’s synesthesia was strictly contrived.21 The only
completed work of Scriabin that attempts to relate music and color is the orchestral work
Prometheus: The Poem o f Fire (1910), the score of which calls for a tastiera per luce, a
keyboard-operated device designed to project colored lights.22 It is well-known that
Scriabin subscribed to the theosophical tenets of Russian mystic Madame Helena
Blavatsky. In her book Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis o f Science, Religion, and
Philosophy (1885-88), Blavatsky suggested a correspondence between pitch and color.
Like Blanc-Gatti, she presented a pitch-color scheme based on the ordered mapping of two
homologous series—in her case, she mapped the colors of the visible spectrum onto the
notes of the C-major scale.23 For Prometheus, Scriabin developed an ordered scheme
based on perfect fifths;
color Blavatsky S cria b in

red C C
orange D G
yellow E D
green F A
blue G E
indigo A B
violet B
20. Blanc-Gatti, Sons et couleurs, 73.
21. For an excellent debunking o f the myth of Scriabin’s synesthesia, see Dann, Bright Colors Falsely
Seen, 71-77. See also Jas Morgan, “Sensory Overmode: Interview with Richard E. Cytowic, M.D.,”
Mondo 2000 12 (Summer, 1994), 86.
22. Scriabin also had two rather unreasonable requirements for Prometheus: that all audience members dress
in white clothing and the work culminate with a white light so strong that it would be painful to the
eyes. Kay Marie Stolba credits the University o f Iowa orchestra with the first “satisfactory”
performance of Prometheus in 1975, achieved with a special laser apparatus designed by Lowell Cross.
Kay Marie Stolba, The Development o f Western Music: A History (Dubuque: Wm. C. Brown
Publishers, 1990), 743.
23. Blavatsky’s theories of color-music correspondence mirror those developed by Sir Isaac Newton in
Optiks (1704). For a discussion of Newton’s theories o f music and color, see Thomas Christensen,
Rameau and Musical Thought in the Enlightenment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993),
142-143.

18
Scriabin believed the “cosmic effect” of his music would be enhanced by the addition of
colors, which had mystical associations. For example, the color red related to matter,
whereas the color violet was spiritual and ethereal.24
Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is another figure who has
mistakenly been regarded as a synesthete. Like Scriabin, Kandinsky was influenced by the
theosophy of Madame Blavatsky; Kandinsky himself stated that his color-music
correspondences had no scientific basis.25 In the book On the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky
described his theories regarding correspondences among the senses and the affective power
of art. Similar to Bourgogne, who believed that art and music were the result of similar
profound rhythms, Kandinsky believed the human soul responds to an artwork through
inner vibrations.26 Moreover, Kandinsky held that the artist is a necessary element in the
production of these vibrations. Speaking analogously of the piano, “Color is the keyboard.
The eye is the hammer, while the soul is a piano of many strings. The artist is the hand
through which the medium of different keys causes the human soul to vibrate.”^^
Kandinsky continued, “Color embodies an enormous though unexplored power which can
affect the entire human body as a physical organism... Color is a means of exercising
direct influence upon the soul.”28 According to Kandinsky’s theories, musical timbres,
like colors, can result in a corresponding vibration of the human soul; furthermore,
metaphorically speaking, vibrations caused by colors correspond to those caused by
musical timbres. For example, the color orange, which Kandinsky claimed is suggestive
of happiness and health, corresponds to the timbre of a medium-sized church bell, a strong
24. Charles S. Myers, “Two Cases of Synaesthesia,” British Journal o f Psychology 111 (May 1914), 115.
25. For a discussion o f Kandinsky’s “invention” as a synesthete, see Dann, Bright Colors Falsely Seen,
54-63.
26. Wassily Kandinsky, On the Spiritual in Art (New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1946),
43.
27. Kandinsky, On the Spiritual in Art, 43.

19
alto voice, or a viola; the color violet, whieh possesses an element of frailty or sadness,
corresponds to a plaintive timbre, such as that of an English horn, shepherd’s flute, or

bassoon.29
Etiology of idiopathic synesthesia
To distinguish idiopathic synesthesia from acquired synesthesia and contrived
synesthesia, Richard Cytowic has established five diagnostic criteria.30 First, synesthesia
is involuntary, but elicited. It is an automatic, unsuppressible, passive response to a
stimulus. In the absence of the proper stimulus, a response cannot be evoked at will.
Synesthesia cannot be acquired through volition or mere suggestion (although some
synesthetes are able to ignore the experience to varying degrees). Second, synesthesia is
“spatially extended;” synesthetic percepts occur outside but very close to the body, typically
within arm’s reach. Color-music synesthetes often describe percepts as a series of colors
projected onto a screen in front of the face. Third, synesthetic percepts are consistent and
discrete. Synesthetic percepts do not change over time, and are very specific. In recent
studies, researchers have asked synesthetes to demonstrate their colors using special
computer software: in every case, the synesthete takes several minutes, painstakingly
ensuring that the color on the computer screen is “just so.” Although synesthetic percepts
are discrete, they are unelaborated. Visual percepts have precise colorations, but are in
simple shapes such as a blobs, lines, or spirals—never a eomplex scene or recognizable
image. Example 2.1 contains several graphic depictions of visual synesthetic percepts—
what researchers refer to as “photisms.” The depictions, executed by various synesthetes,
are quite vague in content. As synesthetic percepts are unelaborated, synesthetes

accordingly find the condition ineffable, and have a difficult time describing their percepts.
30. Cytowic, Synesthesia, 67-70.
R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
20
Fourth, synesthesia is memorable. Although synesthetes eannot volitionally evoke a
synesthetic response, they are able to recall their synesthetic percepts. Many synesthetes
use their abilities as a mnemonic aid; sometimes synesthetic percepts are easier to recall than
the original stimu lus.Fifth, synesthesia is emotional. Synesthetic experiences are
accompanied by a feeling of certitude, a conviction that what is being perceived is indeed
real.
Example 2.1. Several graphic depictions of photisms.
Researchers have identified other general characteristics of synesthesia. Synesthetic
perceptions are idiosyncratic rather than uniform, a fact that constemated early researchers.
31. Aleksandr R. Luria’s synesthetic subject “S” had an astounding capacity for memorization that seemed
to be limitless. Aleksandr R. Luria, The Mind o f a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory,
trans. L. Solotaroff (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968).
R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m issio n o f th e co p y r ig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .

21
Messiaen seems to have understood the idiosyncrasy of his synesthetic perceptions: “I
think that others cannot have exactly the same intuitions as I do, because each person—you
know, there’s the saying, ‘Tastes and colors cannot be argued’—each person has his own
way of seeing things.”^2 Furthermore, most researchers agree that synesthesia is
unidirectional. For example, if sounds evoke colors, then colors will not evoke sounds.
Contrary to some researchers (e.g., Cytowic, Synesthesia, 308-312), I believe that
Messiaen’s synesthesia was not bidirectional. On many occasions, Messiaen explicitly
stated that whenever he heard music he saw colors; however, he never explicitly stated the
converse (i.e., that whenever he saw colors he heard music). Messiaen did admit that he
was sometimes inspired by the coloration of a landscape or a bird. He also pointed out in
analyses of his own works how a particular chord (one chord among hundreds) evoked a
coloration similar to the coloration of a certain bird. But the fundamental problem with
determining whether or not a synesthete’s condition is bidirectional is the difficulty in
determining whether (as in the case of Messiaen) a color truly evokes a sound, or whether
the color merely reminds the synesthete of the synesthetic experience, thereby summoning
the memory of the sound. At present, 1 am aware of no clinical test for bidirectionality in
synesthetic experience.
Until recently, researchers have tended to regard synesthesia as pathological.23
Only in the last quarter of the twentieth century has the development of more sophisticated
research techniques (i.e., brain imaging, electrophysiological recording, DNA analysis,
and positron emission tomography) led researchers to a much different understanding of
synesthesia. Most researchers now believe that synesthetes are bom with the condition,
and that the brain of the synesthete is somehow fundamentally different than that of non-
32. “Je pense qu’ils ne peuvent pas avoir exactement les memes intuitions, parce que chaque personne,
vous savez, on dit bien que des gouts des couleurs on ne peut pas discuter, chacque personne a sa fa9 on
de voir les choses.” Olivier Messiaen, Entretien avec Claude Samuel (Erato BCD 75505, 1988).
33. Lawrence E. Marks, “On Colored-Hearing Synesthesia: Cross-Modal Translations of Sensory

Dimensions,” Psychological Bulletin 82/3 (May 1975), 323.

22
synesthetes. Simon Baron-Cohen and John Harrison posit that synesthesia is a product of
“unusual anatomic conductivity”—where an overabundance of neural connections causes
modularity (the separation of sensory input into the five senses) to break down.^4 Arguing
against traditional notions of a hierarchical or computational model of brain organization,
Cytowic has advanced a controversial theory that challenges the traditional notion of a
strictly linear flow of information within the brain .35 He subscribes to a “multiplex” model
of the brain—one that is holistic, decentralized, and allows for the multidirectional transfer
of information among parts of the brain. Within the brain of the synesthete, “transmodal
binding” occurs; sensory stimuli are interpreted as the product of more than one sensory
modality. Cytowic further posits that the process takes place within the limbic system, a
part of the brain that receives only highly abstract neural s i g n a l s . It is for this reason that
synesthetic percepts are generic, rather than elaborated.
Conclusions
By studying Messiaen’s testimony, one can verify that Messiaen satisfied four of
Cytowic’s five diagnostic criteria for idiopathic synesthesia: Messiaen’s condition was
involuntary but elicited (it occurred whenever he heard or read music); consistent and
discrete (colorations did not change over time, and were very specific); memorable (the
percepts could be recalled and described); and accompanied by a sense of emotional
certitude (he felt that what was happening was indeed real). The one diagnostic criterion
that Messiaen does not satisfy is that of spatial extension—that synesthetic percepts occur
outside the body, within arm’s reach. Messiaen reported that he perceived colored images
internally, in his “mind’s eye.” However, many of Cytowic’s own subjects also did not
34. Simon Baron-Cohen, J. Harrison, L. Goldstein and M. Wyke, “Coloured Speeeh Perception: Is
Synesthesia What Happens When Modularity Breaks Down?,” Perception 22 (1993), 419-426.
35. For a full description, see Cytowic, Synesthesia, 207-270.
36. Cytowic, Synesthesia, 250.

23
satisfy this criterion. In one examination of 22 synesthetes, only 12 (55%) experienced

spatial extension.37
Messiaen’s idiopathic synesthesia represents a much different experience than
Baudelaire’s drug-induced perceptions, Scriabin’s mystical associations, and Kandinsky’s
psuedo-spiritual contrivances. The latter individuals do not satisfy any of Cytowic’s
diagnostic criteria for idiopathic synesthesia. As most researchers agree that synesthesia is
unidirectional, Baudelaire’s elaim to bidirectional sensory experience (“sounds have a
color; colors have a music”) could not have been idiopathic synesthesia. As synesthetes’
colors are idiosyncratic, the fact that Scriabin’s pc colors follow a “tidy” arrangement (the
colors of the visible spectrum mapping onto a series of perfect fifths) disqualifies him as a
synesthete. Kandinsky and Scriabin never explicitly stated that they experienced cross-
sensory perceptions (e.g., that sounds elicited a visual response). The special
physiological phenomenon that Messiaen described was not an intellectual contrivance
but—I believe—a real experience. As such, Messiaen’s testimony can be used to establish
a groundwork for further research.
37. Cytowic, Synesthesia, 22-23.
24
CHAPTER 3. DEFINITION OF MUSIQUE COLOREE
Although it may seem plausible that any type of music would have evoked color for
Messiaen, such was not the case. Messiaen often spoke of how, for him, the music of
Debussy, Wagner, Moussorgsky, Stravinsky, Chopin, and Mozart evoked color. ^
However, only some of Bach’s music evoked color; further, Schoenberg’s music was
“obstinately gray.”^ Discussing his own music, Messiaen described colorations only of
certain types of music, suggesting that certain key features were necessary for the evocation
of color. The term musique coloree refers to passages within Messiaen’s works in which
musical features enable the corresponding colors to emerge fully. The present chapter
explains nine identifying features of musique coloree.
Features of musique coloree
1. Texture is in block-chordform. Messiaen’s synesthesia was stimulated by
chords. In his writings, he provided colorations only for harmonies in block-chord form.
Since Messiaen never described colors of individual pitches, arpeggiated chords, or chords
whose constituent pitches are not heard simultaneously, one may assume that block-chord
texture is essential for the evocation of color.
2. Chords are classifiable. Passages of musique coloree emphasize chordal types
that are classifiable according to Messiaen’s theories. These sonorities comprise modal
1. Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond,
1986), 66-67.
2. “In Bach there are colored spots, but not everywhere. He has two styles, the fugal, very tonal one and
then the style of the chorales and the very poignant parts of the Passions, which is chromatic and of a
very different nature.” Almut Rossler, Contributions to the Spiritual World o f O livier Messiaen: With
Original Texts by the Composer, trans. Barbara Dagg, Nancy Poland, and Timothy Tikker (Duisburg:
Gilles und Francke, 1986), 77. “La couleur de Kandinsky peut etre violente alors que la musique de
Schonberg est obstinement grise.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 49.
25
chords, special chords, and tonal chords. A modal chord may be either a part of a “modal
passage” (a series of chords all in the same mode) or intermixed with other chordal types.
3. Tempo is slow; durations are not short. The tempo must be slow enough and
the durations long enough to allow the listener (i.e., Messiaen) enough time to recognize
and fully appreciate the harmonic colorations.^
4. Music is not mimetic. Although musique coloree is often found in
programmatic works, it does not occur in the imitation of extra-musical ideas, in particular
the musical rendering of birdsong. Messiaen sometimes harmonized birdsong with color
chords, but I would not classify such music as musique coloree, as the very quick
durations in Messiaen’s birdsong harmonizations would have been much too short to allow
Messiaen time to appreciate fully the harmonic colorations.
5. Music is in middle register. For Messiaen, register affected shading. Music in
high registers evoked pale colorations, while music in low registers evoked dark
colorations.'^ A given chord consistently evoked the same coloration; transposed an octave
higher it evoked the same coloration but with a lighter shading, while transposed an octave
lower it evoked the same coloration, albeit with a darker shading.^ Judging from
3. The notion that a stimulus must be o f a certain duration in order to evoke a synesthetic response is
supported by the research of neurologists Vilyanur Ramachandran and Edward Hubbard, who studied the
perceptions o f chromatic-graphemic synesthetes. While presenting graphemic stimuli at various
speeds, they found that their subjects experienced a synesthetic response when durations were 0.25
seconds or longer. When durations were between 0.1 and 0.2 seconds, the graphemes could still be
identified, but there was no synesthetic response. At durations shorter than 0.1 seconds, the stimuli
could not be identified, nor was there a synesthetic response. Vilyanur Ramachandran and Edward
Hubbard, “Psychophysical investigations into the neural basis o f synaesthesia,” Proceedings o f the
Royal Society o f London (Series B) 268/1470 (2001), 982.
4. After surveying the reports of numerous color-music synesthetes, Lawrence Marks concluded that the
correspondence between register and shading is generally consistent. He also found a correspondence
between register and the size of the photism, higher pitches evoking larger photisms. Dynamics and
tempo likewise produced similar responses, loud music evoking larger and brighter photisms, and fast
music evoking sharper, more angular photisms. Lawrence E. Marks, “On Colored-Hearing
Synesthesia: Cross-Modal Translations of Sensory Dimensions,” Psychological Bulletin S2I3 (May
1975), 315, 318.
5. Olivier Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1988), 6 .

26
Messiaen’s descriptions, all pitches below D3 were virtually black; all pitches above E6
were so pale as to be nearly w h i t e Musique coloree occupies the middle register, where
the harmonic colorations are neither too dark nor too light, and are the most distinct.
6. Voice leading is smooth. Within a harmonic succession, each chord’s voicing
tends to cover the same general span. From chord to chord, individual voices tend to move
in similar motion; outer voices generally do not leap. The register-shading correspondence
in Messiaen’s synesthesia seems to account for the general registral consistency within
musique coloree.
1. Meter is irregular. Although a constantly changing meter is typical of
Messiaen’s style, it may have been vital for the evocation of color. Some synesthetes
report that meter can have an effect on synesthetic perception. My subject AF, a composer
with color-music synesthesia, explained her preference for changing meter:
Vierhebigkeit [the tendency for music to fall into four-bar phrases] and any
type of regularity makes one color more prominent than the other. An
example: Mozart’s music is clearly measured and thus I start hearing the
downbeats only—and thus the colors of the downbeats become more
prominent—and thus the picture loses its interest. If in eight measures
every downbeat is a D tonic or an F mediant all the beautiful progressions in
the middle will go unnoticed because of my hopelessly classical education.
The rhythm in my music changes constantly not only because I am
Bulgarian (and permanently changing rhythms are one of the characteristics
of our folk music), but mostly because the irregularity of the patterns keeps
my senses and interest awake.'^
Thus, it seems that for certain synesthetes metric regularity can highlight certain colorations
and suppress others. Messiaen spoke of his preference for ametric music—what he
referred to as “rhythmic music”:
6 . Physiologist Otto Ortmann noticed a similar phenomena while studying the perceptions of his subject
D, an adolescent girl with color-music synesthesia. For D, pitches below FI and above E6 were
virtually colorless. Otto Ortmann, “Theories o f Synesthesia in the Light o f a Case of Colored
Hearing,” Human Biology 512 (1933), 184.
7. Personal interview with AF, January 5, 2002.
27
Schematically, rhythmic music is music that shuns repetition, measure, and

equal division; it is inspired, in short, by the movements of nature,
movements of free and unequal durations. Classical composers (in the
Western sense of the term) are bad rhythmicians, or rather musicians who
are unaware of rhythm. In the music of Bach, there are harmonic colors
and extraordinary counterpoint; it is marvelous and brilliant music, but there
is no rhythm.*
Perhaps Messiaen’s penchant for ametric music was linked to his synesthesia. By avoiding
metric regularly, he could better control the relative prominence of juxtaposed harmonic
colorations and ensure that all colorations were equally distinct.
8. Durations are additive. Rhythmic durations within musique coloree comprise
different combinations of a simple durational unit. Irrational values are absent in musique
coloree.
9. Music was composed after the early 1950s. After the early 1950s, Messiaen’s
conunents about musical color show a marked change. Before that time, his descriptions
of musical color were generic; after that time, they were specific. It seems apparent that by
the early 1950s Messiaen’s synesthetic perceptions were seemingly affecting his
compositional choices..
Like the majority of synesthetes, Messiaen first took note of his synesthetic
perceptions as a pre-adolescent.^ However, during his youth, Messiaen did not fully
comprehend his synesthesia, nor did he pay particular attention to it; Messiaen’s writings
suggest that he only gradually grew to appreciate his condition. Cytowic found that while
most synesthetes report having experienced the condition as far back as they can remember,
there are some who started noticing the condition later in life—particularly during
8 . “Sch^matiquement, une musique rythmique est une musique qui meprise la repetition, la carrure et les
divisions egales, qui s'inspire en somme des mouvements de la nature, mouvements de durdes libres et
inegales.. . Les classiques, au sens occidental de ce terme, sont de mauvais rythmiciens, ou plutot des
musiciens qui ignorent le rythme. Dans la musique de Bach, il y a des couleurs harmoniques, un
travail contrapuntique extraordinaire, c'est merveilleux et genial, mais il n'y a pas de rythme.” Claude
Samuel, Entretiens avec Olivier Messiaen (Paris: Editions Pierre Belfond, 1967) 6 6 .
9. Rossler, Contributions, 54.

28
adolescence—after which their perceptions became gradually more intense. 10 My subject
AF first took notice of her synesthetic perceptions during late adolescence:
Synesthesia slowly revealed itself to me, since I was not really sure what I
was experiencing while listening to music. The older I became, the more I
was able to define that the colors I thought I was imagining are definitely
connected with certain pitches. Only about a year and a half ago I read
somewhere what synesthesia was and I suddenly became aware that some
of the descriptions—especially the one about a “screen” or the “inner eye”—
appeal to me in a very familiar way.n
Messiaen often spoke of how his first meeting with the Swiss painter Charles Blanc-Gatti,
a color-music synesthete, gave him cause to reflect upon his own perceptions. Messiaen
and Blanc-Gatti first met when Messiaen was in his early twenties. Messiaen said:
I think that I have always possessed this “sixth sense,” but I only became
aware of it very gradually. At first, I had it without consciously realizing it.
Then little by little, perhaps because of my encounter with the painter Blanc-
Gatti, I became aware of what was happening in me. And then I ended by
studying it, by studying myself, by codifying certain sound-color
relationships that appeared more obvious to me, and even including them in
my treatise. But that was not done in one day because it is, all the same,
very specific and very delicate.
Most likely, Messiaen was unfamiliar with contemporary medical research on synesthesia;
like most synesthetes, he was probably confused about his condition. Except for his
acquaintance with Blanc-Gatti, whose particular synesthesia was somewhat different than
10. Richard E. Cytowic, Synesthesia: A Union o f the Senses, second edition (Cambridge: MIT Press,
2002), 58. Kevin Dann also discusses synesthetic perception becoming more elaborate over time.
Kevin Dann, Bright Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search fo r Transcendental Knowledge
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 3.
11. Interview with AF, January 4, 2002.
12. “Je pense que j ’ai toujours possede ce sixi^me sens mais je ne m ’en suis rendu compte que tres
progressivement. Je I’ai d’abord eu en moi-meme sans que 9 a parvienne h la conscience claire, puis peu
a peu, peut-etre k cause de ma reneontre avec le peintre Blanc-Gatti, j ’ai pris conscience de ce qui se
passait en moi. Et puis j ’ai fini par I’dtudier, par m’dtudier moi-meme, par codifier certains rapports
son-couleurs qui me paraissaient plus evidents et meme les transporter par ecrit dans mon traite. Mais
9 a ne s’est pas fait en un jour parce que c ’est une chose, tout de meme, tres particuliere, tres ddlicate.”
Robert Laliberte, “Messiaen : musicien de I’arc-en-ciel,” La Vie musicale (March 1971), 9. See also
Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 6 .
29
his own, the only way Messiaen learned more about his condition was by studying
himself. He later recalled, “I was my own doctor.”i3 As Messiaen grew to accept his
condition as real, he began to study his colored perceptions more closely. He ultimately
created charts for each of his modes and special chord-types, illustrating all possible
voicings and transpositions, and their respective colorations.
Messiaen’s first published comments regarding sound-color correspondence date
from the late 1930s and show the influence of contemporary thinking. While at the Paris
Conservatory, Messiaen studied composition with Paul Dukas (1865-1935), who did not
have synesthesia but did believe in a correspondence between sound and color.
Messiaen recalled, “Under his tutelage 1 understood that there are colors in music that one
can see.”i5 in the opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Dukas related certain gemstones and their
corresponding colors to particular tonalities (pc collections). Messiaen described the
music of Paul Dukas as “a divination of many modem theories of luminous vibrations,
colored audition, and the rapports between colors and sounds.”!^
Until the mid-1940s, Messiaen’s references to sound-color are generic, symbolic,
or metaphoric. The preface to Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1942) mentions swords of
fire, lava flows, stars, and “a gyrating interpenetration of superhuman sounds and
colors.”!^ A scriptural passage from the book of Revelation describing the precious gems
13. “J’ai ete mon propre medecin.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 183.
14. Dukas also instilled in Messiaen an appreciation o f compositional methods that exploited natural
resonance, and encouraged Messiaen to study birdsong. Olivier Messiaen, “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue de
Paul Dukas,” La Revue Musicale 166 (May-June 1936), 403.
15. “[Ich] habe durch seine Lehrtatigkeit begriffen, daB es in der Musik Farben gibt, die man sehen kann.”
Leonardo Pinzauti, “Gesprach mit Olivier Messiaen,” Melos 1972/5, 272.
16. Messiaen published an appreciation of this work. Messiaen, “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue," 399-406.
17. “Ceci est une divination de bien des theories modemes sur les vibrations lumineuses, 1’audition colorde,
les rapports des couleurs et des sons.” Messiaen, “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue,” 400,404.
18. “Une compenetration giratoire de sons et couleurs surhumains.” Olivier Messiaen, Quatuor pour la fin
du temps (Paris: Durand, 1942), i-ii.
30
of the heavenly city of Jerusalem provided a continual inspiration for M e s s ia e n , The
score of Visions de I’Amen (1943) references “sapphire, emerald, topaz, hyacinth,
amethyst, sardonyx, the entire rainbow of precious stones of the Apocalypse that sound,
shock, dance, color, and perfume the light of l i f e . ”20 Messiaen’s writings also contain
references to rainbows and stained-glass windows; in Technique, Messiaen went so far as
to list rainbows and stained-glass windows among his “musical” influences.21
Messiaen’s writings from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s contain virtually no
mention of the sound-color relationship. During this time, Messiaen experimented with
various compositional techniques, including dodecaphonism; also at this time, Messiaen’s
rhythmic experiments reached a zenith. From 1949 to 1952, Messiaen taught at Darmstadt,
where his compositional aesthetics were stimulated by progressive students including
Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Notable experimental works of Messiaen from
this period include Quatre etudes de rythme (1950) for piano, Livre d ’argue (1951) for
organ, and Timbre-durees (1952) for magnetic tape, abandoned by Messiaen and later
realized by Pierre Henry.
In the mid-1950s, Messiaen first specified harmonic colorations evoked by his
music. In Catalogue d ’oiseaux (composed 1956-58), indications in the score identify
colorations of specific modal passages. In the score of the orchestral work Sept Haikai
(1962), Messiaen noted the colorations of specific modes and chords. In Couleurs de la
cite celeste (1963), Messiaen again indicated harmonic colorations in the score; in the
19. Revelation 21:19-20.
20. “Saphir, 6 meraude, topaze, hyacinthe, amethyste, sardoine, tout I’arc-en-ciel des pierres prdcieuses de
I’Apocalypse, qui sonnent, choquent, dansent, colorent e parfument la lumiere de Vie.” Olivier
Messiaen, Visions de I’Amen (Paris; Durand, 1943).
21. Olivier Messiaen, Technique de mon langage musical, 2 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc et Cie, 1944), I,
4.
31
preface, Messiaen stressed that the form of the work depended entirely on color.22 Traite,
published in 1992, contains dozens of description of h£irmonic colorations.
Although Messiaen used many of the same “colored” compositional resources (i.e.,
modes, special chords) throughout his career, only works composed after 1950 qualify as
musique coloree. During the composition of his early works, Messiaen did not fully
appreciate the music’s colored evocations. Later in his life, Messiaen described colorations
in his early works; however, such descriptions were made a posteriori, which reduces their
validity as proof that color played a meaningful role in the composition of early works.
Conclusions
For Messiaen, not all types of music were capable of evoking color. Musique
coloree, a special type of music composed by Messiaen, contained certain musical
characteristics necessary for the evocation of color. Within musique coloree, musical
parameters are simplified: texture is a consistent block-chord form, registral extremes are
minimized, rhythms are based on an additive durational unit, and durations are simple
rather than irrational. The simplification of musical parameters not only allows colorations
to emerge fully but perhaps also prevents elaborate surface features from distracting
attention from the colors, thereby highlighting the coloristic dimension of the music,
allowing color to become an integral component of the work as a whole.
22. “La forme de 1’oeuvre depend entierement des couleurs. Les themes mdlodiques ou rythmiques, les
complexes de sons et de timbres, evoluent h. la fa§on des couleurs.” Olivier Messiaen, “Premiere note
de I’auteur,” Couleurs de la cite celeste (Paris: Leduc, 1966).
32
CHAPTER 4. METHOD FOR DETERMINING

HARMONIC COLORATIONS AS PERCEIVED BY MESSIAEN
The principal aim of the chapter is to determine the basis for quantifying music-
eolor correspondences, as perceived by Messiaen. Although Messiaen deseribed only
colorations of chords, his synesthetic response depended upon a complex and elaborate
system of relationships that resided fundamentally at the level of pitch class (pc). In
studying Messiaen’s descriptions of harmonic colorations, there is strong evidence that
each of the twelve pcs corresponded to a base color. It is my contention that within a
sounding chord, the base colors of the constituent pcs interacted and evoked a resultant
harmonic coloration.
The chapter begins by determining the base colors of the twelve pes. The
mechanics of harmonic coloration are then analyzed, demonstrating how for Messiaen
individual pe colors within a chord interacted and evoked a harmonic coloration. The
chapter concludes with the presentation of a method for determining unknown colorations
(i.e., colorations of chords that Messiaen did not describe in his writings). The method
begins with the analysis of a chord’s pc colors. Following proposed guidelines, adjacent
pc colors within a chord are grouped into zones, the resultant harmonic coloration
comprising a set of discrete zones of color. The testimony of a color-language synesthete
supports such a method:
Consonants, when thought of by themselves, are of a purplish black; but

when I think of a whole word, the color of the consonants tends towards
the color of the vowels. For example, in the word “Tuesday,” when I think
of each letter separately, the consonants are purplish black, mis a light dove
color, e is a pale emerald green, and a is yellow; but when I think of the
whole word together, the first part is a light gray-green, and the latter part
yellow. 1
1. Sir Francis Galton, “Colour Associations,” Synaesthesia: Classic and Contemporary Readings, ed.
Simon Baron-Cohen and John E. Harrison (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd, 1997), 45. Galton does
not specify the stimulus for the subject’s synesthesia (i.e., whether the stimulus is aural or visual).
For my purposes, the nature o f the subject’s stimulus is irrelevant; I simply seek to illustrate how the
elements o f a stimulus may interact.

33
For this particular synesthete, letters correspond to base colors. When the synesthete
thinks of a word, the base colors of the word’s constituent letters fuse into separate zones
of color—the word “Tuesday” evoking two zones of color. Analogously, for Messiaen,
the base colors of a chord’s constituent pcs fused into separate zones of color.2
Like all synesthetic percepts, photisms are generic, appearing as crude forms rather
than recognizable pictures; they also vary in shape, size and coloration.^ In his writings,
Messiaen tended to list the colors within a harmonic coloration “from high to low.” The
expression “from high to low” refers to the position of discrete colors within a photism.
The pitches and colors of a chord comprise two homologous series; the colors correspond
to the chord’s constituent pitches. Colors described as “high” were evoked by pitches in
the upper part of the chord and likewise were perceived in the upper part of the photism;
colors described as “low” were evoked by pitches in the lower part of the chord and
likewise were perceived in the lower part of the photism. When determining unknown
harmonic colorations, a visual model in the form of horizontal stacks of discrete colors—
similar to a spectrum—can be devised. Although synesthetic perceptions are idiosyncratic,
testimony by my subject LH supports such a model:
They [the colors] stack on top of each other, but do not have definite
beginnings and endings. It is almost like a rainbow effect, but they do not
create a new color where they join. They just blend—like impressionistic
painting, no definite line [of demarcation] where the new color starts. So if
2. Throughout the coloristic analyses in the remainder of this dissertation, following the practice of
Messiaen, the word “and” is used to signify either that two colors appear together, either in the same
zone or in two overlapping zones. Commas differentiate zones.
3. The most rigorous research into photisms has been conducted by University o f Chicago neuroscientist
Heinrich KlUver, who studied people who experienced mescaline-induced synesthesia. During the
1920s, Klilver interviewed dozens of people who had taken mescaline and even went so far as to take
the drug himself. Kltiver categorized the various shapes of photisms into four fundamental types,
which he called “form constants”: grating and honeycombs, tunnels and cones, cobwebs, and spirals.
Heinrich KlUver, “Mescal Visions and Eiditic Vision,” American Journal o f Psychology 37 (1926),
502-515. See also, Heinrich KlUver, Mescal and Mechanisms o f Hallucination (Chicago; University
of Chicago Press, 1966). Cytowic suggests a further classification o f “movement constants”: rotation,
pulsation, oscillation, and concentric movement. Richard E. Cytowic, Synesthesia: A Union o f the
Senses, second edition (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002), 177-178.
34
I have an F-major chord, the colors from bottom to top are: purple [Fl:|],
yellow [At|], tomato red [Cl]]. If the chord is in first inversion, the yellow
would be on the bottom.4
In the model proposed in the dissertation, zones constitute areas of discrete color within a
harmonic coloration; however, as will be shown, zones sometimes overlap or nest within
one another.
Determining the base colors of Messiaen’s pcs

Messiaen sometimes indicated the coloristic effect of a single pc within a description
of harmonic coloration. Such descriptions provide tantalizing clues regarding the
correspondence between pitch class (pc) and color. On at least four occasions, Messiaen
described Ct| as white.^ He generally described Al:] as either pale blue or deep blue; from
this, one might assign At] a base color of blue.^ The pc Bt| evoked an array of colors from
pink to violet: “red,” “red, pink,” “pink,” and “red, violet;” Bl] possibly had a base color of
red."^ Descriptions for G}|/AI> include “red,” “gold,” “brownish orange,” and “light, clear
brown”; the base color for G||/Ab seems to be a hue of red, perhaps a brownish red.* For
other pcs, Messiaen’s descriptions are contradictory. For example, C||/d 1>evoked both
“glowing red” and “greenish-black tarnish;” these descriptions are contradictory, because
red and green are complementary colors.^ The pc Gtj evoked both “yellow” and “white,”
4. Interview with LH, January 15, 2002.
5. Olivier Messiaen, Traite de rythme, de couleur, et d ’omithologie, 7 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc et
Cie, 1992), V/1, 357; 457; V/2, 513; 514.
6 . Descriptions o f “pale blue” stem from Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 466; 354; V/2, 514; 513-514. A
description of “deep blue” stems from Traits, V/2, 514.
7. Descriptions of “red” stem from Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 469; V/1, 470; V/1, 465; V/1, 466.
Descriptions of “red, pink” stem from Traite, V/1, 465; 466. Descriptions of “pink” stem from Traite,
V/1, 470; V/1, 466. A description of “red, violet” stems from Traite, V/1, 465.
8 . Descriptions of “red” stem from Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461; 469; 465. A description of “gold” stems
from Traite, V/1, 354. A description of “brownish orange” stems from Traite, V/2, 567. A
description of “light, clear brown” stems from Traite, V/1, 461.
9. Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461; Traite, V/2, 567.

35
but perhaps the white could actually be an off-white, cream, or very pale shade of
yellow. 10 The pc Et] seems to have evoked dissimilar colors: red, yellow (“gold”), and
blue. 11 Regarding descriptions of “violet” and “red” can be reconciled (because
violet contains red), but a description of “pale green” is disparate. 12
Of course, the above correspondences only represent a preliminary measure
towards establishing Messiaen’s pitch-color correspondences. A more accurate list of pc
colors can be established through two related analytical procedures. The first procedure
involves selecting a color and analyzing the pc content of chords that evoked that color; the
aim of the procedure is to determine which pc most frequently was present when that color
was evoked. Conversely, the second procedure involves selecting a pc and analyzing the
coloration of chords that contain that pc; the aim is to determine which color was most
frequently evoked when that pc was present. The two procedures are illustrated through an
examination of Messiaen’s analysis of his orchestral work Sept Haikai}^ In the analysis,
Messiaen presented several chords invented for the work and described their respective
colorations, listing the colors “from high to low.” The initial thirteen chords of the analysis
and their descriptions are presented in Example 4.1.

The first procedure for determining pc-colors is illustrated through the examination
of chords that contain yellow. By examining chords that contain yellow, one can determine
to which pc yellow corresponds. Among chords 1-13, seven chords contain “yellow” in
their description: 1 (at the “top” of the description), 8 (near the “bottom” of the
10. A description of “yellow” can be found in Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,462. A description of “white” can be
found in Traite, V/1, 465.
11. A description o f E-natural as “red” can be found in Messiaen, Traite, V /1, 469. A description of E-
natural as “pink” can be found in Traite, V /1 ,466. A description of E-natural as scintillating gold” can
be found in Traite, V/1, 466. Deseriptions of E-natural as “pale blue can be found in Traite, V/1, 470;
355; 470. A description of E-natural as “blue” can be found in Traite, V/2, 514.
12. A description o f “violet” can be found in Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,456. A description o f “pale green” can
be found in Traite, V/1, 461; 357-358. Descriptions o f “red” can be found in Traite, V/2, 513.
13. Messiaen, Traite, 464—467.
36
description), 9 (at the “top” of the description), 10 (at the “top” of the description), 11 (at
the “top” of the description), 12 (at the “bottom” of the description), and 13 (in the
“interior” of the description). Seven pcs are common to all seven chords: Gt|, Dl^, Al|, F^,
Ab, Db, and Eb; Elj is present in six of the seven chords. (The other four pcs are absent in
these chords.) Comparing the location of the color yellow within each description to the
pcs in each chord, it seems that the color yellow most closely corresponds to Gt|. Chords
1, 9 and 10 contain Gtj at the top of the chord and yellow at the top of the description; chord
12 contains Gtj at the bottom, with yellow likewise at the bottom of the description.
Chords 8 and 13 contain Gtj in the interior of the chord and yellow in the interior of the
description. Chord 11 contains Gtj in the upper part of the chord (the pitches of which
evoke “yellow gray”). The list of pc colors given earlier in the chapter (which recounts
Messiaen’s descriptions of Gtj as “white” and “yellow”) is consistent with the conclusion
that Glj evoked yellow. (Also, of the remaining chords, most of those that contain the pc
Gtj but do not evoke yellow do evoke a yellowish hue. In chord 3, the pc Gtj seems to
correspond to the color “orange” in the description; likewise, in chord 5, the pc Gtj
corresponds to the color “gold.”)
A second procedure for determining pc-colors is used in the examination of chords
that contain the pc Alj. The aim of the procedure is to determine the most likely base color
for Alj. In Example 4.1, Alj is the lowest note in chords 1-7. The “lowest” colors of
chords 1-7 are, respectively, “pearly gray,” “violet,” “violet,” “blue,” “blue,” “blue,” and
“blue.” The most common color is blue, which occurs in a pure form in four out of seven
chords; violet, which contains blue, occurs in two chords. The “pearly gray” in the first
chord could be interpreted as a very pale (practically colorless) dull blue. Therefore, it is
plausible that the base color of Alj is blue. The list of pc colors given earlier in this chapter
(which suggests that Alj evoked “pale blue, white,” “pale blue” or “deep blue”) reinforces
the conclusion that the base color of Alj is blue.
37
Example 4.1. Thirteen chords and their colors, from Traite de rythme, V/2, pp. 464-465.
©
pale yellow,
®
clear vivid red,
©
orange,
® © ©
white, reddish clear brown, pink gray.
©pale green.
mauve. mauve gray.
Fi=B=
m 17TT-
re :
■’t] ' 'ti^ ' t|^ I,'
coppery pink, clear brick reddish gray, pink and blue, gold, blue, coppery red, pale violet,
pearly gray. red, violet, violet. blue. blue.
©pale yellow, ®pale yellow, ®yellow gray, ®mauve gray.

mauve gray and pink.
green. mauve.
ttM: -t
f —p~o~
k te .
3
yellow and gray, pale blue, white, with violet gray, violet, yellowish white,
reddish gray, gray and violet green blue, yellow. violet.
veins.
The preceding procedures, applied to all of Messiaen’s published descriptions of
harmonic colorations, provide evidence for the following pitch-color correspondences:
cl| clear
qtm b blue green
gray green
Dff/Et violet
El, gray blue
Fl| copper (red/green)
F trc t sparkle
yellow
G fA t violet
Al, blue
Att/Bb violet
Bl, deep red

38
Most pcs correspond to a single color, but a few are equivocal. For example, (blue
green), Dt| (gray green), and El| (gray blue) could evoke either of two colors. Within the
context of a single chord, the colors of these pitches tend to align with the colors of
neighboring pitches. For example, Cj}/Dl> (blue green) would evoke blue when adjacent to
Al] (blue), but would evoke green when adjacent to Fl] (copper green). The base hue of Fl]
is “copper”; depending on context, it evoked either copper red or copper green. If its
neighbors evoked neither red nor green, the default color of Ft] was green. The pcs Ct] and
F|} were c o l o r l e s s . I choose to relate Cl] to “clear,” despite the fact that Messiaen
described Cl] as “white” on a few occasions; I find much more compelling evidence that the
presence of Cl] resulted in a more translucent coloration, rather than a paler coloration. The
next section of the dissertation demonstrates how these base colors interacted and evoked
resultant harmonic colorations.
Mechanics of harmonic coloration
In Messiaen’s case, a harmonic coloration did not consist of a set of one-to-one
correspondences between a chord’s pcs and the respective colors of those pcs. Because
harmonic coloration contain fewer colors than pcs, one may infer that the colors evoked by
certain pcs either fused or did not appear. However, synesthetically perceived colors do
not blend in the same way as do pigments. Color is not an immutable physical property of
objects; color exists in the mind, and the perception of color is a complex neural
phenomenon. For synesthetes—who experience color in a special way—color can exist
independent of vision. Synesthetic perception of color seems to exist as a phenomenon
14. Cytowic has found that for certain synesthetes, not all elements of a stimulus (e.g., pitches, numbers,
letters o f the alphabet) evoke colors. Cytowic, Synesthesia, 36. My subject AF reported that for her
C-natural evoked no color and is “like an empty space, like a hole in your mind.” Personal interview
with AF, January 9, 2002.

39
distinct from visual perception. My subject LH explained that while her synesthetic colors
are simultaneous and homotopic, they remain distinct;
Colors definitely do not mix (such as yellow and blue mixing to produce
green). Rather, one color may feel “closer”—sort of like looking at two
screens, one behind the other. And even though one may sense blue
“behind” the yellow, the colors do not m ix . 15
Otto Ortmann, a physiologist, pianist, and former director of Peabody Conservatory,
studied descriptions of pitches and dyads perceived by his subject D, an adolescent girl
with color-music s y n e sth e s ia .I n D’s perception of dyads—whose constituent pitches
evoked a single, discrete color when heard individually—certain colors fused, while others
did not. In other words, some dyads evoked one color (the two constituent colors fusing),
while others evoked two colors (the two colors co-existing without fusing). Ortmann
hypothesized that synesthetic fusion of color was related to the order of colors within the
visible spectrum (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-violet). When the respective colors of a
dyad’s constituent pitches lay adjacent to one another in the visible spectrum, fusion
occurred, and a single color was evoked; when the two colors were not adjacent, fusion did
not occur, and two colors were evoked. For example, the colors of C3 (“beautiful red”)
and F3 (“very pretty orange”) fused into one color, “red-orange,” because red and orange
lie adjacent in the visible spectrum. The colors of C3 (“beautiful red”) and E3 (“yellow”)
did not fuse; they evoked “red and yellow,” because red and yellow do not lie adjacent in
the visible sp ec tru m .Exam ple 4.2 shows a colored-pencil drawing of a photism by
Ortmann’s subject D.i^ The stimulus was the dyad C4-D4, played on the piano. For D,
the pitch C4 evoked “red, nearing pink” and D4 evoked “green.” Because the two colors
15. Interview with LH, January 16, 2002.
16. Otto Ortmann, “Theories o f Synesthesia in the Light o f a Case o f Color-Hearing,” Human Biology
V /2(1933), 155-211.
17. Ortmann, “Theories of Synesthesia,” 186-190.
18. Ortmann, “Theories o f Synesthesia,” plate 1.

40
are not adjacent in the visible spectrum, they did not fuse, and appeared in her photism as
non-blending swirls. In her drawing, color-boundaries are clearly demarcated, with no
actual fusion where colors meet.
Example 4.2. Graphic depiction of photism evoked by

the dyad C4-D4, as perceived by Otto Ortmann’s subject D.
On the whole, Ortmann’s theory seems consistent with Messiaen’s descriptions;
however, it does not account for a possible fusion of red and violet—two colors which did
seem to fuse for M e s s ia e n . ^9 Since red and violet lie at opposite ends of the visible
spectrum, an alternate color series is needed, one that retains the order of colors within the
spectrum but also places red and violet adjacent to one another. Example 4.3 illustrates a
circular model that satisfies these criteria. The colors of the visible spectrum are
represented in a continuum, beginning at the top of the wheel (at red) and proceeding
clockwise (to violet); red and violet are now adjacent. In Example 4.3, Messiaen’s ten
colored pcs are positioned next to their respective colors; the pcs Ct] and Fji| /Gt>, which are
19. For Ortmann’s subject D, red and violet fused, but not consistently. For example, the colors of C3
(“beautiful red”) and A3 (“pretty purple”) fused into one color, “red-violet;” the colors of A3 (“pretty
purple”) and C4 (“red, nearing pink”) did not fuse, and evoked two colors, “purple and red.” Ortmann,
“Theories of Synesthesia,” 186-187.
41
colorless and can fuse with any pc, are placed at the center of the circle. Within a chord, pc
colors fuse with one another depending on their adjacent positions within the color-wheel.
For example, the colors of Et] (blue) and fib (red) would not fuse, because they are not
adjacent in the wheel; however, the colors of Et| (blue) and Ab (violet) fused (and evoked
blue violet), and the colors of Bb (red) and Ab (violet) fused (and evoked red violet).
Example 4.3. Color-wheel, with Messiaen’s pc colors.
red
orange
b lu e \ El] yellow
green
The color-wheel represents some anomalies regarding Messiaen’s pitch-color
correspondences. First, Cjj/E>b (blue green) is located between blue and green. The pc
C}|/Db typically fuses with either blue pitches (Etj, Al]) or green pitches (Dlj, Ft]); less
commonly, it fuses with violet pitches (G|t/Ab, D||/Eb) or yellow pitches (Gtj). Second,
since the base color of Ft] (copper) is equivocal, it is placed at both red and green. Third,
42
although the base color of Bl| is red, it would sometimes fuse with Gt] (yellow) and evoke
orange. The placement of a parenthetic Bt| at “orange” within the color-wheel serves as a
reminder of the pitch’s equivocal identity. Last, despite its inclusion within the color
wheel, Gt] (yellow) is somewhat inert and tends not to fuse with other colors.
The pcs Ctj (clear) and F}f (crystal) are both colorless, and may affect any other
color. Ctj clarifies other colors, making them appear somewhat translucent. F(| causes other
colors to sparkle, often resulting in gem-like quality. For example, Messiaen almost
always described the tetrachord Atj-Cj|-Et|-Fji as “intense sapphire blue.’’^^ The pcs At]
(blue), Ctl (blue green, but here assuming its blue identity) and Etj (pale blue) fused into a
zone of blue, while Fj^ contributed a sparkling, gem-like (“sapphire”) quality.
Applying the method to chords that Messiaen has already described illustrates its
precision. Example 4.4 shows a coloristic analysis of the first chord of Example 4.1 (from
earlier in the chapter). Messiaen described the chord’s coloration as “pale yellow, mauve,
coppery pink, pearly gray.” In the example, the chord’s pc colors are listed in a column to
the immediate right of the chord. In the second column, the colors are grouped into four
zones, corresponding to the four colors in Messiaen’s description; for pcs with equivocal
base colors, the color that is most similar to its neighbors is selected. In the lower system,
the four pitch-class zones are aligned with the four colors in Messiaen’s description; the
colors within each zone are adjacent on the color-wheel. The yellow of the Gtj evoked
“pale yellow,” due to its high register. The blue of the Db fused with the violets of e 1>and
Ab to evoke “mauve” (a violet-like color). The Ft] (which has an equivocal identify and can
evoke either green or red) here evoked a coppery pink. The grays and blues of Et], Dl], and
At] fused to evoke “pearly gray” (like mother-of-pearl, with swirls of gray, silver, and dull
blue).
20. Olivier Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1988), 8 ; Olivier Messiaen, Musique
et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986), 69; Messiaen, Traite,
III, 87; V/1, 354.
43
Example 4.4. Coloristic analysis of chord 1, from analysis

of Sept Haikai, Traite de rythme, Y/2, pp. 464-465.
“pale yellow,
mauve” pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:
d|-yellow Gl]-yellow J
I El>-violet
Db-blue green
Al>-violet
FI]-copper
E1>-violet
Dl>-blue
Ab-violet 0
El]-gray blue
$
Dl]-gray green
Al]-blue
Fl]-red
]©
“coppery pink, El]-gray
pearly gray” Dl]-gray
Al]-blue
©
©
pale yellow
© ©
coppery pink
©
pearly gray
1:]Q
~ri~
to=
Example 4.5. Coloristic analysis of chord 8, from analysis

of Sept Haika'i, Traite de rythme, V/2, pp. 464-465.
pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:

Ft]-copper Fl]- red
Ek-violet Eb-violet
Ab-violet Al>-violet
$
El]-gray blue
Dtj-gray green Gl]-yellow
Alj-blue
GH]-yellow El]-gray
“yellow and gray” Dl>-blue green Dlj-gray
Al]-blue
Dl»-blue green
©
mauve
©
yellow
©
gray
m;
44
Example 4.5 demonstrates how a zone may appear within another zone, using
chord 8 from Example 4.1. Messiaen described the upper part of the chord as “mauve.”
The lower part of the chord evoked “yellow and gray;” since in the description these two
colors are not separated by a comma, I infer Messiaen meant that the lower part of the
chord evoked two overlapping zones, rather than two adjacent zones. In the example, the
chord’s pc colors are listed in a column to the immediate right of the chord; in the second
column, the pc colors are separated into the chord’s three zones. In the uppermost zone, Ft]
(equivocal, either red or green) is overwhelmed by the colors of its neighbors Eb (violet)
and AI> (violet) and assumes its red identity; the zone as a whole evoked mauve. The pc Gt|
(yellow) constituted its own zone of yellow, enveloped by the larger zone of gray that was
evoked by the fusion of Et] (gray), Dt] (gray). At] (blue) and Db (blue green). This example
also illustrates the inert character of Gl]—how it tends not to fuse with other pcs.
Example 4.6. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase 2, chord 6.

Aft-red Ajt-red
Gjt-violet
Fft^rystal
Gtt-violet
I^ ry sta l
©
E^-violet
Cl]-clear Et-violet
Alf-blue Cl)-clear
Alj-blue
©
©
sparkling
©
clear
red violet blue violet
t
The method described here is most useful when applied to chords of unknown
coloration. Example 4.6 is drawn from “Apparition du Christ glorieux” (the first

45
movement of Eclairs sur VAu-Dela). The chord’s pc colors are listed in the first column,
and grouped into zones in the second column. In the upper part of the chord, Aj| (red) and
(violet) fuse into a zone of red violet; the Fjif (crystal) gives the zone a sparkling, gem
like quality. In the lower part of the chord. At] (blue) and Eb (violet) fuse into a zone of
blue violet; Ctj (clear) likely provided a clarity to the zone. The chord as a whole evoked
the coloration “sparkling red violet, clear blue violet.”
Example 4.7 shows a chord from “Apparition du Christ glorieux” that has
overlapping zones. The chord’s pc colors are listed in the first column, and grouped into
zones in the second column. In the upper zone, the Bl| assumes its orange identity and
fuses with Gl] (yellow) to evoke orange. The pcs in the lower zone fuse to evoke a blue
coloration; the F};f (crystal) provides the zone with a gem-like quality, resulting in
“sapphire.” Since the chord’s two zones overlap somewhat, in the description of chord’s
coloration the two component colors are separated by an “and” instead of a comma. The
chord as a whole evoked the coloration “orange and sapphire.”
Example 4.7. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase 8, chord 10.

Bl]-red Bl]-orange
Al]-blue
Gl]-yellow
Gi]-yellow ]©
\> n Eb-gray blue Al|-blue
Db-blue green Et-blue
F#-crystal
El)-gray blue
Db-blue
Fjt-crystal
©
El]-blue
©
orange
©
sapphire
io -
\> Al
46
Summary
The chapter offers a predictive method by which one can ascertain the coloration of
a chord for which Messiaen never gave a description. First, base colors of the twelve pcs
were suggested. Then, extending the research and theories of Otto Ortmann, a topographic
model of Messiaen’s pc-color correspondences was presented.21 The model is based on
Messiaen’s own testimony, and is supported by testimony of other synesthetes. The model
allows us to provide a complete coloristic analysis of a work or passage of musique
coloree.
21. Topographical models of pc-networks have become popular among music theory researchers. See, for
example, Richard Cohn, “A Tetrahedral Graph of Tetrachordal Voice-Leading Space,” Music Theory
Online 9/4 (October, 2003). However, whereas Cohn’s tetrehedral model offers a tool for an
unspecified repertoire, the dissertation’s circular model offers a tool for a specific repertoire.

Al
CHAPTER 5. MODES OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION AND SPECIAL CHORDS
This chapter examines Messiaen’s “modes of limited transposition” {modes d
transpositions limitees) and “special chords” (accords speciawc), which comprise the bulk
of the harmonic content of Messiaen’s musique coloree. Special chords include: the “chord
on the dominant” (CD), the “chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas” (CDA), the “chord
of resonance” (CR), the “chord with contracted resonance” (CCR), the “chord in fourths”
(C4), the “turning chord” (TC), and the “chord of total chromaticism” (CTC). The
construction, voicings, inversions, numberings, and colorations of each mode and each
special chord will he explained.
Messiaen’s writings contain numerous descriptions of his mode and chord
colorations. The descriptions are cross-referenced and listed in the Appendix. The
colorations provided are idealizations, determined by examining Messiaen’s various
descriptions and creating a coloration that accommodates the greatest number of
descriptions, and by applying the method outlined in the previous chapter. The chapter
reconstructs, inasmuch as possible, Messiaen’s pre-compositional charts, which show
modes and special chords in all possible transpositions and inversions, along with their
respective colorations.
The following abbreviations are used for special chords:
CD Chord on the dominant

CDA Chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas
CTI Chords with transposed inversions
CR Chord of resonance
CCR Chord with contracted resonance
C4 Chord in fourths
TC Turning chord
CTC Chord of total chromaticism
For special chords, superscripted numbers and letters will refer respectively to
transposition and voicing. For example in the label CCR^^^, “CCR” stands for “chord
48
with contracted resonance,” “12” indicates that the chord is in its twelfth transposition, and
“A” indicates that the chord is in voicing “A.”
General characteristics of Messiaen’s

modes of limited transposition
Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition are among his earliest inventions.^ The
transpositions are “limited” because the modes are transpositionally symmetrical: certain
transpositions yield the same pitch-classes as the original. (By contrast, the diatonic
collection—which is transpositionally asymmetrical—exists in an “unlimited” number of
transpositions; it can be transposed to all twelve chromatic degrees without reproducing
itself.) In Technique, Messiaen identifies seven modes, and claims, “Their series is closed.
It is mathematically impossible to find others, at least within our tempered system of twelve
semitones.”^ Although Messiaen presented seven modes in Technique, in practice he did
not use them all. Later in his life, he admitted that although he had catalogued seven
modes, in practice he made use of only four of them: modes 2, 3,4, and 6.”3 Mode 1 is a
subset of modes 3, 6 and 7; mode 5 is a subset of modes 4 and 7; mode 7 is a superset of
1. Messiaen’s modes have received much scholarly attention. In addition to the sources listed in Chapter
1, see: Jeffrey Burns, M essiaen’s Modes o f Limited Transposition Reconsidered (MA thesis, University
of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995); David Rogosin, Aspects o f Structure in O livier M essiaen’s Vingt
regards sur I’enfant Jesus (DMA thesis. University of British Columbia, 1996); and Max Forster,
Technik modaler Komposition bei Olivier Messiaen (Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Hanssler-Verlag, 1976).
2. “Leur sdrie est close. 11 est mathematiquement impossible d’en trouver d’autres, au moins dans notre
systeme tempere a 12 demi-tons.” Olivier Messiaen, Technique de mon langage musical (Paris:
Alphonse Leduc, 1944), 1, 51. Actually, there are other transpositionally symmetrical collections that
Messiaen did not include with his modes. (Messiaen’s modes are listed later in the present chapter.)
First, there are the complements to Messiaen’s seven modes, which exhibit the same transpositionally
symmetrical properties. The complement to mode 2 is [0369], a diminished seventh chord. The
complement to mode 3 is [048], an augmented triad. The complement to mode 7 is the dyad [06]. The
complements to modes 4 and 6 are [0167] and [0268], respectively. Messiaen likely dismissed the
complements to modes 2, 3,4, 6 and 7 because o f their small cardinality. (Modes 1 and 5 are self-
complementary, so their complements do not comprise new collections.) Second, there is [014589],
the so-called “hexatonic” collection, which could have qualified as a “mode,” transposable four times.
Messiaen never mentioned it, possibly because it is a subset of mode 3. The hexatonic collection can
be thought of as the combination of two augmented triads a semitone apart, while mode 3 can be
thought of as the combination of three different augmented triads.
3. Olivier Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1988), 7.
49
modes 1, 2 ,4, 5 and 6. Because of these subset/superset relationships, for Messiaen,
modes 1,5 and 7 were probably somewhat coloristically indistinct from the other modes.
Messiaen’s modes represent more of a harmonic resource than a melodic resource.
He claimed, “People have often referred to my modes of limited transposition as scales.
They are not scales, but harmonic colors.”^ Messiaen did sometimes use the modes in a
strictly melodic (i.e., monophonic, or unharmonized) manner, but only rarely after his
early works.^ Messiaen almost always presented his modes chordally, presumably to take
advantage of their particular colorations; only by presenting notes of a mode simultaneously
could a coloration emerge. He said of his modes, “Their function is coloristic. They are
not harmonies in the classical sense of the term; they are obviously not tonal harmonies.
They are not even classified chords.’’^ He further described the modes as “colored
locations, small colored regions, where the general color remains the same, as long as
neither mode nor transposition changes.”'^ In his writings, descriptions of modal
coloration always refer to one or more chords, never to melodies.
According to Messiaen, a succession of three or more chords in the same mode
(what is herein called a “modal passage”) evoked a uniform coloration. Somehow, modal
4. “On a souvent cite mes « modes a transpositions limitees » comme des gammes. Ce ne sont pas des
gammes, mais des couleurs harmoniques.” Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 7. Additionally, Messiaen
remarked, “The modes that I used, which I named ‘modes o f limited transposition,’ are more harmonic
than melodic.” (“Les modes que j ’utilisais, et que j ’ai nommes depuis les modes a transpositions
limitees, sont plus harmoniques que mdlodiques.”) Antoine Golea, Rencontres avec Olivier Messiaen
(Paris: Rend Julliard, 1960), 29.
5. For a rare example o f the monophonic use of a mode, see “Subtilitd des corps glorieux” (the first
movement o f the organ work Les corps glorieux). This entire movement comprises an unaccompanied
melodic voice, and begins with a passage in mode 2 ^.
6 . “Je dirai plus: leur emploi est colore; ce ne sont pas des harmonies dans le sens classique du terme, ce
ne sont dvidemment pas des harmonies tonales, ce ne sont meme pas des accords classds.” Claude
Samuel, Entretiens avec Oliver Messiaen (Paris: Editions Pierre Belfond, 1967), 48. Messiaen also
said, “The keys of the classic period had a tonic. The antique church modes had a final. My modes
have neither a tonic nor a final— they are colors. (“Les tonalitds classiques avaient une tonique. Les
modes antiques avaient une finale. Mes modes n’ont ni tonique ni finale, ce sont des couleurs.”)
Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond,
1986), 6 6 .
7. “Les modes sont des lieux colores, des petits pays colords, ou la couleur gdndrale reste la meme tant
que Ton ne change pas de mode ou de transposition.” Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 7-8.

50
passages evoked a general coloration, trumping the more local colors that any single chord
might evoke. Further, although modes contain a variety of pitch-classes, some modes
evoked a simple coloration—sometimes a single color. Isolated modal chords often evoked
a slightly different coloration than that of the mode proper. When analyzing individual
modal chords, or successions of two chords in the same mode, Messiaen would describe
colorations of individual chords in addition to those of the mode proper. For example, in
an analysis of two consecutive modal chords in Chronochromie, he describes the color of
the mode proper as “violet blue,” the color of the first chord as “clear violet blue,” and the
color of the second chord as “clear orange brown.’’^
Mode 1
Mode 1 is a six-note collection that exists in two transpositions. Example 5.1 lists
both transpositions of mode 1.^ The notes of mode 1 are a whole step apart;
each transposition of mode 1 comprises a whole-tone collection. Messiaen rarely employed
mode 1, and he never described colorations for its transpositions. In Technique, he
explained why he shunned mode 1: “Claude Debussy (in Pelleas et Melisande) and after
him Paul Dukas (in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue) used it so remarkably that there is nothing left to
add. We shall therefore carefully avoid helping ourselves to it—unless it is concealed in a
superimposition of modes that renders it unrecognizable.”i^ Example 5.2 illustrates a
passage from “Jesus accepte la souffrance” (the seventh movement of the organ work La
Nativite du Seigneur) in which mode 1 is obscured by additional pitch-classes; this early
work was composed in 1935, before Messiaen had become fully attuned to his synesthesia.
8. Olivier Messiaen, Traite de rythme, de couleur, et d ’omithologie, 1 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc,
1992), V/1, 354.
9. In modal designations, superscripted numbers refer to transposition. Modal transpositions are

numbered successively, in ascending order, beginning on C^.
10. “Claude Debussy (dans « Pelleas et Melisande ») et apres lui Paul Dukas (dans «Ariane et Barbe-Bleue »)
en ont fait un usage si remarquable qu’il n’y a plus rien ^ ajouter. Nous eviterons done soigneusement
de nous en servir. — A moins qu’elle ne soit dissimulee dans une superposition de modes qui la rende
meconnaissable.” Messiaen, Technique, I, 52.
51
In this example, the dyads in the upper staff comprise mode 1 The single notes in the
lower staff move chromatically.
Example 5.1. Mode 1.
Mode 1 Mode r
$ «-
Example 5.2. Concealed use of mode 1 in

“Jesus accepte la souffrance,” mm. 15-16.
Douloureux et vif {ad lib.)

— J 2.
• T F 1.^
r{ mf
Mode 2 Mode 2^ Mode 2-’
Mode 2
Mode 2 is an eight-note collection that exists in three transpositions. Example 5.3
lists Messiaen’s mode 2 in each of its transpositions. Mode 2, alternating semitones with
whole tones, is commonly labeled an octatonic collection. The colorations evoked by mode
2 in each of its transpositions are:
Mode 2^ violet blue

Mode 2^ gold, brown
Mode 2^ green
Messiaen employed mode 2 frequently.
52
Mode 3
Mode 3 is a nine-note collection that exists in four transpositions. Example 5.4 lists
Messiaen’s mode 3 in each of its transpositions. Mode 3 altemates a whole tone with two
semitones. The colorations of mode 3 in each of its transpositions are:
Mode 3^ orange, gold, milky white

Mode 3^ gray, mauve, a bit of gold
Mode 3^ blue, green
Mode 3^ orange, red, a bit of blue
Messiaen often expressed his fondness for the colorations evoked by mode 3. “Mode 3 is
transposable four times, but its best transposition [i.e., the one I find the most attractive] is
the second. I even think that mode 3^ is the best of all of my modes.” Messiaen
employed mode 3 more frequently than any other mode.
L_ ^t
------
>—o—tt|o — ■o t|u, R.9 1” = :
^— > o t|o ^------------------------
^ ^—
- y -------------------- ----- hi! ttll--- ----- h---- —t© ----

- m - , ----- L _ I . . ro 'd a'iid l?o q** ft” --- — " I,,, i s . ,„n----- >o bo
b o 1-------------------------------u
y b o q o 1" ' ------------ '------------------------
Mode 4 Mode r Mode 4^
« -&
b o ------— —1---- ,1 L
— H— o b » ? o b o “— b o ^ j — n----------------- 4 rrrl b o b o b o q m t * * 1—
t>o t] 0 '-----------------
11. “Le mode 3 est quatre fois transposable, mais sa meilleure transposition est la deuxieme. Je pense
meme que le mode 3 no 2 est le meilleur de tons mes modes.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 6 8 .
53
Mode 4
Mode 4 is an eight-note collection that exists in six transpositions. Example 5.5
lists Messiaen’s mode 6 in each of its transpositions. Mode 4 altemates three semitones
with a minor third. The colorations of mode 4 in each of its transpositions are:
Mode 4^ gray, gold, a bit of blue

Mode 4^ streaks of iron gray, pink-mauve and coppery
yellow; black and clear Pmssian blue; green and
piuple violet
Mode 4^ yellow, violet
Mode4^ violet, with white veins
Mode 4^ deep violet
Mode 4^ carmine red, violacious purple, mauve, gray, pink
Messiaen employed mode 4 infrequently.
Mode 5
Mode 5 is a six-note collection that exists in six transpositions. Example 5.6 lists
Messiaen’s mode 5 in each of its transpositions. Mode 5 altemates two semitones with a
major third. Messiaen never described colorations for the transpositions of mode 5.

Mode 5 Mode 5^ Mode 5
[,„ 1,1. >1° 11 ^ ^ |u tio-llo V j
Mode 5^ Mode 5-^ Mode 5°
♦
Mode 6 Mode 6 ^ Mode 6
--------------------- ,— L.— bo ■ 6 qo
?o 1--------- >—o rtjo ifii
---- b o 1— ^
t?o 1” 1— .-----------------------------u
54
Mode 6
Mode 6 is an eight-note collection that exists in six transpositions. Example 5.7
lists Messiaen’s mode 6 in each of its transpositions. Mode 6 altemates two whole tones
with two semitones. The colorations of mode 6 in each of its six transpositions are as
follows;
Mode 6^ gray, with bits of gold, orange, dark green

Mode 6^ brown, russet, orange, violet
Mode 6^ yellow, mauve, gold
Mode 6“^ yellow, violet, black
Mode 6^ gold, pale blue, violet, with brown outlines
Mode 6^ black, white, a bit of pale blue
Messiaen rarely employed mode 6.
M ode 7
Mode 7 is a ten-note collection that exists in six transpositions. Example 5.8 lists
Messiaen’s mode 7 in each of its transpositions. Mode 7 altemates four semitones with a
whole tone. Messiaen never described colorations for mode 7.
Mode 7 Mode T
. Mode 7^_____________________ Mode_7*_________________ ________

30-
Mode f 1
--------------- m b ii > 0 - VO— — t— l ?o b o q**—
Cj-o—
0 'b o -tlo
----- 1™ - >----- =1------'---------------------------------------^
■ J ..... b o <> ? o b o tj** 1-------
it” ^ "
55
Example 5.9. CD in root position.
im
$
Example 5.10. Analysis of root-position CD.
two added notes
I
“regular pentatonic” collection
Example 5.11. CD in its four fundamental voicings.

root position first inversion second inversion fourth inversion
A B C D
A
f JCC :§=
<2,3,2,3,6,5> <3,2,3,2,4,5> <2,3,4,2,5,3> <4,3,2,5,4,5>
Chord on the dominant (CD)
The chord on the dominant (accord sur dominante) is one of Messiaen’s earliest
special chords. Example 5.9 shows a CD in root position.i^ In Technique, Messiaen
defined the CD as a chord containing all the notes of the major scale;^3 jn terms of pitch-
class, the CD comprises a diatonic collection. In the Example 5.11, the notes of the CD
belong to the C-major scale; the root of the chord is G. In Traite, Messiaen gave a more
12. Following Messiaen’s theories, the root of a special chord is the lowest note o f the chord when in its
fundamental voicing (4tat fondamental).
13. Messiaen, Technique, I, 43.
56
Example 5.12. The 48 CDs.
IB 1C ID ,2A 28
CD 2C
lA 2D
CD CD CD CD CD CD CD
C33Z
^T-O-
i
Bxt B'cr
,4A ,48 ,4C ,4D

CD,3A CD
38
CD 3C CD3D CD' CD CD' CD'
/( 1 ■j o li ' t > o ......... 70------- i 4 i £ _ _ A -o-----
^ ...... V .......... t> o -------IL^ —
9 = I H 'I S S If
M l
CD.5A CD 58 CD,5C CD 5D CD',6A CD',68 CD'6C CD'6D
^ 1bo h t» . . . . l |" h t > hi -------- 4 o ------ - -^ O ---- n

- - - - - - hi } I t
. %>i. \^ s ....... ............. - - - - - - - ^ O - - - - - - - - ¥ i = 1]. o . . . . . . .
tb ; I |y g ^ H*!
-----------1 h ^ ...........b....* ^ 8 ------------ h r ® — ........... h t e ---------- ^ ----------- h r H i ---------- ------------------

^ ---------------H O ------- ----------^ o -------------------------------- V ® -----------— --------
tv ^ \ ^ f f :
CD®^ C D ^® C D ^^ C D ® '’ C d I oa c d '°® C D *® " C D ‘®°
- A — ^ ......... h i ^ » ........ ~ h l i\ } O 41 —
, . 1 ...............
C D “ '^ CD“ ® C D ‘“^ C D * ’*’ C D '^ '^ c d ‘^® c d '^*’ c d ‘^‘’
^ |° =
II ■ ‘l h '’ 8 <>1^8 II
- f e ------------- h^ 4 ---------------- ^ ---------------------------------- it—
l i V ^
} l V ^
7 ‘ ................. ............................................................. ^ ^ — —
57
precise definition of the CD: “a dominant ninth with the tonic in place of the leading tone,
and two added notes.’’^"^ Example 5.10 shows an analysis of the root-position CD. The
“dominant ninth with the tonic in place of the leading tone” comprises a “regular
pentatonic” collection, which lies at the bottom of the chord when in root position. The
“two added notes” lie at the top of the chord, a major tenth and a major thirteenth above the
root of the chord.
Messiaen used the CD in four fundamental voicings: root position {etat
fondamental), first inversion {premier renversement), second inversion {duexieme
renversement), and fourth inversion {quatreme renversement).^^ Messiaen’s labels for
voicings are somewhat idiosyncratic and do not follow traditional usage. Because a
specific voicing comprises a prescribed ordering of intervals, inversions are based on a
chord’s primary disposition (its root position). For example, the root position CD on G
comprises the pitehes (low to high): G -A -C -D -F-B -E . In first inversion, the pitch A is
in the bass; in second inversion, the pitch C is in the bass; in fourth inversion, the pitch F is
in the bass. Example 5.11 shows the CD in its four fundamental voicings. Messiaen
labeled the four voicings “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.” The voicing of chord A is
<2,3,2,3,6,5>. The voicing of chord B is <3,2,3,2,4,5>. The voicing of chord C is
<2,3,4,2,5,3>. The voicing of chord D is <4,3,2,5,4,5>. The four voicings of the CD
14. “L’accord sur dominante est une 9/7/+ avec la tonique k la place de la sensible, et 2 notes ajoutdes.”
Messiaen, Traite, IV, 105.
15. Although the notes of the CD can be reordered into a stack o f thirds (G -B -D -F -A -C -E , a so-called
“dominant thirteenth” chord), Messiaen did not present the CD as a tertian sonority. The CD is a
specific collection o f pitch classes in a specific voicing. The non-tertain construction o f the CD is
reinforced by the fact that Messiaen considered the third above the root an “added note,” not a part of the
fundamental pentachord.
16. Messiaen never explained why he skipped the third inversion of the CD. In the introductory notes to
the score o f the organ work La Nativite du Seigneur (Paris: Leduc, 1935), a very early work (published
nine years before Technique), he included the third inversion in a list of five possible dispositions of
the CD. Perhaps he later decided to skip the third inversion because its voicing <3,4,3,4,3,4>,
comprising alternating major and minor thirds, suggested a tertian sonority. Messiaen may have
discarded the fifth and sixth inversions because they would require the CDA to have an appoggiatura in
the bass; in such cases, a CD and its corresponding CDA would have different pitches in the bass.
Since inversion is defined by the bass pitch, the two chords (with different bass pitches) would appear
to be unrelated.

58
can be transposed to all twelve chromatic degrees, and there are a total of 48 CDs.
Example 5.12 shows the 48 CDs. The chart is arranged in twelve groups, corresponding
to the twelve possible transpositions; the four chords of each group share the same bass
note. Transpositions of CDs are numbered according to the root of the chord (the lowest
tone of the chord when in root position), in ascending order, beginning on Cj}.
Messiaen rarely used the CD in his late works, and never gave examples of its
colorations. Messiaen possibly abandoned the CD because of its close tonal associations:
each CD comprises a diatonic collection and can be understood as representative of a key.
Example 5.13. CDA in root position; comparison of CDA and CD.
CDA CDA CD
appogiaturas resolution
..
(0 ^ ------------------- - * - J t --------- ^ ----------
c ); ------
Example 5.14. CDA in its four fundamental voicings.
root position first inversion second inversion fourth inversion

A B C D
lo
nn
m o
TT"
oP
-rtP-
<2,3,2,3,8 ,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,4,4,5,1> <4,3,2,5,6,5>
17. In an analysis in Traite, Messiaen described a chord that could be analyzed as as “a white chord,
containing all the notes of C major.” (“Accord blanc, contenant toutes les notes de do majeur.”)
However, it is unclear whether he was referring to synesthetic color or the “whiteness” of the key of C
major. Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357. Many musicians, non-synesthetes included, classify the key of C
major as “white.” According to musicologist and humorist Nicolas Slonimsky, “What is the color of
C major? Four out o f five doctors say it is white. Why doesn’t the fifth doctor agree? Because he is a
violinist.” Nicolas Slonimsky, “Colors and Keys,” M edical Opinion and Review (October 1966), 24.
59
Example 5.15. The 48 CD As.
CDA*^ CDA*® CDA*^ CDA*®* CDA^'^ CDA^® CDA^*^ CDA^*^

'JSZ
< °> y ^ ~
tjxr |:|iT H"
4A 4B
CDA CDA^® CDA^*^ CDA^®* CDA CDA' CDA'**^ CDA'**^
jP Li i Li
------------------------------- t i l i i ---------- j i i i -------------------------------------------------- : . , ^ i : . — i : ::
f ~ - ‘‘ L t f - — ‘i g S — S | ‘’ ' o ' ° ’’ l | »
6B
CDA^^ CDA^® CDA^*^ CDA 5D CDA'6A CDA' CDA'6C CDA®*^
yxr ' Q___
mi p. o ZDI
30
iiVfe I*il%
CDA^^ CDA^® CDA^^ mA™ CDA*'' CDA*® CDA*^ CDA*®*
i ~ .... .. -b |r g " — )T ti> H > - o — ■_ _ ^ g i : i . _ i r t ^ o - ..-------------------------------

------- —
..
9D lOB
CDA®"^ CDA'*® CDA®*^ CDA' CDA* CDA CDA IOC CDA lOD
iO ,170.
o- I IT
‘-0 - JJZ
izu ‘Ills • s '*
CDA**'' CDA**® CDA

lie CDA
IID
CDA 12A CDA 123 CDA*^^ CDA*^*^
l? o D-O-
,4:
i -o - Umi
l^-o- m khO
TT~~ t^ s
<>
IC C br po- o-
1m
60
Chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas (CDA)

The “chord on the dominant with appoggiaturas” {accord sur dominante
appoggiature) is another of Messiaen’s early inventions, and is related to the CD.^^
Example 5.13 shows a root-position CDA and its relation to the CD. The CDA and the CD
share the same “regular pentatonic” collection; in the example, the collection comprises the
lower notes G -A -C -D -F. The CDA has two added notes, which are a tone higher than
those of the CD. In the example, the CD’s added notes are B and E; the CDA’s added
notes are C|( and Fff. Because the CJf and F|f can be regarded as resolving downwards to B
and E, Messiaen referred to the notes as “appoggiaturas.” Although the term
“appoggiatura” traditionally implies resolution, the appoggiaturas of the CDA require no
resolution—that is to say, in practice, the CDA need not be followed by a CD.
As is the case with the CD, the CDA exists in four fundamental voicings. Example
5.14 shows the CDA in each of its four voicings. Messiaen used the labels “A,” “B,” “C,”
and “D” to refer to voicings of the CDA. The voicing of chord A is <2,3,2,3,8,5>. The
voicing of chord B is <3,2,3,2,6,5>. The voicing of chord C is <2,3,4,4,5,1>. The
voicing of chord D is <4,3,2,5,6,5>. The four voicings of the CDA can be transposed to
all twelve chromatic degrees; there are a total of 48 CDAs. Messiaen used the CDA more
frequently than any other of his special chords. Example 5.14 shows the 48 CD As. Like
CDs, CD As are numbered according to the root of the chord (the lowest tone of the chord
when in root position), in ascending order, beginning on Cjif. The colorations of the CDA
that Messiaen annotated in his compositions and theoretical writings are as follows 4^
18. In his later writings, Messiaen used the terms accords d renversements transposes and accords a
renversements transposis sur une meme note de basse interchangeably with accord sur dominant
appoggiature.
19. Gaps appear in descriptions because the colors o f certain chords have not yet been described in the
published writings o f Messiaen. Messiaen promised that the final volume o f his Traite (which has not
yet been published) will describe the colorations o f all of his special chords.
61
CDAÂ upper zone: quartz and citrine; lower zone: copper with gold streaks
c d a ib high to low: mauve, sapphire blue
CDA^C orange, with bands of pale yellow, red and gold
CDAID from high to low: pale green, amethyst violet, and black
c d a â high to low: gold, yellow, mauve, white
CDA^B low to high: red, gray, pale green
CDA2C blue strewed with green
CDA^D high to low: very clear violet, over clear green
CDAÂ campanula mauve, over a white and clear gray haze
CDA^B bumt-earth crystals, amethyst violet, clear Prussian blue, warm reddish
chestnut, with stars of gold
CDA^C violet irises with orange centers, over a turquoise blue foundation
CDA^D red, lilac and violacious purple
CDAÂ green, violet, deep blue
CDA^B gold, silver, white with a bit of yellow
CDA^C intense sapphire blue, Parma violet, Chartres blue
c d a ^d a spiral of gold, with blue and pink streaks, over a large carmine red
foundation
c d a â
c d a ^b high to low: clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green
CDA^C red and pink, with gray
CDA^D high to low: mauve gray, yellow, pale green
CDA^^ copper, gold, brown, blackened red

c d a ^b pale blue, amethyst violet, emerald green
CDA^C
CDA® low to high: gold and silver
CDA"Â yellow, stained with pale green and white

c d a ^b bands of white and red, over a pink foundation, with black designs;
dominant color: red
CDA”^<^ low to high: yellow, white, and gold
CDA'7^^ orange, red and brown, lemon yellow
c d a â yellow, mauve, pale blue, pale green, pink, amber, a bit of gold
CDA^® carmine red, leathery brown; white, gold and greenish specUes
CDA^C violet amethysts, mauve campanulas, white pebbles, pale green and ashen
gray
CDA® violet, pink and mauve, over a turquoise blue foundation
c d a â orange, ringed with green and pale blue
CDA® green tinged with blue, with a bit of yellow and violet
CDA^C
CDA® sapphire blue, translucent fluorine blue, clear Chartres blue
CDAÔ"^ turquoise blue, underscored by pink and mauve

CDA^® brilliant gold with red streaks, over pale yellow orange, a bit of very clear
Prussian blue, and transparent crystal—an adamantine brilliance!
CD A l® red and pink
CDAl® stains of pale gray, pink, pale green, over a red foundation

62
CDA^ leathery brown, surmounted with dull lapis lazuli blue and a bit of violet
lemon yellow, with red stains
CDA^l*^
CDA^ chocolate brown foundation, with carmine red outlines, over which a gold
star stands out
CDA^^^ pink, black, pearl gray

Cd a ^2® high to low: pink, mauve, purple violet, turquoise blue
CDA12C
CDA^^^ brilliant golden sunshine over white snow
Each chord contains from two to five colors.
Chords with Transposed Inversions (CTI)

In his early works, Messiaen employed a compositional procedure involving the
transposition of a chord’s inversions, resulting in a series of chords with a common bass
pitch. Example 5.16 illustrates the procedure applied to a dominant-seventh chord. In the
upper staff of the example, a C dominant-seventh and its inversions are shown; each chord
comprises the same four pitch-classes, but their voicings (shown beneath the staff) are
different. In the lower staff, the voicings are maintained and the chords transposed over
the pitch C. The chords now comprise four tonally unrelated dominant-seventh chords
with roots C, a 1>, F, and D. Each chord evoked a different coloration for Messiaen, the
progression involving a series of changing colors, what Messiaen referred to as a “stained-
glass effect.’’20 He explained:
In its root position, the chord possesses a certain color. Its inversions,
different dispositions of the same notes, evoke analogous but dissimilar
colors. If we transpose the inversions over the same bass note, we obtain
four very different colors.î
20. “Effet de vitrail.” Messiaen, Technique, 1 ,43.
21. “L’accord ^ I’dtat fondamental possMe une certaine couleur. Ses renversements, en groupant
diffdremment les memes notes, donnent des couleurs analogues mais non semblables. Si nous
transposons les renversements sur la meme note de basse, nous obtenons quatre couleurs tres
differentes.” Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 8.
63
Although the procedure of transposing inversions can be applied to any type of chord, in
his late works Messiaen restricted this procedure almost exclusively to the C D A ; in fact,
whenever he used the term “chords with transposed inversions” {accords d renversements
transposes) in his later writings, he was speaking of technique applied to the C D A .22
Example 5.16. Technique of transposed inversions applied to dominant-seventh chord.
Dominant-seventh chord, four inversions.
n P -------- --------n
......
k g ------------ : 1êM------
<4,3,3> <3,3,2> <3,2,4> <2,4,3>
Same voicings, all chords transposed over the bass pitch Cl].
♦ < 4 ,3 ,3> <3,3,2> <3,2,4>

frgcj-
m
<2,4,3>
The “analogous but dissimilar” colorations evoked by different voicings of the same
pcsets can be verified by examining CDAs. By definition, pcsets represented in
Messiaen’s chart of CDAs exist in four different voicings. The colorations of the 48
CDAs, grouped according to pitch-class equivalencies, are as follows:
CDA^"^ upper zone: quartz and citrine; lower zone: copper with gold streaks
CDA^® bumt-earth crystals, amethyst violet, clear Pmssian blue, warm reddish
chestnut, with stars of gold
CDA^
CDA^ chocolate brown foundation, with carmine red outlines, over which a gold
star stands out
CDA^^ high to low: gold, yellow, mauve and white

CDA^® gold and silver, over white with a bit of yellow; dominant color: gold
CDA^^ low to high: yellow, white, and gold
CDA^^^ brilliant golden sunshine over white snow
CDA^^ campanula mauve, over a white and clear gray haze

CDA^® high to low: clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green
22. In Technique, Example 209 shows the procedure applied to the CR. Messiaen, Technique, II, 37. In
Traite, in an analysis of Sept Haikai', Messiaen showed how he applied the procedure to TCs.
Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 463. Messiaen also used the term accords a renversements transposes sur une
meme note de basse.

64
CDA^C violet amethysts, mauve campanulas and white pebbles, over a pale green
and ashen gray foundation
from high to low: pale green, amethyst violet, and black
CDA4A vertical bands of green, violet and deep blue
CDA® low to high: emerald green, amethyst violet, pale blue
CDA^*^
c d a ^d high to low: very clear violet, over clear green
c d a â
CDA'^2 bands of white and red, over a pink foundation, with black designs;
dominant color: red
CDAlOC red and pink
c d a ^d red, lilac and violacious purple
CDAÂ copper, gold and brown, blackened red
CDA^B carmine red and leathery brown, with white, gold and greenish speckles
CDAllC
CDA4D a spiral of gold, with blue and pink streaks, over a large carmine red
foundation
CDA'^^ yellow, stained with pale green and white

CDA^^ green tinged with blue, with a bit of yellow and violet
CDA12C
CDA^D high to low: mauve gray, yellow, pale green
CDAÂ streaks of yellow, mauve, pale blue, pale green, pink, and amber, with a bit
of gold
cdaiob brilliant gold with red streaks, over pale yellow orange, a bit of very clear
Prussian blue, and transparent crystal—an adamantine brilliance!
CDA^C orange, with bands of pale yellow, red and gold
c d a ^d low to high: gold and silver
c d a â orange, ringed with green and pale blue
c d a i *b lemon yellow, with red stains
CDA^C blue streaked with green
CDA'^D orange, red and brown, lemon yellow
CDAlO^ turquoise blue, underscored by pink and mauve

CDA12B high to low: pink, mauve, purple violet, turquoise blue
CDA^^ violet irises with orange centers, over a turquoise blue foundation
CDA^D violet, pink and mauve, over a turquoise blue foundation
c d a îa leathery brown, surmounted with dull lapis lazuli blue and a bit of violet
c d a ^b low to high: sapphire blue, very clear mauve
CDA4C broad cloeik of intense blue sapphire; in the folds, streaks of Parma violet
and Chartres blue
c d a ^d sapphire blue, translucent fluorine blue, clear Chartres blue
CDA12A pink, black, pearl gray
CDA2B low to high: red, gray, pale green
CDA^C red and pink, with gray
CDAIOD stains of pale gray, pink, pale green, over a red foundation
65
The colorations of the chords in each four-chord grouping are similar. For example, the
chords in the second grouping all contain different combinations of gold, yellow, and
white. Juxtaposed chords with identical pcsets rarely—if ever—appear in Messiaen’s
music; CTIs are very conunon.
Example 5.17. CR in root position; overtone series.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 13 16
t IZ2I
Z2IZ
Example 5.18. Mode 3^ and three related CRs.
mode 3 cr'^ cr’^'^
o 90
C hord of resonance (CR)
The term “resonance” is defined as “the intensification and prolongation of sound,
especially of a musical tone, produced by sympathetic vibration.”23 However Messiaen
used the term resonance to describe not the intensification of sympathetic pitch classes
(unison and octaves) but the engendering of complementary pitch classes.^^ The “chord of
23. American Heritage Dictionary o f the English Language, fourth ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2000), 1484.
24. Andre Jolivet, who held a slightly different view of resonance, recognized tonal relationships between
chords and their resonances. Andre Jolivet, “Reponse a une enquete: Andr6 Jolivet, ou la magic
exp^rimentale,” Contrepoints 1 (January 1946): 33-37. For an in-depth comparison of the musical
66
resonance” {accord de la resonance), another of Messiaen’s early harmonic inventions,
illustrates the complementary relationship of resonance. Regarding the CR, Messiaen
claimed, “Nearly all the perceivable notes—for an extremely keen ear—in the resonance of
a low C appear, ‘tempered,’ in this chord.”25 What Messiaen meant by the CR being a
“tempered” realization of the overtone series is that certain partials within the overtone
series are ambiguous and lie in-between semitones. Example 5.18 shows a CR in root
position and the overtone series. The CR contains all the pitch-classes of the overtone
series up to the sixteenth partial, compressing the tones into a compact, mostly tertian eight-
note chord. In the example, black noteheads indicate “out-of-tune” partials in the overtone
series, which must be adjusted in order to conform to equal temperament. The thirteenth
partial is an ambiguous tone; over the fundamental C, the thirteenth partial actually lies
between Ab and Al]. Although most twentieth-century French music theorists chose the
raised version At], Messiaen chose the lowered version Ab (respelling the AI> as in the
CR).26 Messiaen might have chosen the lowered version in order to establish a connection
between the CR and his modes of limited transposition, and thereby strengthening his own
theories. In Technique, Messiaen points out the close relationship between mode 3 and the
CR.27 Each transposition of mode 3 contains three distinct CRs. Example 5.18 shows
styles and techniques of Jolivet and Messiaen, see Bridget F. Conrad, The Sources ofJolivet's Musical
Language and his Relationships with Varese and Messiaen, Ph.D. dissertation (City University of New
York, 1994).
25. “Presque toutes les notes perceptibles — pour une oreille extremement fine — dans la resonance d’un
ut grave, figurent, « temperees », dans cet accord.” (Italics in original.) Messiaen, Technique, I, 43.
26. French composer Andre Jolivet, who was dissatisfied with tempered tuning in general, chose the
lowered version of he thirteenth partial. Furthermore, Jolivet invented a modal scale based on natural
acoustic properties; the scale has the same notes as Messiaen’s chord of resonance. See Conrad, The
Sources ofJolivet's Musical Language, 259. Charles Koechlin and Jacques Chailley also preferred the
lowered version o f the thirteenth partial. See Charles Koechlin, Traite de Vharmonie, 3 vols. (Paris:
Max Eschig et Cie., 1928), I, 7; Jacques Chailley, Elements de philologie musicale (Paris: Alphonse
Leduc, 1985), 61. Alexander Scriabin, in his so-called “mystic chord,” used the raised version of the
thirteenth partial. Analyzing the music of Bela Bartok, Brno Lendvai discussed an “acoustic (overtone)
scale,” which uses the raised version of the thirteenth partial. See Emo Lendvai, Bela Bartok: An
Analysis o f his Music (London: Kahn & Averill, 1971), 67.
27. Messiaen wrote, “The chord o f resonance furnishes all the notes of the third mode of limited
transposition.” (“[L]’accord de la resonance donne toutes les notes du « 3e mode a transpositions

67
mode 3^ and the three CRs found therein. Mode 3^ contains three CRs: CR^"^, CR^'^ and
CR^'^; inversions of each of these CRs are also contained in mode 3^.
Example 5.19. CR in its four fundamental voicings.
root position first inversion second inversion third inversion

A B C D
<4,3,3,4,4,2,3> <3,3,2,6,2,3,3> <3,2,4,4,3,3,4> <2,4,3,4,3,4,2>
The CR exists in four fundamental voicings. Example 5.19 shows the voicings of
the CR. The four voicings are labeled “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.” Chord A comprises the
voicing <4,3,3,4,4,2,3>; chord B comprises the voicing <3,3,2,6,2,3,3>; chord C
comprises the voicing <3,2,4,4,3,3,4>; chord D comprises the voicing <2,4,3,3,4,2>.
The four voicings of the CR can be transposed to all twelve chromatic degrees; there are a
total of 48 CRs. Example 5.20 shows the 48 CRs. Messiaen never referred to CRs by
number; for the purposes of my own analyses, I assign numbers to CRs according to the
root of the chord (the lowest tone of the chord when in root position), in ascending order,
beginning on C. Messiaen rarely used the CR in his late works, possibly because of its
tertian associations. Messiaen never mentioned colorations for CRs.
limitees ».”) However, since the CR comprises eight pitch-classes, and mode 3 comprises nine pitch-
classes, the CR cannot possibly furnish all the notes of mode 3. However, the converse is possible:
mode 3 can furnish all the notes o f the CR. Messiaen, Technique, I, 43.
68
Example 5.20. The 48 CRs.
----T 'fc ------ , 1, ht».......

1 .^
•}if 1.K * S i= E l T * ^ M -----

N t F ^ 1 .r^l
^ -----^1-q.. uP i = ^
^ CR^® CR^*^ CR® CR'^'^ CR'*® CR'"^ CR®

X ii ttt> 1 b't> 1tt : ..b.r..t> —i;b;"^*V» 1 ti =: ■ . u
^ - P t| ■sT— — \ ®p r\
I|;^n° I'h,
------
CR^'^ CR^® cr ^*^ cr ^° CR®'^ CR^® CR®^ CR®

-J?—iifc- -----ir-k^----- hb ' *V» It hk W * |b j^ » ------ rlJ^ ---- n
^ r<o I-"y i ' P -9 -^ -8 -----q^tj ---- qi « — 9 ^ -H -----
Sft ^
cr ’® CR®
cr ’^
Cr 8A Cr 8C
1 -bli^ Itio i ) tlp — E % = a |T-W* ■ tf q 11 ....^q^q iiP q ' tj §s J 'S l f II
^ ^ t ° ----- 1 US
J«P
--- ...
y
0 CR®^ CR^® CR^*^ CR^*^ ^jîOA CR^^ CR^^^
^ V r -iV I ii^ |§
-bTTi— ; L b«-----rtr+ e ----- 1 .r4r(e--- nr-i ■^s— rt~ i'8-----

y .q.-- ^ 7 '«iP tj-->-rtB— ^ 7-T^----
cr "^ c r "® cr "^ cr ‘® CR*^'^ CR*® CR*® CR*®

f+ = F 1,
^keM----
- ii- y
---7 r*(«—
? cf>--- O l b I = t e i 6 l
69
Chord with Contracted Resonance (CCR)
In addition to the CR, the concept of resonance is embodied in another chordal type:
the “chord with contracted resonance” {accord a. resonance contractee). Example 5.21
illustrates the intemal construction of the CCR.
Example 5.21. CCR, intemal constmction.
fundamental chord
/
resonance
In the label for the CCR, the word “resonance” refers to the complementary relationship
between a fundamental chord and a resonant set. Like the CD and the CDA, the CCR
contains a fundamental pitch-complex and two added pitches; in the CCR, these added
pitches comprise a minor-seventh dyad, which is “contracted” into a major second and
positioned beneath the fundamental pitch-complex.
There are two varieties of CCR: “type 1” and “type 2.”28 Each type comprises two
members, labeled “A” and “B.” Example 5.22 illustrates the intemal constmction of the
two chords of the CCR type 1.^9 The two chords of the CCR type 1 comprise an
appoggiatura chord (chord A) and a genesis chord (chord B). The upper part of the genesis
chord contains a dominant-ninth chord without the leading tone, for the leading tone is
replaced by the tonic {accord de neuvieme sans sensible). The upper part of the
appoggiatura chord contains five different notes: what Messiaen labeled a “quintuple
28. The terms “type 1” and “type 2” are my own. All other terms regarding the construction of the CCR
are Messiaen’s.
29. For Messiaen’s explanation of the construction o f the CCR type 1, see Traite, III, 287.
70
appoggiatura” {quintuple appoggiature). The two chords share a common inferior
(inferieur) bass dyad, which Messiaen described as “combination tones” (sons
resultants) . T h e use of the term “combination tone”—a real acoustical phenomenon in
which a third pitch is heard as the result of two sounding pitches—^reinforces the resonant
relationship between the upper pentachord and the bass dyad.
Example 5.22. CCR type 1, chords A and B, intemal constmction.
appoggiatura chord genesis chord

quintuple appoggiatura A B
genesis pentachord
I XE
<2,2,7,8,6,4> <2,6,5,5,5,4>
contracted resonance
Example 5.23. The 24 CCRs, type 1.
CCR'-^CCR*® CCR^'^CCR^® CCR^^CCR^® CCR'*'^ CCR'*® CCR^'^CCR^® CCR^^CCR^®

|in L i i s ||i|i t n k t e ?- o
¥
l>Xi
lo_ !■&
7 -rr
CCR'^'^ CCR’® CCR^^^CCR*® CCR^'^CCR®® CCR’®^CCR‘°®CCR"'^CCR‘‘®CCR‘’''CCR‘’®
..b-.- W B S
iW -tt BpIE o l.^'g h fe Ib te
30. Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 8. See also Messiaen, Traite, III, 87.
71
In the CCR type 1, the voicing of chord A is <2,2,7,8,6,4>; the voicing of chord B
is <2,6,5,5,5,4>. The two voicings can be transposed to all twelve chromatic degrees.
Example 5.23 shows the 24 CCRs type 1. Transpositions of the CCR type 1 are numbered
according to the lowest note of the bass dyad, in ascending order, beginning on D.
The colorations of the 24 CCRs type 1 are as follows:
CCR^^ high to low: yellow, mauve, gray

CCR^® high to low: green tinged with blue, mauve, gray
CCR2A high to low: clear purple violet, clear yellow, orange red
CCR2B high to low: pale green, over clear gray with a bit of red
CCR3A
CCR3B high to low: carmine red, clear gray, leather brown
CCR"^^ high to low: clear jade green, pale blue mixed with diamond, over
mauve and a bit of yellow
CCR^® high to low: ruby red, orange, with a bit of yellow beneath
CCR^^ high to low: ashen yellow, greenish brown

CCR^® high to low: pale green, yellow, clear chestnut, with a bit of black
CCR6^ gray, clear green, yellow

CCR® blue and green, with a bit of yellow below
CCR"Â
CCR'7® orange yellow over white and mauve
ccrs^ high to low: mauve, icy blue, gray

CCR® high to low: brilliant pale blue, mauve, gray tinged with blue
CCR^^ high to low: clear magenta violet, pinkish white, with a bit of orange red
CCR^® high to low: violacious blue, very clear coffee, green and silver, reddish
brown
CCR^ mixture of violacious blue (the principal color) with orange red, reddish
brown and violet, with a bit of green and silver
C c r IOA gold, orange, a very small bit of black

CCR 1OB high to low: clear carmine red, over yellow and black
CCRIIA
CCR^ ® brilliant clear red, gold, pale gray
CCR^^^ high to low: clear violet streaked with green, pale blue, silvery gray, a
bit of black
CCR^® high to low: brilliant yellow gold, a bit of white, violet and black
72
Since the chords of each CCR pairing share a common bass dyad, the lower portions of the
two chords evoke similar colors. For example, the lowermost color of both CCR^^ and
CCR^® is red, which was evoked by the chords’ lowest tone e !>.
The CD, CDA, and chord B of CCR type 1 are similar in construction. Each chord
comprises a “regular pentatonic” collection plus two notes. Example 5.24 reveals the
differences among the three chords.
Example 5.24. CD, CDA, CCR®: intemal differences.

,3A 3A IB
CD CDA CCR
an
I '® '
’ XT.
‘regular pentatonic” eollection
Each chord contains the pentachord Ek-F-Ak-Bk-Dl?. In the CD and the CDA, the two
added notes lie above the pentachord; in the CCR, they lie below the pentachord. The
coloration of CDA^'^ is “campanula mauve, over a white and clear gray haze.” (Since
CD^^ shares the same “regular pentatonic” collection in the lower part of the chord, its
coloration is likewise similar.) The coloration of CCR^® is “green tinged with blue,
mauve, over gray.” Both descriptions contains references to mauve and gray. The
coloristic differences between the chords are due to different voicings of the same pcs
within the pentachord, and different added notes. It stands to reason that all such related
CDs, CDAs and CCRs evoked somewhat similar colorations.
The CCR type 2 is similar in construction to the CCR type I. Example 5.25
illustrates the construction of the CCR type 2.
73
Example 5.25. CCR type 2, intemal constmction.
appoggiatura chord genesis chord

A B
7XT
<2,9,9,7,4> <2,6,10,7,4>
contracted resonance
Example 5.26. The 24 CCRs, type 2.
CCR'^ CCR*'' CCR^'' CCR^® CCR^'' CCR^® CCR'*'^ CCR'*® CCR^'^ CCR^® CCR^^ CCR®®
t e l,{8 II l||t» 1,^8
-'bo-------- 4^* bo bo bo TJ-
«
TTT $
CCR'^'CCR’*® CCR*''CCR*® CCR**'' CCR^® CCR*®''CCR*®® CCR"''CCR"®CCR‘^''CCR'^®
I ti f s tjis
,^ o i/ti
ô . 1?
ô- go
-k I bi
As in the CCR type 1, the lowest two notes of the CCR type 2 are separated by a major
second. Unlike the CCR type 1, the CCR type 2 contains a superior tetrachord instead of a
superior pentachord. The voicing of chord A (the appoggiatura chord) is <2,9,9,7,4>; The
voicing of chord B (the genesis chord) is <2,6,10,7,4>. The 48 CCRs type 2 are
presented in Example 5.26. Transpositions of the CCR type 2 are numbered according to
the lowest note of the bass dyad, in descending order, beginning on Bk To date, the
published writings of Messiaen contain only a few descriptions of the colorations of 2 type
CCRs, and all are of A-B pairings—not of individual chords. The colorations of the CCR
type 2 are as follows:

74
CCR^ amber (yellow and clear chestnut), veined with violet and chocolate
brown, with some pale blue stains3l
CCR^ clear and brilliant scarlet red, with a bit of pale blue and steel gray^2
CCR^ a very small patch of gray and red, then a large zone of mauve with
silvery gray stains^^
CCR^® mauve and clear gray, with a bit of yellow34
CCR^^® high to low: white, red; the low Cj| is black^^
Although the terms “genesis” and “appoggiatura” imply hierarchy (the appoggiatura
chord having less structural significance than the genesis chord) and order (the
appoggiatura being heard before the genesis chord), in practice Messiaen treated each
member of the CCR pairing as freestanding harmonic entities. Just as a CDA need not
“resolve” to a CD, a CCR^ need not “resolve” to a CCR®. Members of a CCR pairing
may be presented in either order (A-B, or B-A). Furthermore, an individual CCR may
appear intermixed with other special chord types. The identity of each chord of the CCR
pairing is reinforced through their respective colorations. Messiaen claimed, “In the case of
the chord with contracted resonance, we will always have two colors: the color of the
appoggiatura chord, and the color of the actual c h o r d .” 36
Examples of the CCR first appeared in Messiaen’s music around the time of
Visions de I’Amen (1943). Excerpts from Visions that illustrate the CCR are present in
31. “Couleur ambre (jaune et marron clair), veinee de violet et de brun chocolate, avec quelques taches de
bleu p ^ e.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 180.
32. “Les 2 accords enchames donnent un rouge ecarlate clair et brillant, avec un peu de bleu pale et de gris
d’acier.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 179.
33. “L’ensemble de la mesure donne un tout petit coin de gris et de rouge puis une grande zone mauve avec
des taches gris argente.” Messiaen, T ra ite,V I\,\% \.
34. “Mauve et gris clair, avec un peu de jaune.” Messiaen, T raite,^ !!, 181.
35. “De haut en has : blanc, rouge — le do diese grave est noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 470.
36. “Dans le cas des « accords h resonance contractde », nous aurons toujours deux couleurs : la couleur de
I’accord appogiature, la couleur de I’accord reel.” Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 8.

75
Technique but are not accompanied by the term “chord with contracted resonance.”^?
Messiaen did not discuss the construction of the CCRs in the excerpts, except to point out
how the music “contracts the resonance” (inverts the minor seventh into a major second).
Messiaen used the CCR frequently in his later works; type 1 is encountered often, while
use of type 2 is rare.
Chord in Fourths (C4)
In Technique, Messiaen defined the chord in fourths {accord en quartes) as “a chord
with augmented and perfect fourths.”39 Example 5.27 shows a C4. In the example,
perfect fourths and augmented fourths alternate. (The uppermost augmented fourth is
spelled as a diminished fifth.) Example 5.28 shows a particularly striking example of C4s
from Messiaen’s orchestral work Reveil des oiseaux (1953). In the Example, each chord is
a C4; voices move in parallel motion.
Despite Messiaen’s precise definition in Technique, in reality the term “chord in
fourths” is something of a blanket description. In the music of Messiaen, dyads and
trichords are the most common types of sonorities built in fourths. In many of his
works—his keyboard works, especially—Messiaen used a trichord involving the
conjunction of a perfect fourth and an augmented fourth.ô Example 5.29 shows the
opening bars of “Regard de I’onction terrible” (from Vingt Regards s u r l’Enfant Jesus). In
37. For examples o f CCRs, see Technique, Examples 288-293.
38. Messiaen, Technique, 1 ,47. For a rare example o f an early CCR in which the resonance is not
contracted, see “Vocalise, pour 1’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps” (from Quatuor pour la fin du
temps), m. 1.
39. “Un accord en quartes augmentees et justes.” Messiaen, Technique, 1 ,44.
40. This type of trichord is sometimes referred to as a “Viennese fourth chord,” due to its frequent use by
composers of the second Viennese school (Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern). See
Robert P. Morgan, Twentieth-Century Music: A History o f Musical Style in Modern Europe and
America (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1991), 71.
76
the example, both hands play trichords comprising a perfect fourth and an augmented
fourth. In the upper register, the chords descend by semitone.
Example 5.27. C4.
hu. 44 (dim.5)
jja i P4
=1^+4
^P 4
---- 4 4
Example 5.28. C4s in Reveil des oiseaux, p. 4, mm. 9-11.
A ::e
.t
2 vln.
PP
via.
PP 'w
Example 5.29. C4 trichords in “Regard de I’onction terrible,” mm. 1-2.
:e
cresc.
s:-
8**
In Technique, Messiaen points out how the C4 contains all the notes of the fifth
mode of limited transposition.4i However, in practice Messiaen rarely used mode 5; as
with the CR, it is possible that he mentioned the modal connection simply to bolster his
41. Messiaen, Technique, I, 55.
77
various theories. Messiaen did not number C4s. Examples of the C4 are rare in
Messiaen’s later works. Messiaen rarely provided colorations for the C4s that he did
use. 42
T urning C hord (TC)
Messiaen started using “turning chords” {accords en toumant) in the early 1940s,
around the time of Visions de I’Amen (1943). TCs appear in Technique under the blanket
category of “carillon sonorities,” although no explanation for them is supplied.43 The term
“turning chord” first appeared in print in the score of Meditations sur le Mystere de la
Sainte Trinite (1969).44
Example 5.30. Turning chords, three fundamental voicings.

A B c
o l>-e-
JO
<5,2,1,3,5,2,4> <5,3,2,1,7,3,4> <5,2,2,4,1,6,2>
As with CDs, CDAs, and CCRs, TCs exist in groups. A TC group comprises
three chords, labeled “A,” “B” and “C.” Example 5.30 shows the three chords of a TC
group in their fundamental voicings. The fundamental voicing of chord A is
<5,2,1,3,5,2,4>. The voicing of chord B is <5,3,2,1,7,3,4>, while the voicing of chord
C is <5,2,2,4,1,6,2>. The three chords of a turning chord group do not share the same
42. In Traite, Messiaen described the colors of the chord Al>2-D3-G3-C|t4 as “iron gray, tinged with blue,
with gleams of yellow and black.” (“Une couleur gris de fer hleute a reflets jaunes et noirs.”)
Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 121.
43. Messiaen, Technique, II, 47, Example 299.
44. Olivier Messiaen, Meditations sur la mystdre de la Sainte Trinite (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1969), 7, 37,
76.
78
bass note, nor are they inversionally related. The lowest note of chord B is a whole step
below that of chord A; the lowest note of chord C is a half step below that of chord A. As
with the CCR pairing, the three chords of a TC group may appear in any order; they may
also appear intermixed with other chord types.
Example 5.31. The 36 TCs.

Tc ' a j (-ib TC 1C TCi3A TC 3B TC
i3C
.. L ji
—^ I T - — 1-tio a r= M
rr^^4A rp^4B rp^4C TCÂ jq SB

TC
,5C
TCi6A TC6B TC,6C
ii t f c i ,t e
1^0 .. ■flo VO ^ -
iIll?
p y-
TC
,7A
TC
,7B
TC,70 TC
:8A
TC
8B
TC,80 TCÂ J(-,90
cP i t], jttEe= Pp
'P ' »■ ¥ o-
................. ,
T c 'ua .pj.1 TCllA IIB

TC
no >Y’^12A rj-t^l2B rp^l2C
If
--■ fro ■ --?o ■ ,1 : : ^ ro m I3P:
'’'’ft* il»h3 ||Q to- »‘’f§ t^Sg
For Messiaen, the term “turning chord” referred to the turning of colors. He
explained:
79
Each group has three eight-note chords—24 notes total. A group resembles
an octahedron of translucent opal or, more simply, of iridescent glass. Each
facet of the octahedron (each facet representing one tone among the eight of
each chord) has the possibility of three changes according to the incidences
of light (which produce three combinations of eight tones—24 tones divided
among three chords). A single column of tones turns, changing, one’s
memory recording a global sonority resulting from the three chords.
Likewise, a single complex of colors gushes from the triple perspective of
the combination of colors. Thus, for each three-chord group, I indicate:
first, three sets of colors; then, the colored effect that remains in my
memory, with a multicolored dazzle and a principal or dominating color, as
in a stained-glass window. The colors vary with each tra n sp o sitio n .^ ^
The three chords of a TC group occupy the same register; the chords’ somewhat fixed
ambitus and changing inner voices bolster the image of a rotating octahedron.^^
The three voicings of the TC can be transposed to all twelve chromatic degrees;
there are a total of 36 TCs. Example 5.31 shows the 36 TCs. TC groups are numbered
according to the lowest tone of the group (which is the lowest tone of chord B), in
descending order, beginning on D. The colorations of the 36 TCs are as follows:
TC^^ high to low: orange, mauve, and clear blue

t c ib
TC^^ high to low: pale blue over darker blue violet
TCÂ high to low: gold and white over blue violet

TC^B high to low: yellow, over gray and clear Prussian blue
TC^C high to low:red, gray and brown, over orange yellow
TC3A high to low: clear red violet over green gray and yellow
TC^B high to low: green tinged with blue, purple violet, emerald green, lead
gray
TC^C clear yellow over orange
45. “Chaque tableau a 3 accords de 8 sons, 24 sons au total. Cela ressemble a un octaddre en opale
translucide ou plus simplement en verre irise ; chaque face de I’octaedre (1 son parmi les 8 de chaque
accord) a la possibilite de trois changements suivant les incidences de lumiere (ce qui donne 3
combinaisons de 8 sons, soit 24 sons repartis en 3 accords.) II y a une seule colonne de sons qui
toument en changeant, la memoire enregistrant une sonorite globale qui est le fruit des 3 accords. De
mSme, un seul complexe color6 jaillit du triple aspect de I’accord de couleurs. J’indique done pour
chaque groupe de trois accords : a) d’abord 3 ensembles de couleurs — b) puis I’effet colore qui reste
dans le souvenir, avec eblouissement multicolore et couleur principale ou dominante, comme dans un
vitrail. Tout cela varie avec chaque transposition.” (Italics in original.) Messiaen, Traite, III, 86.
46. In Traite, Messiaen used another metaphor to describe the three chords of a TC group: “columns of air
in mobile resonances, like wind in the trees.” (“[Ils] sont des « colonnes d’air en resonances mobiles »
(comme le vent dans les arbres).” Messiaen, Traite, III, 238.) Plato also related the octahedron to air,
proposing that each air particle is composed of a regular octahedron. Plato, Timaeus, 55d-56b.

80
T c 4A high to low: yellowish green over silver, gray and black
Tr'4B mauve and orange, very clear
TC4C high to low: velvety blue, pinkish mauve, grassy green
Tr5A gray and gold
TC^B clear orange, gold, smoky brown, deep violet
TC5C high to low: pink, red, and gold
TC6A rubies—^royal blue, mauve ash
Tr6B high to low: dark red, orange, gray tinged with blue
TC6C high to low: leather brown, royal blue, carmine red
Tr'7A
TC7B golden yellow, the yellow zone surrounded by two light black and white
circles
TC7C
Tr8A upper zone: pale yellow, mauve; lower zone: coppery pink, pearly gray
TC8B upper zone: dull green chrysoprase tinged with blue; lower zone:
sardonyx (alternating black, white and reddish brown), with pale yellow
TC8C high to low: quartz, sparkling deep green “cat’s eye”
TC9A
TC9B high to low: yellow and pink, over steel gray
TC9C high to low: very clear brown, over golden yellow
YÎOA
XClOB
TClOC
t c îa pink and gray, over smoky brown yellow

TpllB
TCllC high to low: clear brick red (pale brown), yellow, clear green, red, with a
bit of gray
TC12A
Trl2B
TC12C high to low: gray and gold, over translucent fluorine blue
Although Messiaen claimed that each three-chord TC group evoked a “global” coloration,
his published writings contain only three such descriptions. These are the colorations of
TC groups:
TC^ red, orange, purple violet

TC8 global colored effect: pale yellow, streaked with white, black and gray,
with green stains; dominant color: pale yellow
TCÔ red, orange, gold
81
Global colorations stem from a group’s three constituent harmonic colorations. For
example, the “red, orange, purple violet” evoked by TC^ stems from the chords’ red
(“rubies in” TC^^; “dark red” in TC®; “carmine red” in TC^^), orange (in TC®), and
violet tones (“mauve ash” in TC^^).
Chord of Total Chromaticism (CTC)
The “chord of total chromaticism” (accord du total chromatique) is a relatively late
harmonic invention of Messiaen, first appearing around the time of Couleurs de la cite
celeste (1963). It was not until some twenty years later, in the preface to Petites esquisses
d ’oiseaux (1985), that Messiaen first mentioned the CTC. Example 5.32 shows a CTC in
its fundamental voicing. The CTC comprises two distinct pc sets: an inferior octachord and
a superior complementary tetrachord. Regarding the presence of the complete aggregate in
the CTC, Messiaen stated, “The chord of total chromaticism is not a cluster, but a collection
of twelve tones: eight colored tones and four supplementary high tones, which are
contained within the resonance of the first eight.”^^ The fundamental voicing of the CTC is
<5,4,4,6,4,5,2,9,5,6,8>. As the octachord and tetrachord of the CTC exist in a resonant
relationship, in addition to being complementary pitch-class sets, they are typically
presented with contrasting timbres, dynamics, and articulations. These contrasts accentuate
the resonant relationship. Example 5.33 shows the CTC in the final measure of the
orchestral work Un Vitrail et des oiseaux (1986). In the passage, the octachord is
sustained by the winds; the resonant tetrachord is punctuated by the piano. In the music of
Messiaen, the octachord of the CTC sometimes appears alone, without the superior
tetrachord. Example 5.34 shows a passage from “Le Chemin de I’invisible” (the tenth
movement of Eclairs sur I’Au-Deld). In the example, a CTC octachord ascends by
semitone; the final octachord is sustained, and its complementary tetrachord is above it.
47. “Dans le cas des « accords du total chromatique », il s’agit non pas d’un ‘cluster’ mais d’un ensemble de
douze sons comprenant huit sons colores, et quatre sons supplementaires aigus qui rentrent dans la
resonance des huit premiers.” Messiaen, Conference de Kyoto, 8.
82
Example 5.32. CTC, intemal constmction.
upper tetrachord
m
lower octachord
<5,4,4,6,4,5,2,9,5,6,8>
Example 5.33. CTC in Un Vitrail et des oiseaux, final measures,
tetrachord
f
-Y -7
piano
7 7 -7 - - 7 7 7
S |
octochord
' •P-
winds J5f
r=
The CTC exists in twelve transpositions; Messiaen did not invert the CTC.
Example 5.35 shows the twelve transpositions of the CTC. CTCs are numbered according
to the lowest tone, in ascending order, beginning on e 1>. Messiaen used the CTC
infrequently, compared to his other special chords. The CTC is found only in Messiaen’s
later works.
83
Example 5.34. CTCs in “Le Chemin de I’invisible,” rehearsal 2.

upper tetrachord of CTC^
picc.,
xylo.,
oboe,
xylorim. m 5=^
CTC' CTC^ CTC^ CTC'* CTC^ CTC® CTC’
il
/ mf
strings
111?#:’
m ^z±
Example 5.35. The CTC in its twelve transpositions.

CTC CTC CTC CTC
Swfl--,
hxi M M
-hJX_ HI o o
TT o
TT
XE
-e- -O^ TT
XT
►
TT
84
The voicing of the CTC covers a wide register, evoking three distinct “zones” of
color. Messiaen explained the phenomenon as follows;
I have chords, for example, that contain all twelve pitches. The pitches are
not clusters, nor are they series in the style of Schoenberg; they are
superimpositions of colors. One clearly hears a color, a second color, a
third color. There are twelve pitches total, but in reality, for the ear and for
the eye and for the mind, there are three c o lo r s .48
To date, the published writings of Messiaen contain descriptions of the colorations of only
four CTCs. These are:
CTC^ high zone: thin band of very pale green blue

middle zone: stony gray, stained with pink and violet
low zone: reddish leather brown
CTC^ high zone: a bit of pale blue

middle zone: clear carmine red
low zone: a bit of green
CTC^ high zone: a large, clear, brilliant gray blue circle, with a trace of
pale yellow
middle zone: a small zone of clear carmine red
low zone: a large zone of ruby red
CTC^^ high zone: a thin band of clear, greenish graysmoked quartz

middle zone: very clear Prussian blue
low zone: yellow and pink
Messiaen described the CTCs in terms of three zones of color, each zone corresponding to
the three tetrachords that comprise each chord. Sometimes, the zones evoked similar
colorations; for example, in CTC^ the lower two zones evoked different shades of red.
However, it appears that for the most part each zone remains coloristically distinct.
48. “J’ai des accords, par exemple, qui contiennent les douze sons. Les sons ne sont pas des clusters, ils ne
sont pas des series a la Schoenberg, ce sont des superpositions des couleurs. On entend tres bien une
couleur, une deuxieme couleur, une troisieme couleur. Qa fait un total de douze sons, mais en realite
pour I’oreille, et pour I’oeil, et pour I’esprit, qa fait trois couleurs.” Olivier Messiaen, Entretien avec
Claude Samuel (Erato BCD 75505). See also, Almut Rbssler, Contributions to the Spiritual World o f
Olivier Messiaen: With Original Texts by the Composer, trans. Barbara Dagg, Nancy Poland, and
Timothy Tikker (Duisburg: Gilles und Francke, 1986), 81.

85
Summary
Messiaen’s modes and special chords constitute a large portion of the harmonic
resources of musique coloree. The descriptions of colorations listed in this chapter will
serve as the foundation for the examination of a work’s coloristic content in the following
chapter. As the analysis will demonstrate, Messiaen did not avail himself equally of all
chordal types. However, the harmonic vocabulary within musique coloree is readily
classifiable, and voicings are quite consistent—factors which greatly facilitate taxonomic
analyses based upon color.
86
CHAPTER 6. ANALYSIS OF “APPARITION DU CHRIST GLORIBUX”
The orchestral work Eclairs sur VAu-Deld (Illuminations Conceming the Beyond,
1992) is Messiaen’s final composition. As in all of Messiaen’s later works. Eclairs
contains many passages of musique coloree', the work’s opening movement, “Apparition
du Christ Glorieux” (“Appearance of the Glorious Christ”), is among his most colored.
The French word eclair suggests many things, from a lightening flash, to a revelatory
vision. A photism—itself a dazzling evocation of colors—can be regarded as a type of
eclair. Messiaen held musique coloree to be the highest form of sacred music—^higher than
liturgical music and religious music (music that “approaches with reverence the Divine, the
Sacred, the Ineffable”); further, to Messiaen, all sacred art should be a “rainbow of sounds
and colors.”^ Messiaen commented:
It [musique coloree] does that which the stained-glass windows and rose
windows of the Middle Ages did: they give us dazzlement. Touching at
once our noblest senses, hearing and vision, it [musique coloree] sh ê s
our sensibilities into motion, pushes us to go beyond concepts, to approach
that which is higher than reason and intuition.2
Thus, it seems fitting that the sacred work Eclairs, which addresses all that occurs
“beyond” our mundane existence—reflecting the Catholic doctrine of “the life of the world
to come”—is illuminated by musique coloree, and urges us to perceive beyond our normal
sensibilities.
The program of Eclairs is taken from apocalyptic and eschatological texts of the
Holy Bible.3 In the score for “Apparition,” an inscription from the New Testament book
of Revelation appears at the head of the movement:
1. Almut ROssler, Contributions to the Spiritual World o f Olivier Messiaen: with Original Texts by the
Composer (Duisburg: Gilles und Francke, 1986), 57-66.
2. Rossler, Contributions, 65-66.
3. Eschatology is the theological study of final or ultimate things, including death. For a thorough
examination of the eschatological qualities of Eclairs, see Julian Christoph TOlle, Olivier Messiaen:
Eclairs sur I’Au-Dela; Die christlich-eschatologische Dimension des Opus ultimum (Frankfurt am
Main: Peter Lang, 1998).

87
I saw a Son of man, clothed in a long robe tightened by a belt of gold. His
eyes were like a burning flame, his face brilliant as the sun. In his right
hand there were seven stars.^
The text describes a dazzlement evoked by viewing the divine; the description is similar to
that of synesthesia, which—for the synesthete—can include a dazzlement of brilliant colors
and fiery star-like images. The Old Testament book of Daniel, another Biblical apocalyptic
text, is also relevant to “Apparition.”^ As Julian Christoph Tolle points out, the melody
(the upper voice) of “Apparition” is a paraphrase of the plainchant Alleluia “Potestas eius.”^
The text of the chant is from Daniel: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall
not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”"^ Echoing the program
of Eclairs, the text proclaims the permanence of God, the end of corporeal life, and the
eternal life that lies beyond. The placement of “Potestas eius” within the Catholic calendar
underscores its eschatological significance. The chant is sung on the last Sunday of the
church year, during the feast of Christ the King.^ The general theme of the feast is a
4. Revelation 1:13-16. “Je vis un Fils d’homme, revetu d’une longue robe serde par une ceinture d’or.
Ses yeux etaient comme une flamme ardente, son visage brillait comme le soleil. Dans sa main droite,
il y avail sept etoiles.” Olivier Messiaen, Eclairs sur VAu-Dela, 2 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc et
Cie., 1998), I, 17.
5. Aside from the book of Revelation, Daniel is the only canonical Biblical text that can properly be
classified as apocalyptic. The two books actually contain numerous textual similarities, one of the
more relevant involving a vision of God. While the inscription at the head o f “Apparition” describes “a
son o f man, clothed in a long robe tightened by a belt of gold,” with “eyes like a burning flame,” the
book of Daniel speaks of a man “clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold,” with “eyes as
lamps of fire.” Daniel 10:5-6, Holy Bible (King James Version).
6. Tolle, Oliver Messiaen, 54. “Potestas eius” is found in Graduale Triplex (Paris-Toumai: Abbaye
Saint-Pierre de Solesmes & Desclee, 1979), 389. Messiaen’s procedure o f chant paraphrase involves
retaining the general melodic contours of the chant while assigning rhythmic durations to the tune and
distorting the melodic intervals. For Messiaen’s theories regarding chant paraphrase, see Messiaen,
Technique, I, 25.
7. Daniel 7:14, Holy Bible (King James Version).
8. The last Sunday o f the church year, which is also the last Sunday o f Ordinary Time, usually falls in
late November. Since the reformations o f Vatican II (I962-I965), plainchant has rarely been
performed in Catholic churches. However, from 1931 until his death, Messiaen held the post of titular
organist at Eglise de la Sainte Trinitd in Paris. It is more than likely, then, that Messiaen was exposed
to the chant “Potestas Eius” in the years before Vatican II.
88
celebration of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and his opening of the Kingdom of
Heaven; it is also a reminder of the end of the world, when the faithful will attain the
Kingdom of Heaven under Christ’s universal kingship
All of “Apparition” dazzles the synesthetic listener (i.e., Messiaen) with color; the
entire movement employs musique coloree. The work follows the characteristics of
musique coloree listed in chapter 4 of the dissertation; the texture comprises harmonies in
block-ehord form; the tempo—marked “Lent”— is slow and solemn; the homophonic
texture suggests a chorale, and sets a liturgical tone for the work; the music occupies a
middle register: B2-G5; the meter constantly changes; durations are based on an additive
rhythmic base of sixteenth note; and there are no extremely short durations; durations are
long enough to evoke a synesthetic response.
Every chord in “Apparition” is readily classifiable according to Messiaen’s theories.
The harmonies comprise special chords, modal passages (successions of three or more
chords in the same mode), isolated modal chords, and tonal chords, lo Of the special
chords in “Apparition,” only a few deviate from their standard voicings. In “Apparition,”
all CCRs are of type 1; however, the CCR"^ is always truncated, lacking the lowest note of
its fundamental voicing. The voicing variation disrupts the harmonic unity of the CCR
pairings’ common bass-dyad; it also disrupts the coloristic unity in the lower part of the
two chords. In the chapter, coloristic analysis relies on harmonic analysis, which in turn
relies on voicing analysis.
Several chords in “Apparition” contain non-harmonic tones, what Messiaen referred
to as “added notes” {notes ajoutees). Added notes are not a part of a fundamental chord,
nor are they dissonances in a tonal sense. In Technique, Messiaen described added notes
9. Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM, Dictionary o f the Liturgy (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co.,
1989), 472.
10. As mentioned in Chapter 5 of the dissertation, following the practice of Messiaen, determining the
color of modal chords depends on context. For modal passages, I assign the coloration o f the mode
proper (presented in Chapter 5). For isolated modal chords, I disregard the coloration of the mode
proper and instead determine a coloration for individual chords.

89
as, “foreign notes, without preparation or resolution, without particular expressive accent,
which calmly become part of the chord, changing its color, giving it a new pigment.”! ^
analyses of his own works, Messiaen identified special chords with added notes; he even
described the coloristic effects of added notes.!^ Although Messiaen’s music is not tonal in
the common-practice sense of the word, his harmonic consistency and economy of chord
types enables one to follow his practice and analyze added notes as non-harmonic tones.
“Apparition” contains a small number of chords with added notes. Added notes appear in
the uppermost voice, and for motivic reasons; in every case but one, the added note
involves a tritone descent. !3 The presence of added notes perhaps suggests that Messiaen
created the work by first composing the melody, then later composing the chords;
occasionally, a chord—chosen for its color—simply does not “harmonize” with the note in
the melody. Because the melody of “Apparition” is a paraphrase of an existing plainchant,
it seems quite plausible that Messiaen chose the chords after composing his melody.
Following the introduction, the chapter ascertains colorations for the chords in
“Apparition” of unknown coloration. Such chords include isolated modal chords, special
chords with added notes, and special chords for which Messiaen never provided a
description of their colorations. Colorations for these latter special chords will be
determined using the method presented in Chapter 4 of the dissertation. The form of
“Apparition” will then be analyzed. Finally, coloristic features of the work will be
examined.
11. “[I]l s’agit denotes etrangeres, sans aucunepreparation niresolution, sans accent expressif particulier,
qui font tranquillement partie de 1’accord, changeant sa couleur, lui donnant un piment.” Olivier
Messiaen, Technique de man langage musical, 2 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc et Cie, 1944), 1 ,40.
12. For examples o f analyses of Messiaen that describe special chords with added notes, see Olivier
Messiaen, Traite de rythme, de couleur, et d ’omithologie, 1 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1992), V/1,
354-358; 394-398; 4 6 1 ^ 6 2 ; and 465-466.
13. The exception occurs in chord 6/12, where the melody preserves a rising and falling minor third in the
original chant. For his own discussion o f the melodic tritone, see Messiaen, Technique, I, 23.

90
Ascertaining unknown harmonic colorations in
“Apparition du Christ glorieux”
The colorations of most of the chords that appear in “Apparition du Christ
Glorieux” were presented in Chapter 5 of the dissertation. In order to produce a complete
coloristic analysis of the piece, colorations must be ascertained for the few remaining
chords of unknown coloration. This section of the dissertation begins by discussing the
coloration of the work’s various E-dominant chords. Then, using the method outlined in
Chapter 4, colorations are determined for the remainder of the chords of unknown
coloration. 14
“Apparition” contains tonal elements, but they reside in an overall harmonic
language divorced from functional tonality. Every phrase but one of “Apparition”
melodically ends on Et] or in addition, Edom? chords and Edom9 chords occur
throughout “Apparition,” with every phrase but one concluding with an E d o m i n a n t . T h e
Edom? and Edom9 are almost always inverted, which mollifies the sense of harmonic
“function.” Coloristically, the pitches of an E-major triad, Etl-dJt-Bt], correspond
respectively to “gray blue,” “violet,” and “red”; however, Messiaen repeatedly reported that
an E-major triad evoked red.i^ It seems that the color of the chord’s fifth—not its tonic—
had the most influence on the coloration of the triad. In an Edom? or an Edom9, the pitch
14. Specific chords in “Apparition” are labeled according to a shorthand that shows two numbers separated
by a slash; the first number refers to the phrase and the second number refers to the chord within that
phrase. For example, “3/10” is shorthand for “phrase 3, chord 10.” In “Apparition,” non-harmonic
tones appear in chords 3/10, 6/12, 8/10, 10/12, 10/14, and 13/10.
15. Perfect-fifth structures are not uncommon in Messiaen’s plainchant-inspired melodies. In an analysis
of his chant-based “Subtilite des corps glorieux,” Messiaen used the term “modulation” and described
how the piece moved between “tonic” and “dominant.” Messiaen, Technique, 1, 37.
16. “Dominant” is the term Messiaen himself used to describe major-minor seventh chords in his music.
Messiaen had no regard for harmonic function; his use of the term “dominant” does not imply
traditional tonal function. It seems likely that Messiaen’s synesthesia made it easy for him to ignore
the harmonic tension that might be associated with a chordal inversion. Since a chord and its
inversions all evoked similar colorations, it was coloration— not bass pitch— that most strongly
determined harmonic identify. Because coloration is so intrinsic to a chord, and because inversion does
not significantly alter coloration, my “tonal” chord designation ignore inversions.
17. Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond,
1986), 148. See also Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 462; 456; 460.
91
Dt] (“gray green,” with gray predominating) most likely would have darkened the harmonic
coloration; in an Edom9, the Fj;} lent a sparkling, gem-like quality. Thus, for the
dissertation, the base coloration (which is modified according to register and other musical
parameters) of all Edom7 chords is “dark red;” the base color of all Edom9 chords is “ruby
red.”
Example 6.1. “Apparition du Christ Glorieux,” chord 1/11, coloristic analysis.
[mode 3 pc-colors; pc-colors, zoned:
f El|-gray blue
Q-blue green
Al|-blue
Ft-copper
Eij-blue
Q-blue
Al)-blue
©
d^-violet
q ^ le a r ^-violet
Ct|- clear
©
©
blue
©
dark mauve
Example 6.1 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 1/11 (which is identical to
chords 4/11, 9/8, 9/13, 10/18, and 13/27). Chord 1/11 is an isolated modal chord of mode
3^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into two zones. The pcs Et] (blue), Cjf (blue),
and At] (blue) fuse into a zone of blue. The pcs Ft] (red), Eb (violet), and Cl] (clear) fuse
into a zone of mauve; the low register darkens the color of this zone. The resultant
harmonic coloration of chord 1/11 is “blue, dark mauve.”
Example 6.2 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 2/6 (which is identical to chords
4/7, 5/9, 6/7, 7/7, 11/6, 13/20, and 14/9). Chord 2/6 is an isolated modal chord of mode
6^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into two zones. The pcs Ajif (red) and Oj!| (violet)

92
fuse into a zone of red violet; the pc Fjf (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the zone.
The pcs e 1>(violet) and Al^ (blue) fuse into a zone of blue violet; the pc Ct] (clear) clarifies
the color of the zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 2/6 is “sparkling red
violet, clear blue violet.”

[mode 6
$
A[t-red Aft-red
Gtt-violet
Fji-crystal
Gff-violet
Fjf^rystal
©
Eb-violet
Cl]-clear Eb-violet
Ai]-blue Clj-clear
Alj-blue
©
©
sparkling
©
clear
red violet blue violet
Example 6.3 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 3/8 (which is identical to chord
12/8). Chord 3/8 is special chord CDA^"^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three
zones. The pc Et| (gray) comprises a relatively small zone of gray. (The absence of other
blue pcs fails to bring out the blue of Et].) The pc Gl) (yellow) comprises a small zone of
yellow. The pcs Blj (deep red), e 1>(violet), Bt> (red) and. Ft] (red) fuse into a zone of
mauve; the pc Ct] (clear) adds clarity to the zone, changing the mauve to amethyst. The
zone of yellow appears within the zone of mauve. The resultant harmonic coloration of
chord 3/8 is “gray, amethyst and yellow.”
93

5A
CDA- El|-gray blue Eli- gray
t Bl]-deep red
Ek-violet
Cl|-clear
Bk-red
Gl|-yellow
Blj-deep red
Eb-violet
Cl|-clear
Bb-red
] ©
©
Fl]-copper Ft]-red
d]-yellow
] ®
©
gray
0
amethyst
©
yellow
t p o
HE

Fl|-copper Fl|-green ]
$ i Clj-clear
Gl|-yellow
Db-blue-green
Bl(-deep red
d |-cle ar
Gli-yellow ]®
Ab-violet Db-blue
] ®
Ftt-crystal
Eb-violet Bl^-deep red
Ab-violet ] ©
Fjt-crystal
1 0
Eb-violet ]®
©
pale green
©
bumt-earth
©
clear
®
amethyst violet
®
stars of gold
©
warm reddish
crystals Prussian blue chestnut
-
94
Example 6.4 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 3/10. Chord 3/10 is special
chord CDA^® with added note Ft]5. Chapter 5 gives the coloration of CDA^® as “bumt-
earth crystals, amethyst violet, clear Pmssian blue, warm reddish chestnut, stars of gold.”
The coloration of chord 3/10 is similar to that of CDA^®, except for the effect of the Ft]5
(green); the green of the Fl^5 does not fuse with nearby pc colors and instead adds a touch
of green to the top of the chord. The high register of the Ft| lightens the green. The
resultant harmonic coloration of chord 3/10 is “pale green, bumt-earth crystals, amethyst
violet, clear Pmssian blue, warm reddish chestnut, stars of gold.”
[mode 3 pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:
$ W
Ft|-copper
Dl]-gray green
Bi»-red
F|-crystal
Fl]-red
Dll-gray
Bl>-red
©
Ell-gray blue Ftt-crystal

cjt-blue green Eli-blue
©
Ctt-blue
© ©
dark red deep sapphire blue
S i SII:
Example 6.5 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 4/9 (which is identical to chords
5/8,13/25, and 14/8). Chord 4/9 is an isolated modal chord of mode 3^. The chord’s
constituent pc colors fall into two zones. The pcs Ft] (red), Dt| (gray), and Bb (red) fuse
into a zone of dark red. The pcs Etj (blue) and Cjif (blue) fuse into a zone of blue; the pitch-
class FjJ (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the zone, while the low register darkens
the color. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 4/9 is “dark red, deep sapphire blue.”

95
chords 6/9, 7/9, 9/10, and 13/26). Chord 4/10 is an isolated modal chord of mode 3^. The
chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three zones: the pcs Bb (red), e !>(violet), and Bt]
(deep red) fuse into a zone of mauve (a type of red violet); the pc Gt] (yellow) comprises a
relatively small zone of yellow, which appears within the zone of mauve; and the pc At]
(blue) evokes a small zone of blue; the pc Fjit (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the
zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 4/10 is “mauve and yellow, blue
sparkle.”
[mode 3 ] pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned

Bb-red Bb-red
& d]-yellow Eb-violet
©
Et-violet Bl]-deep red
B!i-deep red
Al[-blue G!|-yellow ^
Fjt-crystal
All-blue 1
Fjj-crystal J V©
© ©
yellow
©
blue sparkle
Pr-Q-
chord 7/10). Chord 6/10 is an isolated modal chord of mode 3^. The chord’s constituent
pc colors fall into three zones. The pcs Bl| (deep red). Ft] (red), and Bb (red) fuse into a
zone of red. The pcs At] (blue) and Cj| (blue) fuse into a zone of blue, which overlaps the
zone of red. The pc Gtj (yellow) evokes a small zone of yellow. The resultant harmonic
coloration of chord 6/10 is “red and blue, yellow.”
96

Blj-deep red Bl]-deep red
Al]-blue Fl|-red
©
Ft]-copper Bl>-red
Q-blue green
Bl»-red All-blue -| ^
Gt|-yellow Ctt-blue J W
G!)-yellow ^
© © ©
red blue
.------------- .tli>
y H **--------
po tt-®- 1
— ------------
-X---...................

£L.
$ t> Gij-yellow GH|-yellow ]]

O Di|-gray green
Alj-blue Dll-gray 1 ^
Ek-violet Al]-blue J V©
Ct|-blue green
Bl>-red Ctt-(suppressed)
AI>-violet
Ek-violet
Flj-copper
Bk-red
Ai>-violet ©
Fl|- green []
© © © ©
pale yellow clear ashen gray mauve pale green
,—6------- ^
----------------- h------ — n------------------ ^
------------------ n
m — ^---------- 1 ------------------1
- T = —
------- ----- [-------------

------------------ :
chords 7/12 and 13/10). Chord 6/12 is special chord CDA^® with added note GtlS. In
Chapter 5 the coloration of CDA^® is listed as “clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green.” The
R e p r o d u c e d witli p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
97
coloration of chord 6/12 is similar to that of CDA^®, except for effect of the Gt:|5 (yellow),
which does not fuse with the other pc colors, and instead adds yellow to the top of the
chord. The high register of the Gl]5 lightens its color, evoking a “pale yellow.” The
resultant harmonic coloration of chord 6/12 is “pale yellow, clear ashen gray, mauve, pale
green.”
Example 6.9 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 8/7. Chord 8/7 is an isolated
modal chord of mode 3k The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three zones. The pc
d:] (yellow) evokes a small zone of yellow. The pc El] (gray) evokes a small zone of gray;
the pc ct] (clear) clarifies the color of the zone. The pcs Ab (violet) and Eb (violet) fuse into
a zone of violet; the pc Fj| (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the zone. The resultant
harmonic coloration of chord 8/7 is “yellow, clear gray, amethyst.”
[mode 3*] pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:
I Gl|-yellow
El]-gray blue
ClJ-clear
Al>-violet
Gli-yellow
Elj-gray
Cl]-clear
]
1
J V '
Ft)-crystal
El>-violet Al»-violet
Fjt-crystal f Sj
Eb-violet
© 0 ©
yellow clear gray amethyst
I
Example 6.10 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 8/8. Chord 8/8 is an isolated
modal chord of mode 3k The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into two zones: one large
zone that envelopes a small zone. The pc A|f (red) evokes a small zone of red. The pcs Cf(
98
(green), Dt] (green), and At] (blue) fuse into a zone of blue green; the pc Fjj (crystal)
contributes a sparkling quality to the zone, while the pc Cl] (clear) clarifies the color of the
zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 8/8 is “pale blue green crystal and red.”

Cjj-blue green Ajj-red ]
A^-red
Ffi-crystal Cjt-green
Dl^-gray green F^-crystal
Cl[-clear Dl^-green
0
Al|-blue Cl]-clear
Alj-blue
© 0
red pale blue-green crystal
------- ttn--------------
------ ilK*--------------
------ ------------------
-------------
chord CCR^"^, lacking Dt]3 and with added note Bl]4. In Chapter 5 the eoloration of
CCR^^ is listed as “yellow, mauve, gray.” The coloration of chord 8/10 is similar to that
of CCR^"^, except for effect of the Bl], which assumes its orange identity and fuses with the
Gt] (yellow) into a zone of orange. The zone of orange overlaps with a zone of mauve,
evoked by the fusing of At] (blue), e 1>(violet), and Db (blue). The missing Dt] (gray green)
does not affect the color of the lowermost zone of gray, evoked by the Et] (gray) and Fjj
(crystal). The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 8/10 is “orange and mauve, gray.”
chord CCR^"^, lacking Gt]3, and with added note Et]4. In Chapter 5 the coloration of
CCR^"^ is listed as “gray, elear green, yellow.” The eoloration of ehord 10/12 is similar to
that of CCR^^, except that since it lacks Gt] (yellow), yellow is not evoked; also, the added

99
E1^ (gray) fuses into the gray zone at the top of the chord, resulting in a “pearly” quality.
The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 10/12 is “pearly gray, clear green.”

Bl] -deep red Blj - orange
Al]-blue Gl]-yellow ©
d |-y ello w
ti Et-violet Alj-blue
tii<p D t-blue green Et-violet
©
Ffl-crystal D t- blue
El]-gray blue
Ftt-crystal “I ^
E l]- gray J ^
© © ©
orange gray
" t m— — 1
-------------------
— tj- tVO-------
--------------------
pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned;

El]-gray blue El]-gray .
t
©
Dl]-gray green Dl]-gray
Q]-white Cl]-white
Gft-violet
Ftt-crystal Gtt-(suppresed)
Bl]-deep red Bl]-(suppressed)
A t-blue
Ftt-crystal
Al]-blue ]®
©
pearly gray
©
clear green
-U — blAeH-------- 1-------------------
--------------
----- -------------
-------------------
R e p r o d u c e d witli p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
100
chord CCR^^, lacking e !>3, and with added note Cl]5. In Chapter 5 the coloration of
CCR^^ is listed as “clear purple violet, clear yellow, orange red.” The coloration of chord
10/14 is similar to that of CCR^"^. The pc Cl] (clear) clarifies the upper zone. The absence
of e Ij (violet) allows green to emerge in the lower zone; the Et] (gray), Dt| (gray green) and
Ft] (green) fuse into a zone of gray green. The small zone of yellow (evoked by Gt])
appears within the zone of gray green. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 10/14 is
“very clear purple violet, clear yellow and gray green.”

O]-white Cl]-white
Ajj-red Ajj-red
Gjj-violet Gjj-violet
El]-gray-blue
I ^^ Dl]-gray-green Gl]-yellow ^
i): Gl]-yellow
El]-gray
Fi]-copper
Dlj-gray green
Fl]-green ®
® ® ®
very clear purple-violet clear yellow gray green
VCU tf, ^ -------------
......... -----br,----- -- bu £^.1

HCj t_r^
9 ’................ _— ... 1 ...........
Example 6.14 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 10/16. Chord 10/16 is an
isolated modal chord of mode 3^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into two zones.
The pcs b I>(red) and Ft] (red) fuse into a zone of red. The pcs Cji| (green). At] (blue), and
Et] (blue) fuse into a zone of blue; the pc Ff} (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the
zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 10/16 is “red, sapphire blue.”
101
[mode 3 ] pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:
i >o
Bl>-red
Fl|-copper
Q -b lu e green
Alj-blue
Ftt-crystal
Bl>-red
Fl]- red
Ci-blue
Al]-blue
]©
km ©
El]-gray blue Ftt-crystal
El]- blue
© ©
sapphire blue
red
t
pc-colors: pc-colors.
[mode 3
El]-gray blue El]-blue
Cl]-clear -clear
Gjt-violet ©
Gtt-violet
Fl]-copper
Dl]-gray green Fl]-green
Dlj-green ©
© ©
- / --------------------
-----1------------
y ----------
---------- -------------------
^------------- -------------------
The pcs Etj (blue) and Gj^ (violet) fuse into a zone of blue violet; the pc Ct| (clear) clarifies
the color of the zone. The pcs Ft] (green) and Dlj (green) fuse into a zone of green; the low
102
register darkens the shading. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 10/17 is “clear
blue violet, dark green.”
Example 6.16 provides a coloristic analysis of chord 13/9. Chord 13/9 is an F|}9.
The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three zones. The pcs GJ} (violet) and Et| (blue)
fuse into a zone of violet blue; the pc Fj:| (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality to the zone,
resulting in amethyst. The doubled Cjj (blue) evokes blue. Messiaen often described how
octave duplications evoked a “ring” of c o l o r . is Here, the octave C-sharps create a ring of
blue that surrounds the zone of amethyst. The pc b1> (red) evokes a small zone of red. The
resultant harmonic coloration of chord 13/9 is “amethyst surrounded by a blue ring, red.”
pc-colors: pc-colors.
FSdom9
t
Ctt-blue green Ctt-blue
ie = Gf-violet
Ftt-crystal
Ctt-blue ©
El|-gray blue Gtt-violet
Cjt-blue green
Bk-red
Ftt-crystal
Elj-blue ©
Bb-red ]©
© © ©red
blue amethyst
t rf>
chord CCR^'^, without El:|3. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three zones. The
pcs Ft] (red) and Bt] (deep red) fuse into a zone of red. The doubled At] (blue) evokes blue;
as in the previous chord, the octave duplication creates a ring of color. The pcs Eb (violet)
18. See, for example, Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 72; 513; 514.

103
and Ab (violet) fuse into a zone of violet; the pc Fjt (crystal) contributes a sparkling quality,
and the low register darkens the color of the zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of
chord 13/14 is “red surrounded by a blue ring, dark amethyst.”

All-blue All-blue
I I
Fl]-copper
B^-deep red
Al]-blue
Ek-violet
Al]-blue
Fl|-red
Bl]-deep red
]©
]©
Al>-violet
Ftt-crystal Ek-violet
Al>-violet
Ftt-crystal
©
©blue
©red
©
dark amethyst
t
isolated modal chord of mode 6^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into four zones.
The pc Dt] (gray) evokes a zone of gray; the pc Cl] (clear) clarifies the color of the zone.
The pc B\> (red) evokes a zone of red. The pc Gtj (yellow) evokes a zone of yellow. The
pcs El] (gray blue) and Cfj (blue) fuse into a zone of gray blue. The resultant harmonic
coloration of chord 13/18 is “clear gray, red, yellow, gray blue.”
isolated modal chord of mode 4^. The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into two
overlapping zones. The pcs Elj (blue) and Al] (blue) fuse into a zone of blue. The pcs Bl]
(deep red), and Eb (violet) fuse into a zone of red violet; the pe Gb (crystal) contributes a
104
sparkling quality to the zone, while the pc Ct] (clear) clarifies the color of the zone. The
resultant harmonic coloration of chord 13/18 is “blue and clear ruby red.”
[mode 6 pc-colors: pc-colors:
$ Dl;-gray green
Cl;-clear
Bl>-red
Di]-gray
Cl]-clear
1
J v ©
J Gl;-yellow
El]-grayblue
Bl>-red
C|-blue green Gl]-yellow J ( ^ ^
El]-grayblue 1 ^
Ci-blue J
© ©
clear gray red
©
yellow
©
gray blue
— I
hG ----------------
--------- — 6-0 ------
------------
* vrlT'o-
El;-gray blue
Bl]-deep red
Al]-blue
Ol>-crystal
El]-blue
Al|-blue
Bl]-deep red
~\
J '—J
Eb-violet
Cl]-clear
Gb-crystal
Eb-violet
Cl]-clear
©
© ©
blue clear ruby red
------ ^ o ---------
----------
105
The pcs At] (blue) and Dt| (green) fuse into a zone of blue green; the pc Fj| (crystal)
contributes a sparkling quality to the zone. The pcs b 1>(red), GJt (violet), and Ft] (red) fuse
into a zone of red violet. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 13/23 is “blue green
crystal, red violet.”

All-blue All-blue
Ftt-crystal
Dll-gray green
F|t-crystal
Dll-green
©
Bb-red
Gtf-violet Bb-red
Fli-copper Gff-violet
Fl|- red
©
©
blue-green crystal
©
red violet
isolated modal chord of mode 3E The chord’s constituent pc colors fall into three zones.
In terms of pc content, chord 14/10 is identical to chord 8/7 (whose coloration is “yellow,
clear gray, amethyst”). Compared with chord 8/7, chord 14/10 contains octave doublings
at Ct]5 and Et|5; the octave duplications result in a ring of clear gray. The small zone of
yellow (evoked by Gt|) now appears within the zone of clear gray, instead of above the
zone. The resultant harmonic coloration of chord 8/7 is “yellow surrounded by a clear gray
ring, amethyst.”
106
[mode 3*] pc-colors: pc-colors, zoned:
$ El^-gray blue
Clj-clear
Gl]—yellow
El]-gray blue
El]-gray
Cl]-clear
El]—gray
Q -c le ar
©
» i> .g Cl]-clear
Al>-violet CH]-yellow ^
Ftl-crystal
Et-violet Al>-violet
Eft-crystal
Eb-violet
©
©
yellow
0
clear gray
©
amethyst
I
Form in “Apparition du Christ glorieux”
A paraphrase of the plainchant “Potestas eius” appears in the uppermost voice of
‘Apparition.”i9 The form of “Apparition” is as follows:
first section: A
phrase 1 (mm. 1-6)
phrase 2 (mm. 7-10)
phrase 3 (mm. 11-16)
middle section: B
phrase 7 (mm. 3 8 ^ 4 ; repetition of phrase 6)
last section: A'

phrase 10 (mm. 59-69; variation of phrase 1)
phrase 11 (mm. 70-73; repetition of phrase 2)
phrase 12 (mm. 74-79; repetition of phrase 3)
19. Messiaen’s procedure of chant paraphrase involves retaining the general melodic contours of the chant
while assigning rhythmic durations to the tune and distorting the melodic intervals. For Messiaen’s
theories regarding chant paraphrase, see Messiaen, Technique, I, 25.
107
“Apparition” comprises fourteen phrases, grouped into three sections: A (phrases 1-5), B
(phrases 6-9), and A' (phrases 10-14). The phrase numbering herein corresponds to
rehearsal numbers in the score. In the work, rests occur only at phrase endings. A count
of five sixteenth-note rests occurs at the close of the A and B sections. Within the outer A
sections, certain phrases end with a sixteenth-note rest; the B section contains no intemal
rests.
The work’s A' section is a close variation of the A section. The following chart
compares the corresponding phrases of the two sections.
A' comparison of A to A'

phrase 1 phrase 10
chords: 1-8 1-8 repetition
chords: 9-15 new material
phrase 2 phrase 11
phrase 3 phrase 12
phrase 4 phrase 13
chords: 6-8 6-24 variation
phrase 5 phrase 14
chord(s): 10 10-11 variation
Phrases 11 and 12 echo phrases 2 and 3, respectively. Phrase 10 is like phrase 1, except
that it is interrupted by an inserted passage of music in the middle of the phrase: the first
eight chords of each phrase are identical, as are the last four chords. Comparing phrases
13 and 4, the first five chords are identical, as are the last four chords; the interior chords of
each phrase differ. Furthermore, the interior of phrase 13 is considerably longer than that
of phrase 4 (19 chords in the insertion of phrase 13, compared to three chords in phrase 4).
Phrase 14 recalls phrase 5, but has a slightly extended ending.
108
Example 6.22. Annotated keyboard reduction of “Apparition du Christ glorieux.’

violet blue blue, green
mode 2 mode 3
m
Lent
<4,5,1> <5,4,2> <4,5,1> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,4,4,2> <3,2,4,4,3> <2,3,4,4,7>
blue, green blue, dark mauve dark red
mode 3 [mode 3 Edom?
<3,3,4,4,2> <2,3,4,4,5> <3,3,4,4> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,2,4,3,3,2>
bumt-earth
crystals, amethyst
violet, clear
gold, Prussian blue, sparkling
yellow, warm reddish red-violet,
mauve, chestnut, with clear
violet blue white stars of gold blue-violet raby red
mode 2 , planing CDA- [mode 6" Edom9
<3,4,3,5> <3,5,3,4> <3,4,3,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,3,2,2> <3,3,2,2,5>

109
Example 6.22 (continued).
clear ashen gray,
violet blue ruby red mauve, pale green
mode planing CTr
Edom9 CDA-
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <3,2,3,2,6,5>
pale green,
burnt-earth
crystals, amethyst
violet, clear
Prussian blue,
clear asben gray, clear ashen warm reddish
red and pink, gray, mauve, amethyst gray, mauve, chestnut,
with gray pale green and yellow pale green stars of gold ruby red
CTr
CDA^*^ CDA^® CDA^^ CDA^® CDA^® Edom9
<2,3,4,4,5,1> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5>
sparkling
red-violet,
gold, yellow, red, gray, clear
violet blue ruby red mauve, white pale green blue-violet
mode 2 , planing Edom9 [mode6 ]
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <3,3,2,2,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,3,2,2>

110
dark red,
deep
sapphire mauve and yellow,
ruby red blue blue sparkle blue, dark mauve dark red
Edom9 [mode3^] [modes'^] [mode3 Edom?
<3,3,2,2,5> <3,2,4,4,3>
gold, silver, intense

green, white with sapphire biue, dark red,
violet, a bit of Parma violet, deep
violet blue deep blue yellow Chartres blue sapphire blue
mode 2 , planing CTl'‘

[mode3'
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <4,5,1> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,4,4,5,1> <3,2,4,4,3>
sparkling
red-vioiet,
ciear
biue-violet red
[mode6 Edom?
4 ^ ^ ■
^ --------------- ¥ -----------------------
<3,3,3,2,2> <3,3,2>
I ll

gold, sparkling
silver, red-violet,
green, violet, white with clear
violet blue deep blue a bit of yellow blue-violet
mode 2 , planing CDA^® [mode 6^]
TV
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <4,5,1> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,3,2,2>
mauve and pale yellow,

yellow, clear asben gray,
blue red and blue, mauve,
ruby red sparkle yellow ruby red pale green ruby red
5B
Edom9 [mode 3^] [mode Edom9 CDA Edom9
M)
<3,3,2,2,5> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,4,4,2> <3,3,2,2,5,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,2,5,5>
gold, sparkling
silver, red-violet,
green, violet. white with clear
violet blue deep blue a bit of yellow blue-violet
4A
mode 2 , planing CDA CDA^® [mode 6^]
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <4,5,1> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,3,2,2>
112

mauve and pale yellow,
yellow, clear ashen gray,
blue red and blue, mauve,
ruby red sparkle yellow ruby red pale green ruby red
1 I 1 I- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5B
Edom9 [mode 3^] [mode 3^] Edom9 CDA Edom9
<3,3,2,2,5> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,4,4,2> <3,3,2,2,5,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,2,5,5>
yellow,
mauve, carmine red, violet amethysts, copper,
pale blue, leathery brown; mauve campanulas, gold,
pale green, white, gold white pebbles, brown, pale blue, green,
pink, amber, and greenish pale green and blackened amethyst violet, violet,
a bit of gold speckles ashen gray red emerald green deep blue
cxr
t f
<2,3,2,3,8,5>
A
I
<3,2,3,2,6,5>
f t
<2,3,4,4,5,1> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,8,5>

%
<3,2,3,2,8,5>
yellow,
clear gray, pale blue-green crystal orange and green tinged with blue,
am et^st and red ruby red mauve, gray mauve, gray
CCR
lA IB
[mode 3^] [mode 3^] Edom9 CCR CCR
<3,2,4,4,3>
113
gray, mauve, mauve, blue,
a bit of gold blue, green sapphire blue dark mauve
mode 3 , planing mode 3 , planing
CDA [mode3
< 3,2,4,4,3x2,3,4,4,3x3,3,4,4 ,2> < 3 ,2 ,4 ,4 ,3 x2,3,4,4,3x3,3,4,4,2> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,4,4,3>
mauve and
yellow, mauve, blue,
dark red blue sparkle ruby red sapphire blue dark mauve dark red
Edom? tmode3"^] Edom9 CDA^® [mode3^] Edom?
Xi
4 ^
<3,2,4,3,3,2> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,2,2,5,5><3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,2,4,3,3,2>
violet blue blue, green
10 mode 2 mode 3
<4,5,1><5,4,2> <4,5,1> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,4,4,2> <3,2,4,4,3> <2,3,4,4,?> <3,3,4,4,2>
114
very clear
purple violet,
gray, mauve, pearly gray, blue and green, clear yellow and
a bit of gold clear green with a bit of yellow gray-green
mode 3 CCR” CCR^

6A 6B 2A
CCR CCR CCR
<3,2,4,4,3> <3,3,4,4,2> <3,2,4,4,3> <[2],2,7,2,4,2> <2,4,2,3,2,2> <[2],2,7,2,4,2>
pale green, red, clear

clear gray sapphire blue-vlolet,
with a bit of red blue dark green blue, dark mauve dark red
CCR^
2B^
CCR [mode 3^] [mode 3^] [mode 3 Edom7
<2,4,2,3,2,2> <2,3,4,4,5> <3,3,4,4> <3,2,4,4,3> <3,2,4,3,3,2>

burnt-earth
crystals, amethyst
violet, clear
gold, Prussian blue, sparkling
yellow, warm reddish red-violet,
mauve, chestnut, with clear
violet blue white stars of gold hlue-vlolet ruhy red
mode 2 , planing Edom9
<3,4,3,5> <3,5,3,4> <3,4,3,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,3,3,2,2> <3,3,2,2,5>
115
clear ashen gray,
violet blue ruby red mauve, pale green
mode 2 , planing c x r
5B
Edom9 CDA
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <3,2,3,2,6,5>
pale green,
burnt-earth
crystals, amethyst
violet, clear
Prussian blue,
clear ashen gray, clear ashen warm reddish
red and pink, gray, mauve, amethyst gray, mauve, chestnut,
with gray pale green and yellow pale green stars of gold ruby red
c x r
CDA^^ CDA^® CDA^'^ CDA^® CDA^® Edom9
<2,3,4,4,5,1> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <4,3,3,4,5>
amethyst
surrounded
gold, yellow, by a blue ring,
violet blue ruby red mauve, white green red
mode 2* mode 2'

Edom9
< 5 ,4 ,2 ,x 4 ,5 ,l> <5,4,2><3,3,2,2,5> <2,3,2,3,6,5> <5,4,2,> <4,5,1> <5,2,4> <3,4,2,2,5>
116
pale yellow,
clear ashen gray, green, red surrounded carmine red,
mauve, violet, lemon yellow, clear ashen gray, hy a blue ring, clear gray,
pale green deep blue with red stains mauve, pale green dark amethyst leather brown
CCR^
3A 3B
CDA^® CDA'*^ c d a "® CDA^® CCR CCR
<3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <[2],2 ,7 ,6 ,2 ,6,4> <2 ,6 ,5 ,2,3,5,4>
dark red, clear gray, sparkling

orange, leather brown, red, blue and red-violet, pale blue, blue-green
gray tinged royal blue, yellow, clear clear amethyst violet, crystal,
with blue carmine red gray-blue ruby red blue-violet ruby red emerald green red-violet
Tco
[mode 6 ] [mode 4 ] [mode 6' Edom9 CD a “ [mode 3'
<5,3,2,1,7,3,4> <5,2,2,4,1,6,2> <3,3,3,2,2><3,3,3,2,5> <3,3,3,2,2><3,3,2,2,5><3,2,3,2,6,5> <3,2,4,4,3>
gold,
silver,
white with dark red,
a bit of deep mauve and yellow,
yellow sapphire blue blue sparkle blue, dark mauve dark red
4B
CDA [mode 3 l [mode 31 [mode 3 Edom7
<3,2,4,4,3> <3,2,4,4,3>

117
gold, silver, intense
green, vt'hite with blue sapphire, dark red,
violet, a bit of Parma violet, deep
violet blue deep blue yellow Chartres blue sapphire blue
mode 2 , planing CTI

4C
CDA [mode3'
<5,4,2> <4,5,1> <5,4,2> <4,5,1> <2,3,2,3,8,5> <3,2,3,2,6,5> <2,3,4,4,5,1> <3,2,4,4,3>
sparkling yellow surrounded ruby red,

red-violet, hy a clear gray ring, dark red
clear blue-violet amethyst
[modc6^] [mode3^] Edom9
b;..
P
1.S:
—T-aH- P jtr —
m
<3,3,3,2,2> <3,2,4,4,3> <4,3,3,2,2,5,5>

118
Examination of color in “Apparition du Christ glorieux”

Example 6.22 provides an annotated keyboard reduction of “Apparition.”20 In the
example, voicing analysis appears below the music; harmonic and coloristic analyses
appear above the music. The following text explores, phrase-by-phrase, coloristic features
of “Apparition.” A summary of the coloristic features follows.
Phrase 1. Phrase 1 is a coloristic microcosm of the work as a whole: most of the
fourteen phrases begin with a broad expanse of violet blue, proceed through a succession
of changing colorations—many of them rather complex—and end on a sustained red.
Phrase 1 begins with a three-chord passage in mode 2^ (“violet blue”), followed by a
seven-chord passage in mode 3^ (“blue, green)—the longest modal passage of the work
and the longest stretch of a single coloration. The penultimate chord of phrase 1 is an
isolated chord of mode 3^ (“blue, dark mauve”). The phrase ends on a lingering EdomV
chord (“dark red”).
Only the phrase’s final chord includes octave doublings. The shape of the photism
evoked by the phrase’s final chord differs slightly from the shapes of the phrase’s previous
chords; instead of evoking discrete zones of color, the final chord evoked a photism with a
more homogenous coloration.î In the work, a phrase-end chord with octave doublings
corresponds to formal closure, a feature that serves as a norm throughout the remaining
phrases. The colorations of the final two chords are also normative, as most phrases close
with coloration with blue and red hues moving to a coloration with a reddish hue.
Phrase 2. Phrase 2 comprises two subphrases: chords 1-5 and 6-7, demarcated by
phrase markings; the separation of the phrase into two subphrases is further strengthened
by the fact that chord 5 is the only mid-phrase chord with a duration longer than a sixteenth
note (the work’s additive rhythm base). Chord 5 (a CDAÂ with coloration “gold, yellow,
mauve, white”) emphasizes shades of yellow; in the remainder of the work, most mid-
20. Keyboard reduction by the author.
21. On a few occasions, Messiaen described how an octave duplication within a chord evoked a ring of
color. See, for example, Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 72; 513; and 514.
119
phrase subphrases close on a shade of yellow, while end-of-phrase subphrases close on
red (as in phrase 1). Phrase 2 is coloristically similar to phrase 1 in that the later phrase
opens with planing in mode 2^ (“violet blue”) and ends with a sustained E dominant (here,
a “ruby red” Edom9); between these two coloristic pillars occur more complex colorations,
a feature encountered in the remainder of the work. In phrase 2, special chords occur for
the first time in the work. As is true of phrase 1, the final chord of phrase 2 contains
octave doublings (evoking a more homogenous coloration). Also, as in phrase 1, the
penultimate chord features shades of red and blue (here, a mode 6^ chord with the
coloration “sparkling red-violet, clear blue-violet”) and the final chord evoked a reddish
coloration (“ruby red”).
Phrase 3. Like phrase 2, phrase 3 comprises two subphrases: chords 1-5 and 6 -
11, demarcated by phrase markings and a chord of longer duration at the end of the first
subphrase; also, the coloration of the chord at the end of the first subphrase (CDA^^ with
coloration “clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green”) minimizes the color red. As in previous
phrases, phrase 3 begins with planing in mode 2^ (“violet blue”). A CTI group acts as a
coloristic elision across the two subphrases. The modal planing and the CTI group exhibit
contrasting coloristic effects: the modal planing evokes a singular coloration in a
durationally broad expanse, while the CTI group evokes short and contrasting colorations.
The CTI group alternates between CDA^B and other members of the same group,
coloristically effecting an oscillation between “clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green,” “red
and pink, with gray,” and “gray, amethyst and yellow.” Since chords in a CTI group share
the same bass pitch, the corresponding photisms have a similar hue on the bottom (here,
the low F seems to correspond to an overall grayish hue) and changing colors above. As in
the previous two phrases, the overall coloristic pattern of phrase 3 is violet blue at the
beginning, red at the close, with complex colorations in between. In the penultimate chord,
except for the “pale green” evoked by the added-note Ft] and the twinkling “crystals” and
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“stars,” the coloration emphasizes hues of red and blue hues; the coloration of the final two
chords are similar to those of phrase 1 and 2.
Phrase 4, As in phrases 2 and 3, phrase 4 coloristically falls into two subphrases:
chords 1-5 and 6-12; also, the final chord of the first subphrase has a non-red coloration (a
CDA^B with coloration “gold, yellow, mauve, white”) and longer duration. The first four
chords of phrases 3 and 4 are identical; phrase 4’s second subphrase features isolated
chords, contrasting with the CTI grouping in phrase 3. As in previous phrases, phrase 4
ends with a widely spaced E dominant, evoking a homogenous coloration (“red”),
preceded by a chord whose coloration emphasizes blue and red hues (“blue, dark mauve”).
Phrase 5. Phrase 5 closes the work’s A section (the first section of the work’s
tripartite form). As in previous phrases, phrase 5 opens with a passage in mode 2^ and
ends on an E dominant. A CTI group follows, contrasting the sustained coloration of the
opening modal passage. As in previous phrases, the final two chords emphasizes hues of
red and blue (“sparkling red-violet, clear blue-violet” in the penultimate chord) and red
(“red” in the final chord). The final chord of the phrase is a close-voiced EdomV, and is the
only E dominant of the work not to contain an octave doubling; the close voicing and lack
of octave doublings evoked a small photism, and here corresponds to a weaker sense of
closure, suggesting movement to the work’s next section. The phrase ends with a
relatively lengthy rest that separates the A section from the ensuing B section.
Phrase 6. Phrase 6 opens the B section (the middle section of the work’s tripartite
form). As in most previous phrases, phrase 6 divides into two subphrases; chords 1-5 and
6-13; also, the final chord of the first subphrase has a longer duration and non-red
coloration (“green, violet, deep blue”). The first six chords of phrase 6 are identical to
those of phrase 5. Unlike phrase 5, phrase 6 does not continue with an extended CTI
group; after the opening passage of modal planing, the remainder of the phrase comprises
isolated modal chords and E-dominant chords.
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The end of phrase 6 features a coloristic oscillation between the “ruby red” of
Edom9 and the “pale yellow, clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green” of CDA^^. Unlike
previous phrases, phrase 6 features a penultimate chord that does not emphasize shades of
red and blue: CDA^®, with coloration “pale yellow, clear ashen gray, mauve, pale green.”
In “Apparition,” phrases that conclude with a blue and red coloration moving to a red
coloration correspond to formal closure; chords with a yellowish hue correspond to weak
formal closure. The weakened sense of formal closure at the close of phrase 6 establishes a
pattem that is followed throughout the work’s middle section.
Phrase 7. Phrase 7 is a repetition of phrase 6.
Phrase 8. Coloristically, phrase 8 neither begins nor ends as the work’s other
phrases do. Phrase 8 begins with a CTI group and ends with a CCR pairing. Unlike the
colorations in the works outer sections, the non-standard colorations in phrase 8 fail to
establish strong formal demarcations. Overall, the colorations of phrase 8 are relatively
complex; phrase 8 contains no modal passages, and marks the first appearance of CCRs in
the work.
Phrase 9. Phrase 9 is a variation of phrase 8 and closes the middle section of the
work’s tripartite form. Unlike most other phrases, phrase 9 opens with a passage in mode
32. The atypical (for the work) colorations at the close of phrase 8 and the opening of
phrase 9 weaken the sense of formal demarcation and serve to link the two phrases.
Phrase 9 comprises three subphrases (articulated as in previous phrases); chords 1-
9,10-11, and 12-14; also, each sub-phrase closes on an E dominant. The final two
colorations of the first subphrase (“blue, dark mauve” moving to the “dark red” of an
Edom?) effect a false closure. The colorations in the second subphrase (“mauve and
yellow, blue sparkle” moving to “ruby red”) correspond to a weak sense of closure, due
mainly to the yellowish hue in the penultimate chord. The close of the third subphrase
repeats the close of the first; the repetition is the first of its kind in the work. Similar to
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phrases in the work’s opening A section, phrase 9’s penultimate chord emphasizes shades
of red and blue, while the final chord is red; the colorations correspond to closure.
Phrase 10. Phrase 10 begins the work’s A’ section (the final section of the work’s
tripartite form) and echoes phrase 1; the two phrases are identical save for a seven-chord
insertion in phrase 10 (chords 9-14) that interrupts a lengthy passage in mode 3^ from the
earlier phrase. The insertion begins with a transposition of preceding materials and
contains CCRs, which are rare in the work. The CCRs contain added notes in the upper
voice that preserve the falling tiitone motive so common to the work’s melody. The
insertion begins with a broad expanse of color (the “gray, mauve, a bit of gold” of mode
3^), and continues with a succession of changing colorations.
As in previous phrases, the final chord of the phrase is red and the penultimate
chord emphasizes shadings of red and blue; chords at the end of subphrases minimize red
(i.e., chord 10/13 is “blue and green, with a bit of yellow, and chord 10/15 is “pale green,
clear gray with a bit of red”). Noteworthy in the insertion are complex colorations, and
colorations whose hues emphasize yellow. Since, in the work, the color yellow
corresponds to non-closure, it is fitting to find yellowish hues in the insertion.
Phrase 13. Phrase 13 echoes phrase 4. The first five chords of each phrase are
identical, as are the last four chords; the middle chords of phrase 13 (chords 6-24)
constitute a variation on those of phrase 4 (chords 6-8). The variation contains chords that
are harmonically and coloristically unique to the work: an Fj|dom9 (chord 9), two TCs
(chords 16 and 17), a chord in mode 6^ (chord 18), and a chord in mode 4^ (chord 19).
As in phrase 10, the insertion in phrase 13 features more complex colorations than its
surrounding chords.
Phrase 14. Phrase 14, the work’s final phrase, is a variation of phrase 5 (which
closed the first section of the work’s tripartite form). The first nine chords of each phrase

123
are identical. Phrase 5’s tenth and final chord is a close-voiced four-note Edom? (“red”);
phrase 14’s eleventh and final chord is an open-voiced Edom9 with many octave doublings.
Although phrases 5 and 14 end with harmonically and coloristically similar chords, the later
chord evoked a relatively larger photism, due to its broader voicing and octave doublings.
The larger photism corresponds to formal closure. The later chord is also the only E
dominant of the work with the root of the chord in both outer voices, strengthening the
sense of closure.
Compared to phrase 5, phrase 14’s penultimate chord constitutes an insertion. The
chord, an isolated chord of mode 3^ evokes “yellow and clear gray, amethyst.” The weak
closure associated with the chord’s yellowish coloration is here counterbalanced by octave
doublings in the final two chords; the octave doublings correspond to closure.
Summary
Most of the phrases in “Apparition” share a common background color pattem.
Except for phrases 8 and 9, every phrase begins with a passage in mode 2^; similarly, all
phrases but phrase 8 end on an E dominant. Motion from violet blue to red is the most
defining coloristic feature of the work; most phrases in “Apparition” can be summarized
coloristically as projecting a motion from violet blue to red, separated by more complex
colorations. Coloristic motion in the work’s B section is more continuous, with less
marked formal demarcation than in the outer A sections.
Of the E dominant chords at phrase endings, nearly all are preceded by a chord that
features hues of red and blue; yellow is less frequently present. Blue and red correspond to
closure, while yellow corresponds to weak closure. Initial subphrases most often end on
yellow.
In “Apparition,” Messiaen did not avail himself of every harmonic type equally;
certain chords are used more frequently than others. The distribution of CD As in
“Apparition” is as follows:
124
n um ber of
occurrences CDA
10 5B
6 4A
5 2A, 4B
4 3B
3 6B
2 IB, 2B, 4C, 5A, 5C, 6A
1 8A, 8B, 8C, IIB
Of the 48 different CD As, only 16 are used in the piece, with CDA^® occurring most
frequently; many appear only once or twice. Further, none of the CD As appears in third
inversion (inversion “D”). Further, only four CCRs and three TCs appear; those that do
appear are unique to the work. Modal passages are restricted to four modes; mode 2^,
mode 3^, mode 3^, and mode 2^. Individual modal chords are likewise restricted to a small
number of modes: mode 3 in all four of its transpositions, mode 6^, mode 6^, and mode
45.
The formal “insertions” and “variations” contain the most unique and complex
colorations of the work. For example, the insertion in phrase 13 contains the only passage
in mode 2^, the only isolated chords in mode 6^, mode 4^ and the work’s only F}^dom9.
CCRs only appear in formal “insertions” (in phrases 10 and 13) and at the end of phrase 8
(which occurs in the middle of the B section). Coloristic pillars occur in the work’s outer
sections, at beginnings and endings of phrases; complex colorations occur in the middles of
phrases, and throughout the work’s middle section.
125
CHAPTER?. CONCLUSIONS
Color is an essential component of Olivier Messiaen’s distinctive compositional
style. His music-color synesthesia was neither an intellectual contrivance nor a leamed set
of associations; it was an automatic, unsuppressible response to an aural stimulus. The
colorations evoked by Messiaen’s synesthesia rested on a complex system of relationships
residing fundamentally at the level of pitch class. 1 hope that the dissertation’s
quantification of Messiaen’s pitch-color correspondences and presentation of a method for
determining harmonic colorations will prove suggestive in other synesthetic studies.
An awareness of the coloristic component of a work set in musique coloree is vital
to fully appreciate the work. Many non-synesthetic listeners will hear the chords of a
modal passage as distinct harmonies, since they comprise different pcsets and different
voicings; for Messiaen, a series of chords in the same mode evoked a single coloration
(rather than different colorations for each chord) and thereby suggests an extended
harmonic unit. Understanding such coloristic similarities—and differences—among
chords (especially among those that are adjacent) enables one to apprehend more fully and
appreciate Messiaen’s harmonic choices.
The dissertation responds to Jonathan Bernard’s call for a “generalized theory of
harmonic structure” of the music of Messiaen. i Because Messiaen composed in diverse
styles, a single comprehensive theory that encompasses all of his techniques {musique
coloree, the harmonization of birdsong, dodecaphonic techniques, etc.) is probably not
possible; however, a general theory of musique coloree is approachable. The dissertation
maintains that the harmonic structure of musique coloree can be best understood by
examining absolute pitch, color-sets, and voicing.
1. Jonathan W. Bernard, “Messiaen’s Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound
Structure in His Music,” Music Perception M \ (Fall, 1986), 68.

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Original Contributions of the Dissertation

The dissertation postulates that Messiaen’s synesthesia was a genuine physiological
condition and satisfied all but one of Richard Cytowic’s criteria for idiopathic synesthesia.
Messiaen’s synesthesia was involuntary but elicited (it occurred whenever he heard or read
music), consistent and discrete (colorations did not change over time, and were very
specific), memorable (the percepts could be recalled and described), and accompanied by a
sense of emotional certitude (he felt that what was happening was indeed real). Unlike the
arbitrary mystical associations devised by Scriabin and the psuedo-spiiitual contrivances of
Kandinsky, Messiaen’s synesthesia was real, and involved very real sound-color
correspondences.
The analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux” in Chapter 6 of the dissertation
demonstrates typical harmonies of a work set in musique coloree, and the importance of
understanding the distinction between modes and special chords. There is a trend in
published studies to analyze the harmonic content of Messiaen’s music purely in terms of
modes; such studies ignore the variety within Messiaen’s compositional process.^ The
dissertation’s proposed harmonic taxonomy—which is grounded upon the analysis of
voicing—^provides a simple and direct method for analyzing individual harmonic stmctures
in Messiaen’s music.
In the dissertation, the characteristics of musique coloree are defined, demonstrating
the musical parameters that were most conducive, for Messiaen, to the evocation of a
synesthetic response. Color is not ubiquitous in Messiaen’s music—not even in his late
works, which are his most colored. The marked shift in Messiaen’s compositional style
that occurred in the early 1950s was quite possibly related to synesthesia, since it was then
2. See, for example, Jonathan W. Bernard, “Messiaen’s Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color
and Sound Structure in His Music,” Music Perception 4/1 (Fall, 1986), 41-68; Rosemary Walker,
“Modes and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen: A Brief Discussion o f ‘Premiere Communion de la Vierge’,”
Music Analysis 8/1-2 (1989), 159-168.
121
that Messiaen became fully attuned to his synesthetic perceptions and began to pay
particular attention to them while composing.
The dissertation offers a method for ascertaining unknown harmonic colorations.
The study provides a systematic and near-comprehensive listing of colorations of
Messiaen’s modes and special chords. Additionally, the dissertation provides a detailed
coloristic analysis of a synesthete’s photisms; the dissertation defines the discrete code
behind an individual’s synesthetic percepts, and shows how the elements of a stimulus
interact and affect a synesthetic percept. Finally, the dissertation presents a chord-by-chord
coloristic analysis of a complete work, and examines patterns within colorations.3
The concept of non-harmonic tones within an atonal environment is often
problematic. However, Messiaen’s own theories provide a framework for understanding
certain tones within his music as non-harmonic; in fact, Messiaen even provided a term—
note ajoutee—that conveniently accommodates such non-harmonic analysis. Further, the
clearly identifiable harmonic vocabulary of musique coloree facilitate the analysis of certain
tones as non-harmonic.
Opportunities for Further Research
For Messiaen, chord voicing had an effect on color. Since Messiaen’s synesthetic
percepts were fundamentally contingent upon harmonic voicings—voicings that are quite
consistent within the realm of musique coloree—one may hypothesize that Messiaen’s
synesthesia informed his manner of voicing. The scarcity of semitones and clusters (three
or more adjacent semitones) in harmonic voicings within musique coloree supports this
hypothesis. My subject AF provides a possible explanation. Depending on the piece, AF
will “balance” the pitches in her cluster-laden chords to support or negate a certain color
3. In analyses of his works in Traite, Messiaen did provide colorations for many chords, but he never
provided all the colors o f a work, nor did he ever discuss the overall coloristic content of a work.
4. Interview with AF, January 4, 2002.

128
In speaking of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Volumim (a work conspicuous for its use of clusters),
Messiaen similarly explained how clusters negated a chord’s coloristic potential:
I know of Ligeti’s Volumim. I admire Ligeti much; in my opinion he is one

of the greatest contemporary musicians. The remarkable thing about
Volumina is the use of clusters. I, too, have written clusters, [e.g., the
chord of total chromaticism] but they become interesting only when they are
no longer true clusters. The cluster is an enormous gray in which one hears
all pitches simultaneously, i.e., one hears nothing. Only when a pitch is
absent does a color emerge and shine. Therefore, a cluster must be
manipulated; one must take away tones in order to give it color.^
The correspondence between chromatic saturation and lack of color is related to the
phenomenon of how, for Messiaen, certain types of aggregate formations (e.g., much of
Schoenberg’s music) evoked gray or black. From statements by Messiaen and AF, one
could infer that, for synesthetes, clusters evoke a coloristic disparity that suppresses color.
Messiaen further explained how, for him, color was contingent upon voicing:
I have managed to use the twelve tones in “packets” that absolutely do not
sound like a twelve-tone series or a truncated series; they sound like colors.
I have occasionally employed successions of chords in which one hears the
twelve tones simultaneously a great number of times, yet no one notices.
One hears major and minor triads; it is voicing that places a certain tone in
the forefront and changes the color.^
Thus, chromatic saturation by itself does not imply lack of color, since a carefully voiced
aggregate could evoke color. Further study of the percepts of living synesthetic composers
should lead to greater understanding of the relative prominence of pc colors within
5. “Ich kenne ‘Volumina’ von Ligeti. Ihn bewundere ich sehr, und er ist meiner Ansicht nach einer der
grdUten zeitgenossischen Musiker. Auffallig an ‘Volumina’ ist der Gebrauch von Clustem. Cluster
babe ich auch schon geschrieben, aber sie werden erst da interessant, wo sie keine wahren Cluster mehr
sind. Der Cluster selbst ist ein enormes Grau, in dem man alle TOne gleichzeitig hOrt, d.h. man hOrt
nichts. Erst wenn ein Ton daraus fehlt, taucht eine Farbe auf, bekommt er Glanz. Ein Cluster muB
also bearbeitet werden, man muB ihm Tdne wegnehmen, um ihm Farbe zu geben.” Karin Ernst, Der
Beitrag Olivier Messiaens zur Orgelmusik des 20. Jahrhunderts (Freiburg: Hochschul Verlag, 1980),
323.
6. “[I]l m ’est arrivd d’utiliser les douze sons an paquets at cala na sonna absolumant pas comma una seria
ou comma un trongonnaga da sdria; cala sonna comma das coulaurs. J’ai parfois employd das
succassions d’accords ou Ton antand un grand nombra da fois simultandmant las douze sons at parsonna
ne s’en aperôit. On entend des accords parfaits at c’est la disposition qui met an vedette tal ou tal son
at qui change la couleur.” Claude Samuel, Entretiens avec Olivier Messiaen (Paris: Editions Pierre
Belfond, 1967), 48-49.
129
photisms. It is possible that pc color is intersubjactively perceived by a variety of color-
music synesthetes. If such intersubjectivity can be shown to exist, theorists could achieve
an even greater understanding of Messiaen’s manner of voicing.
Although the dissertation’s taxonomic harmonic analysis of “Apparition” ignores
unison doublings, a study of Messiaen’s manner of scoring might yield interesting results:
how consistent is Messiaen concerning unison doublings in his special chords?; does he
tend to favor doublings of certain pitch classes (which in turn accentuate certain colors)?;
within his special chords, does he tend to double certain parts of a chord?; does his manner
of doubling change with scoring?; and, how might the reinforcement of a pitch class
through unison doubling effect resultant harmonic coloration? Answers to such questions
could provide further insight into the music-color correspondence of Messiaen’s
synesthesia, and in tum offer clues regarding his scoring habits.
Future
According to Cytowic, synesthetes as a group tend to be highly creative and exhibit
excellent memories; they are also drawn towards order, symmetry and balance.'^ Perhaps it
was an inclination for symmetry that drew Messiaen to symmetrical constructions such as
modes of limited transposition and non-retrogradable rhythms. Perhaps a similar desire for
balance urged him to explore natural resonance, and to employ complementary pitch-class
collections in his compositions. Most compelling, perhaps an innate need for order drove
Messiaen to codify his compositional resources into the two-volume Technique de mon
langage musical and the seven-volume Traite de rythme, de couleur et d ’omithologie: very
few composers have catalogued their compositional methods as rigorously.* Messiaen’s
7. Richard E. Cytowic, Synesthesia: A Union o f the Senses, second edition (Cambridge: MIT Press,
2002), 296.
8. Messiaen’s theoretical works are more descriptive than pedagogical. Ironically, as a teacher of
composition, Messiaen rarely discussed his own compositional methods; rather, he encouraged his
students to follow their own paths. For an excellent survey of Messiaen’s teaching career, see Jean
Boivin, La Classe de Messiaen (Paris: Christian Bourgois, 1995).
130
pre-compositional tools included tables of all his special chords in all possible inversions
and transpositions, labeled with their respective colorations. As the dissertation’s
taxonomic harmonic analysis of “Apparition” demonstrates, harmonic structures within
musique coloree are readily classifiable, and viewing the work through such classifications
unveils levels of harmonic complexity and formal organization that are less transparent than
those derived using other methodologies (e.g., set theory, transformational theory).
As the title Eclairs sur I’Au-Dela suggests, musique coloree evokes phenomena
beyond the purely aural experience of listening to music. For Messiaen, music produces
colors that—in the words of Kandinsky—resulted in a corresponding vibration of the
human soul. In his work, Messiaen truly moves “beyond” what other contemporary
composers were doing, and similarly invites us to move beyond the commonly accepted
boundaries of musical analysis to gain an understanding of this rich and fascinating music.
131
APPENDIX. MESSIAEN’S DESCRIPTIONS OF

COLORATIONS OF MODES AND SPECIAL CHORDS
mode 2l
• pink and mauvei
• red and violet^
• violet blue^
• certain violets, certain blues, violacious purple^
• violet-purple^
• violet-blue^
• red, violet and violacious purple^
• red and violacious purple^
• blue-violet peaks, sprinkled with small cubes of gray, cobalt blue and dark Prussian
blue, with some streaks of violacious purple, gold, red and ruby, and some stars of
mauve, white and black; dominant color: blue-violet^
• violet bluei®
• violet blue
• violet bluei2
1. “Rose et mauve.” Olivier Messiaen, Catalogue d'oiseaux (Paris: Leduc, 1958), IV, 11.
2. “Rouge et violet.” Messiaen, Catalogue d ’oiseaux, IV, 38.
3. “Bleu violet.” Olivier Messiaen, Couleurs de cite celeste (Paris: Leduc, 1966), 56.
4. “Le mode n° 2 toume autour de certains violets, de certains bleus et de la pourpre violacee.” Claude
Samuel, Entretiens avec Oliver Messiaen (Paris: Editions Pierre Belfond, 1967), 42.
5. Olivier Messiaen, Eight Preludes, album liner notes, trans. David Mason Greene (Musical Heritage
Society MHS 1069, 1972).
6. Almut Rbssler, Contributions to the Spiritual World o f Olivier Messiaen: With Original Texts by
the Composer, trans. Barbara Dagg, Nancy Poland, and Timothy Tikker (Duisburg: Gilles und
Francke, 1986), 43.
7. “Le rouge, le violet, et la pourpre violacde.” Olivier Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste, CD liner
notes (Erato 4509-91706-2, 1993), 10.
8. “Rouge et pourpre violacee.” Olivier Messiaen, La Transfiguration de notre Seigneur Jesus-Christ,

score notes (Paris Alphonse Leduc, 1972).
9. “Rochers bleu-violet, parsemes de petits cubes gris, bleu de cobalt, bleu de Prusse fonce, avec
quelques reflets pourpre violace, or, rouge, rubis, et des dtoiles mauves, noires, blanches. La
dominante e s t : bleu-violet.” Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude
Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986), 68.
10. “Bleu violet.” Olivier Messiaen, Traite de rythme, de couleur, et d ’omithologie (Paris: Alphonse
Leduc, 1992), V/1, 99.
11. “Bleu violet.” Messiaen, Trajte, V/1, 354.
12. “Bleu violet.” Messiaen, Traife, V/1, 358.

132
mode 2^
• gray, mauve, Prussian blue^^
• gold and brownie
• mauve and pink above, gold and brown below
• spirals of gold and silver, over a foundation of brown and ruby red vertical bands;
dominant colors: gold and brown^^
mode 2^
• green 1"^
• green18
• clear green and grassy green foliage, with stains of blue, silver and reddish orange;
dominant color: green
mode 3 I
orangeô
orange, gold and milky whiteî
orange with red and green pigments, gold stains, and a milky white with iridescent
opal-like streaks22
orange, gold and milky whitens
orange and gold^^
orange, gold and milky whitens
3. Messiaen, Eight Preludes, album liner notes.
4. “Or et bran.” Olivier Messiaen, et al, Hommage d Olivier Messiaen: novembre-decembre 1978
(Paris: La Recherche Artistique, 1979), 46.
5. “Mauve et rose dans le haut, or et brun dans le grave.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 46.
6. “Spirales d’or et d’argent, sur fond de bandes verticales brunes et rouge rubis. Dominante : or et
brun.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 68.
7. “Vert.” M sssiasn, Hommage d Olivier Messiaen, 102.
8. “Vert.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 10.
9. “Feuillages vert clair et vert prairie, avec des taches de bleu, d’argent et d’orange rougeatre.
Dominante : vert.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 68.
20. “Orangd.” Messiaen, Catalogwe, IV, 11.
21. “Orangd, or, blanc laiteux.” Messiaen, Couleurs de cite celeste, 51.
22. “Orange avec pegmentations rouges et vertes, des taches d’or et aussi a blanc laiteux aux reglets irisds
comme les opales.” Samuel, Entretiens, 42.
23. Rossler, ConrnbMfions, 43.
24. “Orange et or.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 14.
25. “Orange, or, blanc laituex.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 15.
133
• orange, gold and milky white^^

• orange, ringed with milky white with pink streaks, speckled by a bit of red, like an
opal, with some green pigmentations and some spots of gold^^
• gold and brown, almost black [in a low registerj^s
• orange, gold and milky white^^
• orange, gold and milky whiteô
mode 3 2
• gray and mauveî
• gray, mauve and gold^^
• gray and gold^^
• gray and gold^^
• gray and gold^s
• gray and mauve, with a bit of pale yellow^^
• horizontally layered stripes, from low to high: dark gray, mauve, clear gray and white,
with mauve and pale yellow highlights, with blazing gold letters of an unknown script
and a number of small red or blue arches, very thin, very fine, barely visible; dominant
colors: gray and mauve^^
• gray and mauve^^
26. “Orange, or, blanc laituex.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 103.
27. “Orange aureole de blanc laiteux aux reflets roses, piquetd d’un peu de rouge, comme une opale, avec
quelques pigmentations vertes et quelques taches d’or.” Harry Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen, 139.
28. “Or et brun presque noir.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 162.
29. “Orange, or, blanc laituex.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 469.
30. “Orange, or, blanc laituex.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 470.
31. R6ss\er, Contributions, 43.
33. “Gris et or.” Messiaen, Hommage a O livier Messiaen, IQil.
34. “Gris et or.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 105.
35. “Gris et or.” Messiaen, D es Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 10.
36. “Gris et mauve avec un peu de jaune pale” Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste, CD liner notes, 10.
37. “Bandes horizontales etagees : de bas en haut, gris fonce, mauve, gris clair, et blanca reflets mauve
et jaune pale — avec des lettres d’or flamboyantes, d’une ecriture inconnue, etune quantite de petits
arcs rouge ou bleus, tres minces, tres fins, a peine visibles. Dominante : gris et mauve.” Messiaen,
Musique et couleur, 68.
38. “Gris et mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 465.
134
• gray and mauve; in a very lower register, strongly blackened, a very dark ashen mauve
gray39
mode 3^
• blue-greenô
• blue and greenî
• blue and green^^
• blue and green^3
• blue and green44
mode 3^
• orange, mixed with gold and red"^^
• orange streaked with red^^
• orange, red, with a bit of blue [isolated modal chord]47
• clear brick red, orange, with a bit of blue [isolated modal chordj^s
mode 4 I
• gray and gold^9
• gray tinged with blue and studded with gold and deep blue^^
mode 4 2
• gleams: iron gray, rose-mauve and coppery yellow; black and clear Prussian blue;
green and purple violetî
39. “Gris et mauve. Comme nous sommes id dans I’extreme grave, sa couleur est fortement rabattue
par le noir, et devient un gris mauve cendre tres sombre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
40. “Bleue-verte.” Messiaen, Catalogue, mvmt. IX, m. 10.
41. 'R.Q&^Xtr, Contributions, A3.
42. “Bleu et vert.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 105.
43. “Bleu et vert.” Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste, CD liner notes, 10.
44. “Bleu et vert.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 99
45. “Orange, mele d’or et de rouge.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 64.
46. “Orange rayd de rouge.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 14.Messiaen,
Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, xxx.
47. “Orangd et rouge, avec un peu de bleu.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,356
48. “Rouge brique clair, orangd, avec un peu de bleu.” Messiaen, TraitS, V/1, 356
49. “Gris et or.” Harry Halbreich, O/ivierMej'riaen, 140.
50. “Gris bleute cloute d’or et de bleu profond.” Messiaen, Transfiguration, score notes.
51. “Reflets : gris de fer, rose-mauve et jaune cuivre, noir et bleu de prusse clair, vert et violet pourpre.”
Harry Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen, 140.
135
mode 4 3
• yellow and violet^^
• yellow and violet^^
mode 4^
• petunias: dark violet, white with violet outlines, purple violet^'^
mode 4 5
• dark violet^^
• violet^^
• intense violet^^
mode 4^
• streaks of carmine red, violacious purple, orange, mauve gray and pink gray^^
• carmine red, violacious purple, mauve, pink gray^9
mode 6l
• large gold letters over a gray foundation, with orange pastel stains, and rather dark
green branches with golden streaks^^
mode 6^
• brown, russet, orange, violet
• brown, russet, orange, violet62
52. “Jaune et violet.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 102.
53. “Jaune et violet.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 10.
54. “Petunias ; violet sombre, blanc avec dessins violets, violet pourpre.” Messiaen, Hommage a
O livier Messiaen, 43.
55. “Violet sombre.” Messiaen, Catalogue d ’oiseaux, IV, 45.
56. “Violet.” Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste, 57.
58. “Reflets de rouge carmin, pourpre violacee, orange, gris mauve et gris rose.” Messiaen, Hommage d
O livier Messiaen, 45.
59. “Rouge carmin, pourpre violacd, mauve, gris rose.” Olivier Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD
liner notes (Erato BCD 71584, 1993), 15.
60. “Grandes lettres d’or sur fond gris, avec des taches en pastilles orange, et des branchages vert assez
sombre a reflets dores.” Harry Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen, 140.
61. “Brun, roux, orange, violet.” Messiaen, Des Canyons aux etoiles, CD liner notes, 10.
62. “Brun, roux, orangd, violet.” Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 102.
136
• the color of leather and chocolate, with zones of reddish orange and deep violet; some
pale gray and mauve flashes^^
mode 63
• transparent sulfur yellow, with streaks of mauve, and patches of Prussian blue and
violacious brown^^
• yellow, violet striped with gold and w h i t e n e s s ^ ^
mode 6^
• vertical bands of yellow, violet and black^^
mode 6^
• gold, pale blue, violet, with brown outlines ^7
mode 6^
• black and white vertical bands, sprinkled with pale blue moons^^
CDAIA
• upper zone: quartz [a clear rock, with white veins] and citrine [a pale yellow quartz]; lower
zone: copper with gold streaks^^
CDAl®
• broad cloak of sapphire blue, ringed with less intense blues (fluorine blue, clear Chartres
blue [a vibrant cobalt blue]), and re-ringed with violetô
• clear blue violetî
• the low part of the chord is sapphire blue; the high part of the chord is blue and very clear
mauve, toned down towards white^^
63. “Couleur cuir et chocolat, avec des zones orangd rougeatre et du violet fonce. Quelques dclaircies gris
pale et mauve.” Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen, 140.
64. “Jaune soufre transparent, avec reflets mauve, et taches de blue de prusse et de brun violacd.”
Messiaen, Hommage d Olivier Messiaen, 43.
65. “Le jaune et le violet stries d’or et de blancheur.” Messiaen, Transfiguration, score notes.
66. Messiaen, Hommage a Olivier Messiaen, 43.
67. “Or, bleu pMe, violet, avec des dessins bruns.” Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen, 140.
68. “Bandes verticales blanches et noires, parsemees de lunes bleu pale.” Halbreich, Olivier Messiaen,
140.
69. “Zone superieure, cristal de roche et citrine — zone inferieure, couleur cuivre a reflets d’or.”
70. “Large nappe de bleu sapbir, cerclee de bleus moins intenses — (flourine bleue, bleu clair de
Chartres) et recerclde de violet.” Messiaen, Traite, III, 87.
71. “Bleu violet clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 178; 179.
72. “La partie grave de I’accord est un bleu saphir, la partie aigug de I’accord donne un bleu et un mauve
tres elair, degrades vers le blanc.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.

137
• high to low: clear mauve, white, and sapphire blue’^^

• very intense sapphire blue, with a bit of mauve on top'^^
• blue, with a bit of mauve in the upper part of the chord'^^
• sapphire blue and clear Chartres blue, with a bit of violet^^
• mauve and clear Chartres blue^"^
• clear Chartres blue, with a bit of mauve^^
• high to low: a bit of red, mauve, and blue’^^
• blue, with a bit of violet and mauve^^
• sapphire blue, with some pink and mauve stainsî
• intense sapphire blue, with a bit of mauve and red in the high notes^^
• blue sapphire^3
• sapphire blue, ringed with flourine blue and clear Chartres blue^^
• blue [lacking high
CDAIC
• o ra ^ e , with bands of pale yellow, red and gold^^
• from high to low: pale green, amethyst violet, and black^"^

CDAÂ
• high to low: gold, yellow, mauve and white^^
73. “De haut en bas : mauve clair, blanc, et bleu saphir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
74. “Bleu saphir tres intense, en dessus un peu de mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
75. “Bleu, avec un peu de mauve en haut de I’accord.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
76. “Bleu saphir et bleu clair de Chartres, avec un peu de violet.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
77. “Mauve et bleu clair de Chartres.” Messiaen, Tra/re, V/1, 355.
78. “Bleu clair de Chartres, avec un peu de mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,356.
79. “De haut en b a s : un peu de rouge, mauve, et bleu.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
80. “Bleu, avec un peu de violet et mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
81. “Bleu saphir, avec quelques taches de rose et de mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
82. “Bleu saphir intense, avec un peu de mauve et de rouge dans les notes aigues.” Messiaen, Traite,
V/1, 358.
83. “Bleu saphir.” Messiaen, Trai/e, V/1, 462.
84. “Bleu saphir, cercle de flourine hleue et de hleu clair de Chartres.”Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,456.
85. “Bleu.” Messiaen, Tra/re, V/1, 397.
86. “Orange, avec des bandes jaune pale, rouge, et or.” Messiaen.Traite, III, 87.
87. “De haut en bas: vert pMe, violet amdthyste, et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, III, 87.
88. “De haut en bas : or, jaune, mauve et blanc.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
138
• high to low: mauve, clear yellow, and pearl gray®^

CDA^B
• low to high: red and pale greenô
• high to low: pale green, gray, red^*
• red,^ray, pale green92
• blue streaked with green^^

CDA^D
• alternating vertical bands of green and violet^^
• high to low: very clear violet, over clear green95
• low to high: green and violet^^
CDAÂ
• cainpanula mauve, over a white and clear gray haze^^
CDA^tf
• burnt-earth crystals, amethyst violet, clear Prussian blue, warm reddish chestnut, with stars
of gold^s
• colored crystals of burnt earth, amethyst violet, light Prussian blue, warm and reddish
chestnut, with stars of gold^^
• clear reddish chestnut, with goldioo
• warm and reddish chestnut, with a bit of goldôi
• warm and rather clear reddish chestnut, with a bit of gold^^^
• warm and reddish chestnut, clear, with some gold^^^
89. “De haut en b a s : mauve, jaune clair, et gris perl6.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
90. “De bas en hau t: rouge et vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 380.
91. “De haut en bas : vert pale, gris, rouge.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 457; 460.
92. “Rouge, gris, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 470.
93. “Bleu raye de vert.” Olivier Messiaen, “Analyse succinte de chacque piece,” La Transfiguration de
notre Seigneur Jisus-Christ (Paris: Leduc, 1972).
94. “Bandes verticales, vertes et violettes, altemees.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 513.
95. “De haut en bas : violet tres clair, sur vert clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 178.
96. “De bas en hau t: vert et violet.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 380.
97. Campanules mauves, sur des voiles blancs et gris clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 513.
98. “Cristaux de couelru terre brule, violet amethyste, bleu de prusse clair, marron chaud et rougeatre,
avec des dtoiles d’or.” Messiaen, Traitd, V/2, 72; 513; 518.
100. “Marron clair rougeatre, avec de I’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 165.
101. “Marron chaud et rougeatre avec un peu d’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
102. “Marron chaud et rougatre assez clair, avec un peu d’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
103. “Marron chaud et rougatre, clair, avec de Chartres, avec de I’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
139
warm reddish brown, with a bit of white, red and gold [with doubled
high to low; mauve, warm and reddish chestnut, burnt earthio^
warm chestnut, with red and goldio^
CDA^C
violet irises with orange centers, over a turquoise blue foundationô^
violet and blueô*
CDA^D
red, lilac and violacious purple
CDAÂ
vertical bands of green, violet and deep blueîo
CDA^®
white and g o ld ^
white and goldî^
high to low: very pale gray tinged with blue, a bit of white, golden yellow; dominant
color: goldii3
low to high: white and gold^
gold and silver, over white with a bit of yellow
gold and yellow, over white and luminous yellow [with doubled high
all the natural notes are white; the high C-sharp and G-sharp produce a brilliant,
scintillating goldi^^
white and gold, very brillianti'^
04. “Bais chaud avec un peu de blanc, de rouge, et d’or.” Messiaen, Tmite, V/1, 394.
05. “De haut en bas : mauve, matron chaud et rougatre, terre brulde.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,461.
06. “Matron chaud, avec du rouge et de Tor, le do becarre des flutes.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,457.
07. Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 513; 514.
08. “Violette et bleu.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
09. Messiaen, Sept Haika'i (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1966), 64.
10. “Bandes verticales vertes, violettes, bleu foncd.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 514; Messiaen, Kyoto, 8.
11. “Blanc et or.” Messiaen, Kyoto, 8; Traite, V/1, 469.
12. Rdssler, Contributions, 62.
13. “De haut en bas : gris bleutd tres pale, un peu de blanc, jaune dore — c ’est I’or qui demine.”
14. “De bas en haut; blanc et or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 380.
15. “Or et argent sur blanc avec un peu de jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
16. “Or et jaune sur blanc et jaune lumineux.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
17. “Blanc pour toutes les notes bdcarres, le do diese et le sol diese aigues donnent de I’or (un or brillant,
scintillant).” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 466.
18. “Blanc et or, tres brillant.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 465.
140
high to low: gold and silver, white, yellow [with added high
CDA^C
broad cloak of intense blue sapphire; in the folds, streaks of Parma violet and Chartres
blue 120
intense sapphire blue, with streaks of Parma violet and clear Chartres blueiî
CDA^D
a spiral of gold, with blue and pink streaks, over a large carmine red foundation 122
brilliant red and gold, with a bit of pink on topi23
brilliant red, with gold, a doubled F adding white and pink 124
CD A ^^
CDA^B
ash, pale green, mauve; an octave higher: almost white, with some reflections of very pale
green and violet; an octave lower: almost black, with reflections of very deep green and
violeti25
clear ashen gray, pale green and mauvei26
very clear ashen gray, pale green and m a u v e 122
high to low: white, mauve, pale g r e e n 128
pale green, with bit of gray and m a u v e 129
pale green, mauve, pale gray 130
ash gray, pale green, and mauveiî
ash gray, pale green, and m a u v e 122
19. “De haut en b a s : or et argent, du blanc, du jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
20. “Large manteau bleu saphir intense, dans les plis : des reflets violet Parme et bleu de Chartres.”
Messiaen, Kyoto, 8-9.
21. “Bleu saphir intense, avec des reflets violet Parme et bleu clair de Chartres.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
354-355.
22. Messiaen, Kyoto, 9.
23. “Rouge dclatant et or, avec un peu de rose dans I’aigu.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
24. “Rouge eclatant, avec de I’or, la doublure du fa becarre dans I’aigu ajoute du blanc et du rose.”
26. “Cendre clair, vert pale et mauve.” Messiaen, rrmVe, V /1 ,354.
27. “Gris cendrd tres clair, vert pale et mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
28. “De haut en bas : blanc, mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
29. “Vert pale avec un peu de gris et de mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
30. “Vert pale, mauve, gris pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 387.
31. “Cendre, vert pale, et mauve.” Messiaen, Trarie, V/1, 466.
32. “Cendrd, vert pê, et mauve.” Messiaen, Tra/re, V/1, 470.

141
• high to low: a bit of red, pale green, yellow, clear brown cafe au lait [with added B]i33
• ash gray, pale green, mauve, and a bit of pale blue [with added high E]134
• high to low: white tinged with blue, gold, and pale green [with added high E]i35
• high to low: pale blue, clear gray, mauve, pale green [with added high E]^36
• high to low: pale blue, mauve, pale green [with added high E]i37
• high to low: white tinted with pale blue, mauve, pale green [with added high E] 138
CDA^C
• red and pink, with gray 139
CDA^D
• high to low: yellow, mauve gray, pale green [ordered D -G -F(^ d 1?-C-A-F]140
CDA^^
• copper, gold and brown, blackened rediî
CDA^®
• emerald green, amethyst violet and pale bluei42
• high to low: mauve and pale greeni"i3
• emerald green, amethyst violet, pale bluei^^
CDA^C
•
CDA^*^
• low to high: gold and silveri^^
• gold and silver, adamantine brilliance [with added high At]] 146
133. “De haut en bas ; un peu de rouge, vert pê, jaune, brun clair cafd au lait.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
356.
134. “Cendre, vert pale, mauve, et un peu de bleu pale.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 354.
135. “De haut en bas : blanc bleute, or, et vert pale. Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
136. “De haut en bas : bleu pale, gris clair, mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
137. “De haut en bas : bleu pale, mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
138. “De haut en bas : blanc teinte de bleu pale, mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357; 358.
139. “Rouge et rose, avec du gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
140. “De haut en bas : jaune gris mauve, vert pMe.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
141. “Cuivre, or et brun, rouge rabbatu par le noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 518.
143. “De haut en bas : mauve et vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 355.
144. “Vert emeraude, violet amethyste, bleu pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 465; 469.
145. “De bas en hau t: or et argent.” Messiaen, rrahe, V/1, 380.
146. “Or et argent, eclatant adamantin.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.

142
CDAÂ
clear yellow, stained white and very pale greeni47
clear yellow, stained white and pale green1^8
yellow, stained with white and pale greeni49
yellow, stained with pale green and white^50
CDA^B
oblique bands of red and white, on a pink background with black p a t t e r n s *51
tilted bands of white and red, over a pink foundation, with black designs; dominant color:
red^52
pink over redi53
white and pink, over red^54
CDA^C
low to high: yellow, white, and gold^55
CDA^D
orange, red and brown, lemon yellow156
orange, a bit of red and lemon yellow ^57
CDAÂ
gleams of yellow, mauve, pale blue, pale green, pink, and amber toned down towards
whitei58
yellow, mauve, pale blue, pale green, amberi59
yellow, mauve, pale blue, pink, amber, with a bit of gold^ô
47. “Jaune clair, tache de blanc et de vert tres pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
48. “Jaune clair, tachd de blanc et de vert pMe.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 358.
49. “Jaune, tache de blanc et de vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
50. “Jaune, tachd de vert pale et de blanc.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
52. “Bandes penchees blanches et rouges, sur un fond rose a dessins noirs — c ’est le rouge qui comine.”
53. “Rose sur rouge.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 356.
54. “Blanc et rose sur rouge.” Messiaen, Traj/e, V/1, 397.
55. “De bas en h aut: jaune, blanc, et or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
56. “Orange, rouge et brun, jaune citron.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 564, 514.
57. “Orangd, un peu de rouge, de jaune citron.” Messiaen, Traite,V/1, 354.
58. “Reflets jaune, mauve, bleu pale, vert pale, rose, ambre degraddvers le blanc.” Messiaen, Traite,
V/1, 385.
59. “Jaune, mauve, bleu pale, vert pale, ambre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 462.
60. “Jaune, mauve, bleu pale, vert pale, rose, ambre, avec un peu d’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
143
CDA®®
carmine red and leathery brown, with white, gold and greenish speckles
CDA^C
violet amethysts, mauve campanulas and white pebbles, over a pale green and ashen gray
foundationô^
CDA^D
violet moons, pink, purple violet, turning over a turquoise blue foundationi^^
turquoise blue, with pink and mauve s t a i n s
turquoise blue, surmounted with mauve and pink^^s
turquoise blue, with stains of pale blue, mauve, and rose^^s
CD A ^^
large orange zone, ringed with green and pale blue^^^
orange, ringed with green and pale bluei^
orange, ringed with green and pale blue 1^9
CDA^®
green tinged with blue, with a bit of yellow and violetiô
pale green tinged with blue, with a bit of pale yellow
CDA^C
CDA^D
all sorts of blues, sapphire blue, translucent fluorine blue, clear Chartres blue*’^^
CDA^®^
turquoise blue, underscored by pink and mauve^^^
61. “Rouge carmin et brun cuir, tache de blanc, d’or, et de verdatre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 71.
62. “Sur fond pale gris cendre, des amethystes violettes, des campanules mauves, et des cailloux blancs.”
63. “Lunes violettes, roses, violet pourpre, toumant sur fond bleu turquoise.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2,
514.
64. ’’Bleu turquoise, avec des taches roses et mauves.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
65. “Bleu turquoise, surmonte de mauve et de rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
66. “Bleu turquoise, avec des taches bleu pale, mauve, et rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 358.
67. “Large zone orange, cerclee de vert et de bleu pale.” Messiaen, Traite,V/2, 514.
68. “Orange, cercle de vert et de bleu pale.” Messiaen, Traits, V/1, 385.
69. “Orangd, cercld de vert et de bleu pSle.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 387.
70. “Vert bleute, avec un peu de jaune et de violet.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 72; 161; 180.
71. “Vert pale bleutd avec un peu de jaune pale.” Messiaen, Traits, V/1, 394.
72. “Toutes sortes de bleus, bleu saphir, bleu flourine translucide, bleu clair de Chartres.” Messiaen,
Traite, V/1, 354.
73. “Bleu turquoise, soulignd de rose et de mauve.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/2, 513; 514.
144
CDAl®®
brilliant gold with red streaks, with pale yellow, very clear Prussian blue, and transparent
crystal—an adamantine brilliance
high to low: white, brilliant gold with red streaks, adamantine brilliance [with added high
A ] 175
brilliant gold with red streaks
brilliant gold with red streaks
clear golden yellow, over orange, with a bit of pale blue, adamantine brilliance [with added
high B, middle
CDAÔC
red and pink^'^^
red, ringed with pink and blacki^^
red and pink^î
CDAl®*^
red coral, surrounded by pink, gray and pale green^^^
high to low: very clear greenish gray toned down towards white, with a bit of pink, over
red 183
stains of pale gray, pink, pale green, over a red foundation 184
red, surrounded by pink and g r a y 185
CD A IIA
leathery brown, surmounted with dull lapis lazuli blue and a bit of violeti^^
74. “Or brillant a reflets rouges, avec du jaune pale, du bleu de prusse tres clair, et du cristal
transparent— eclat adamantin!” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 567.
75. De haut en bas : white, or brillant a reflets rouges, 6clat adamantin.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
76. “Couleur d’or, brilliant, a reflets rouges.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 181.
77. “Or brillant a reflets rouges.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
78. “Jaune d’or clair sur orange, avec un peu de bleu pale, eclat adamantin.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,395.
79. “Rouge et rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 567.
80. “Rouge, cercle de rose et de noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,386.
81. “Rouge et rose.” Messiaen, Tra/fe, V/1, 386.
82. “Corail rouge, entourd de rose, gris, et vert pale.”Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,465; 466; 470; Traite,
V/2, 470.
83. “De haut en bas : gris verdatre tres clair, degrade vers le blanc, avec un peu de rose, sur du rouge.”
84. “Taches gris pale, rose, vert pale, sur fond rouge.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
85. “Rouge entoure de rose et de gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
86. “Brun cuir, surmonte de lapis-lazuli bleu mat, et d’un peu de violet.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 72;
564.
145
CDA^^®
• lemon yellow, with red stains
C D A llC
CDA^D
• chocolate brown foundation, with carmine red outlines, over which a gold star stands
outiô
CDA12A
• pink^^black, pearl gray (not counting topmost note B)i9i
CDA12B
pink, mauve, purple violet, turquoise blue^^^
high to low: clear Chartres blue, pink, mauve, violet blue [with added high C1}]193
CDA^2C
CDA12D
brilliant golden sunshine over white snow 1^4
C C R l^
high to low: yellow, mauve, grayi^^
high to low: red and gray [lacking low D, low E and interior e 1>]196
CCR^®
high to low: green tinged with blue, mauve [lacking low D and low
high to low: clear blue green, over gray [lacking middle
87. “Jaune citron avec des taches rouges.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,71; 156.
88. “Jaune citron, avec des taches rouges.” Messiaen, TraM, V /1 ,178.
89. “Jaune citron avec des taches rouges.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
90. “Fond brun chocolat, avec des dessins rouge carmin, sur lequel se detache une dtoile d’or.” Messiaen,
Traite, V/2, 156; 513.
91. “Toute la partie grave de I’accord, depuis le do jusqua’au fa didse, est rose noire, gris perle.”
92. “Rose, mauve, violet pourpre, bleu turquoise.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 465.
93. “De haut en bas : bleu clair de Chartres, rose, mauve, bleu violet.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
94. “Soleil d’or dclatant sur neige blanche.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.
95. “De haut en bas : jaune, mauve, gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
96. “Rouge et gris.” Messiaen, rra/fe, V/1, 398.
97. “De haut en bas : vert bleute, mauve.” Messiaen, rraite, V/1, 385.
98. “De haut en bas : vert bleu clair sur gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
146
CCR^^
• high to low: clear purple violet, clear yellow, orange^^^
• high to low: very clear purple violet, clear yellow, orange redôo
• mauve, yellow, pale orange redôi
• high to low: reddish mauve, yellow, orange red202
• red, violet, orange [with added high B, lacking low Eb]203
CCR2B
• high to low: clear green, clear gray, a bit of very clear redô^
• high to low: pale green, clear gray, a bit of redôs
• pale green, very clear gray, pink [lacking low F]206
• high to low: very clear green, over white with a touch of red [lacking low F]207
• high to low: clear grayish green, pale blue, and orange red beneath [lacking low Eb,
low F, with added high Cfl]208
• pale green, pinkish white [with doubled high B, lacking low F]209
CCRÂ
CCR3B
• high to low: clear red, gray and clear brown [revoiced, lacking low Bb]2io
• high to low: carmine red, clear gray, leather brown^n
CCRÂ
• high to low: clear jade green, pale blue mixed with diamond, with a bit of yellow
beneath [lacking low F]2i2
199. “De haut en bas : violet pourpre clair, jaune clair, orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 178.
200. “De haut en bas : violet pourpre tres clair, jaune clair, rouge orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 180.
201. “Mauve, jaune, rouge orang6 pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 466.
202. “De haut en bas : mauve rougeStre, Jaune, rouge orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
203. “Rouge, violet, orang6.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.
204. “De haut en bas : vert clair, gris clair, un peu de rouge tres clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,178.
205. “De haut en bas : vert pale, gris clair, un peu de rouge.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 180.
206. “Vert pMe, gris tres clair, rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 466.
207. “De haut en bas : un vert tres clair, sur du blanc avec une pointe de rouge.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
394.
208. “De haut en bas : vert clair grisatre, bleu pale, et du rouge orange en dessous.” Messiaen, Traite,
V/1, 385.
209. “Vert pale, blanc rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.
210. “De haut en bas ; Rouge clair, gris et brun clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
211. “De haut en bas : rouge carmin, gris clair, brun cuir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
212. “De haut en bas : vert jade clair, bleu pale mel6 de diamant, avec un peu de jaune en dessous.”
147
• clear green tinged with blue, sparkling, over mauve and yellow [lacking low F]2i3
CCR^®
• high to low: ruby red, orange, with a bit of yellow beneathî^
• high to low: clear red, orange, pale yellowî^
• clear red, orange, a bit of yellow [lacking low G]216
• brilliant clear red, over gold and silver [lacking low
• high to low: ruby red, orange, deep yellowîs
C C R ^^
• high to low: yellow, clear greenish brownî^
• high to low: yellow, greenish brown220
• high to low: clear ashen yellow, clear greenish brown [with doubled B in interior of
chord] 221
CCR5®
• high to low: clear green, yellow, clear b r o w n 2 2 2
• high to low: very clear green, clear yellow, clear c h e s t n u t 2 2 3
• high to low: pale green, yellow, and brilliant black gray [lacking middle D]224
• high to low: clear green, yellow, with a bit of black [lacWng low Gji|]225
• high to low: very clear green, clear yellow, clear amber [with added high B]226
• high to low: very clear green, clear vellow and white, clear amber [with added high B,
and doubled C in interior of chord]227
213. “Vert bleute clair, diamante, sur mauve et jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
214. “De haut en bas : rouge rubis, orangd, avec un peu de jaune en dessous.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
171.
215. “De haut en bas : rouge clair, orange, jaune pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
216. “Rouge clair, orangd, un peu de jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
217. “Rouge clair brillant sur or et argent.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
218. “De haut en bas : rouge rubis, orange, jaune foncd.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456; 460; 465; 466;
469; 470.
219. “De haut en bas : jaune, brun verdatre clear.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 179.
220. “De haut en bas : jaune, brun verdatre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 465; 466; 469; 470.
221. “De haut en bas : jaune cendre, brun verdatre clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 358.
222. “De haut en bas : vert clair, jaune, brun clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 179.
223. “De haut en bas : vert tres clair, jaune clair, matron clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
224. “De haut en bas : vert pale, jaune, et gris noir brillant.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.
225. “De haut en bas : vert clair, jaune, avec un peu de noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
226. “De haut en bas : vert tres clair, jaune clair, ambre clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357; 358.
227. “De haut en bas : blanc teintd de bleu pMe, mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 357.
148
CCR6A
• milky white, over clear green [with added high E, lacking low G]228
CCR6®
• blue and green, with a bit of yellow below229
• sparkling green blue, over orange gray [lacking low A]230
CCRÂ
CCR78
• clear orange yellow over white and mauve [with added interior CjfPî
• high to low: brilliant yellow, white, pinkish mauve [lacking low b1>]232
• high to low: orange yellow, over mauve [lacking low Bb]233
CCRSA
• high to low: mauve, icy blue, gray234
• high to low: yellow, mauve, mauve gray [with added high G, lacking low A and
interior Bb]235
CCR8®
• high to low: brilliant pale blue, mauve, gray tinged with blue [with added high D,
lacking low B]236
CCR^^
• high to low: magenta violet, pinkish white, orange red237
• high to low: clear violet, pinWsh white, with a bit of orange red238
• high to low: clear magenta violet, pinkish white [with doubled F and Eb, lacking low
Bb]239
228. “Blanc laiteux sur vert clair.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 395.
229. “Bleu et vert avec un peu de jaune en dessous.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
230. “Bleu vert diamante sur gris orange.” Messiaen, Tra/re, V/1, 395.
231. “Jaune orange clair sur blanc et mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 385.
232. “De haut en bas : jaune brillant, blanc, mauve rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
233. “De haut en bas : jauen orangd sur mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
234. “De haut en bas : mauve, bleu froid, gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
235. “De haut en bas : jaune, gris mauve, vert pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
236. “De haut en bas : bleu pale brillant, mauve, gris bleute.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
237. “De haut en bas : violet Magenta, blanc rose, rouge orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 99; 130.
238. “De haut en bas : violet clair, blanc rosd, avec un peu de rouge orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 180.
239. “De haut en bas : violet magenta clair, blanc rose.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
149
C C R 9®
• high to low: violacious blue, very clear coffee, green and silver, reddish brown^ô
• violacious blue, clear coffee toned down towards white, green and silver, reddish
brown24i
• high to low: violacious blue, very clear coffee toned down towards white, green and
silver, a bit of reddish brown242
• high to low: clear violacious blue, pale green and silver, reddish brown^^S
C'C'jty
CCR
mi
mixture of violacious blue (the principal color) with orange red, reddish brown and
ilvpr244
violet, with a bit of green and silver^'
CCR1» a
• high to low: gold, orange, a very small bit of black245
• high to low: gold, orange, blacR246
CCR^®®
• high to low: clear carmine red, a bit of yellow and gray247
• high to low: clear carmine red, over yellow and black248
• high to low: red, over white and yellow [with doubled Bb at top, lacking low Cj|]249
C C R ll^
C C R ll®
• brilliant clear red, gold, pale gray^so
240. “De haut en bas : bleu violace, cafe tres clair, vert et argent, brun rougeatre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
99.
241. “Bleu violace, cafe clair degrade vers le blanc, vert et argent, bran rougeatre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
130.
242. “De haut en bas : bleu violace, caf6 tr^s clair ddgradd vers le blanc, vert et argent, un peu de bran
rougeatre.” Messiaen, Tra/te, V/1, 180.
243. “De haut en bas : bleu violacd clair, vert pale et argent, bran rougeatre.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
244. “Accord a resonance contractee, qui melange le bleu violace (couleur principale) au rouge orange, au
bran rougeatre, au violet, avec un peu de vert et d’argent.” Olivier Messiaen, Meditations sur la
Mystere de la Sainte Trinite, score notes (Paris: Durand, 1969), 76.
245. “De haut en bas : or, orangd, un tout petit peu de noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 342.
246. “De haut en bas : or, orang^, noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
247. “Rouge carmin clair, un peu de jaune et de gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 342.
248. “De haut en bas : rouge carmin clair sur jaune et noir.” Messiaen, Traite,V/1, 386.
249. “De haut en bas : rouge, sur blanc et jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.
250. “Rouge clair brillant, or, gris pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 395.

150
C C R 12A
• high to low: very clear violet, streaked with pale green, pale blue, silvery gray, and
blackest
violet mixed with blue and gray [lacking low d 1?]252
high to low: clear violet streaked with green, pale blue, silvery gray, a bit of black^ss
CCR12B
brilliant gold yellow, purple violet stained with whiteness, gold and black254
brilliant yellow gold, white, gold and black^^S
high to low: brilliant yellow, a bit of white, violet and black256
high to low: brilliant yellow, white, and black257
high to low: brilliant yellow, white, black violet^ss
high to low: brilliant yellow, white, deep gray [with added high
high to low: brilliant golden yellow, black and white [lacking low B>]260
brilliant yellow gold over white and black [lacking low
golden yellow over white and black [lacking low e 1>]262
high to low: white over black, with a little bit of pale yellow in the white [lacking high
Eji, low E1>]263
high to low: white with a bit of pale yellow, over black264
251. “De haut en bas : violet tres clair, hachure de vert pale, bleu pMe, gris argente e noir.” Messiaen,
Traite, V/1, 180.
252. “Violet mele de bleu et de gris.” Messiaen, Tra/re, V/1, 386.
253. “De haut en bas: violet clair hachurd e vert, bleu pale, gris argente, unpeu de noir.” Messiaen,
Traite, V/1, 457.
254. “Or jaune eclatant, violet pourpre tache de blancheur, or et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, III, 88.
255. “De haut en bas : or jaune eclatant, blanc, or et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 180.
256. “De haut en bas : jaune brillant, un peu de blanc, du violet, et du noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
257. “De haut en bas : jaune 6clatant, blanc, et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
258. “De haut en bas : jaune eclatant, blanc, violet noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
259. “De haut an bas : jaune brillant, blanc, gris foncd.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
260. “De haut en bas : jaune d’or dclatant, blanc et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
261. “De haut en bas : or jaune eclatant sur blanc et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 380.
262. “Jaune d’or sur blanc et noir.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
263. “De haut en bas : blanc sur noir, avec un peu de jaune pale dans le blanc.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
380.
264. “De haut en bas : blanc sur noir, avec un peu de jaune pale dans le blanc.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
394.
151
TC lA
• h ^ h to low: orange, mauve, and clear blue [the interior Ct] replaced by a CJ(]265
TC lC
• high to low: pale blue over darker blue violet [with doubled high E]266
TC2A
• high to low: orange over blue violet [upper tetrachord revoiced and lacking high Cj:(]267
• high to low: gold and white over blue violet [top four notes changed to B - G - F - A ] 2 6 8
TC2ff
• high to low: yellow, over gray and clear Prussian blue [with added high E, lacking A
and B]269
• high to low: clear orange, over clear Prussian blue [Bl] and b 1>swapped, lacking G and
D from upper tetrachord] 270
TC2C
• high to low: gray orange, over orange yellow [lacking high C]27i
• high to low: red and gray, over orange yellow [upper tetrachord revoiced, added Eb and
C, lacking El:]]272
• high to low: red, brown, warm orange y e l l o w 2 7 3
TC3A
• high to low: grayish violet, blackish yellow274
• high to low: clear red violet over green gray and yellow [high B replaced by C]275
TC3«
• high to low: green tinged with blue, purple violet, emerald green, lead gray276
265. “De haut en bas :orang6, mauve, et bleu clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
266. “De hauten b a s ;bleu pale sur violet bleu plus fonce.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 396.
267. “De haut en bas :orang6 sur violet bleu.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
268. “De haut en bas : or et blanc sur violet bleu.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
269. “De haut en bas : jaune sur gris et bleu de prusse clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,398.
270. “De haut en bas : orangd clair sur bleu de prusse clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
271. “De haut en bas : orange gris sur jaune orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
272. “De haut en bas :rouge et gris sur jaune orange.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 398.
273. “De haut en bas :rouge, brun, jaune orange chaud.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 461.
274. “De haut en bas :violet grisatre, jaune noiratre.” Olivier Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,461.
275. “De haut en bas : violet rouge clair sur gris vert et jaune.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
276. “De haut en bas : vert bleute, violet pourpre, emeraude, gris de plomb.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,456;
460.
152
TC3C
• clear yellow over orange^^^
TC4A
• yellowish green, silver, grayish black^^s
• high to low: yellowish green over gray and black279
• white tinted with clear green, over silver gray^ô
TC4B
• mauve and orange, very clear^î
TC4C
• high to low; blue-green, pinkish mauve, green282
• pinkish mauve over grassy green283
• clear pinkish mauve, over grassy green284
• high to low: velvety blue, pinkish mauve, grassy green^^s
TCSA
• gray and gold [F# A# transposed octave lower, into interior of chord; E transposed
octave higher, to top of c h o r d ] ^86
TCSB
• clear orange, gold, smoky brown, deep violet^s^
TC5C
• high to low: pink, red, and gold^^s
• sparkling gray, over red and warm gold [with added high A, lacking high F]289
277. “Sol majeur sur sol bemol majeur, jaune clair sur orange.” The chord to which Messiaen refers is a
with added E and G. Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
278. “Vert jaunatre, argent, grisatre, noir.” Olivier Messiaen, Musique et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec
Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986), 162.
279. “Vert jaunatre sur gris et noir.” Messiaen, Trai/e, V/1, 386.
280. “Blanc teinte de vert clair sur gris argent.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
281. “Mauve et orangd tres clairs.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
282. “De haut en bas ; bleu-vert, mauve rose, vert.” Messiaen, Musique et couleur, 161.
283. “Mauve rosd sur vert prairie.” Messiaen, Trai/^, V/1, 386.
284. “Mauve rosd clair sur vert prairie.” Messiaen, Traire, V/1, 398.
285. “De haut en bas : bleu veloute, mauve rose, vert prairie.” Messiaen, Traite,V/1,462.
286. “Un gris avec de ror.” Messiaen, Traire, V/1, 460.
287. “De haut en bas : orange clair, or, brun fume, violet sombre.” Messiaen,Traite,V/1, 461.
288. “De haut en bas : rose, rouge, et or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
289. “Gris etincelant sur rouge et or chaud.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 387.
153
TC6A
• orange^^®
• rubies—royal blue, mauve ash^î
TC6B
• gray and gold^^s
• high to low: dark red, orange, gray tinged with blue^^S
• dark red toned down towards black, orange, gray tinged with blue294
TC^C
• red295
• high to low: very clear leather brown over carmine red296
• high to low: leather brown, royal blue, carmine red^^?
• leather brown and royal blue, over carmine red^^s
TC6
• red, stained with blue^^Q
• Recalls a stained-glass window in which the figures are clothed in red robes and stand
out over a blue foundation. Dominant color: red, orange, and purple violetôo
TC7A
TC7B
• golden yellow, the yellow zone surrounded by two light black and white circlesôi
TC7C
TC8A
• upper zone: pale yellow, mauve; lower zone: coppery pink, pearly gray^02
290. “Orang6.” Olivier Messiaen, Sept Hai'kai, (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1966), 58.
291. “Rubis — bleu roi, cendre mauve.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 508.
292. “Gris et or.” Messiaen, Sept Haikai', 58.
293. “De baut en bas : rouge sombre, orange, gris bleute.” Messiaen, Traiti, V/1, 168.
294. “Rouge sombre rabattu par le noir, orange, gris bleute.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 168.
295. “Rouge.” Messiaen, Sept Hai'kai', 58.
296. “De baut en b a s : brun cuir tr^s clair sur rouge carmin.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 386.
297. “De baut en bas : brun cuir, bleu roi, rouge carmin.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 508.
298. “Brun cuir et bleu roi sur rouge carmin.” Messiaen, Traitd, V/1, 380.
299. “Rouge, tacbe de bleu.” Olivier Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste (Paris: Leduc, 1966), 55.
300. “Rappelle un vitrail dont les personnages sont vetus de manteux rouges et se ddtacbent sur fond bleu.
Couleur dominante : rouge, orange, et violet pourpre.” Messiaen, Traitd, V/2, 508.
301. RSssler, Contributions, 87.
302. “De baut en bas: jaune pale, mauve; rose cuivre, gris perle.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 464.
154
TC8B
• upper zone: dull green chrysoprase tinged with blue; lower zone: sardonyx (alternating
black, white and reddish brown), with pale yellowôs
T c 8C
• high to low: quartz, “cat’s eye,” sparkling deep greenô^
• high to low: quartz, sparkling deep green “cat’s eye”305
TC8
• global colored effect: pale yellow, streaked with white, black and gray, with green
stains; dominant color: pale yellowô^
TC9A
•
TC9B
• high to low: yellow and pink, over gray307
• ^308
high to low: yellow stained with red, over steel gray3
TC9C
• high to low: very clear brown, over golden yellow309
• high to low: white, pink, brown tinged with blue, over golden yellow (with F doubled
octave higher and lower, and added B and in middle of chord)3io
XClOA
XClOB
TClOC
TClO
• red, orange, golden
tcha
• pink and gray, over clear brown [lacking interior D]312
303. “De haut en bas: chrysoprase vert bleute mat; sardonyx noir, blanc, et brun rougeatre — avec du
jaune pale.” Messiaen, T raiti, V /2 ,465.
304. “De haut en bas :cristal de roche; « ceil de chat», vert fonce chatoyant. Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 466.
305. “De haut en bas :cristal de roche, « ceil de chat» vert fonce chatoyant.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,460.
306. “Effet colord glob al: jaune pale, raye de blanc, de noir, et de gris, avec des taches vertes. Dominante
: jaune pale.” Messiaen, Traite, V/2, 464.
307. “De haut en bas ; jaune et rose sur gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 387.
308. “De haut en bas : jaune tache de rouge, sur gris d’acier.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 356.
309. “De haut en bas :brun tres clair sur jaune d’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354; 356; 387.
310. “De haut en bas :blanc, rose, brun bleute, sur jaune d’or.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 456.
311. “Rouge, orange, et or.” Olivier Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste (Paris: Leduc, 1966), 9.
312. “Rose et gris sur brun clair.” Messiaen, Tra/fe, V/1, 397.
155
• sugerimposition of pink and gray with smoky brown yellowîs
T C llC
• high to low: red, yellow, green, red, gray3i4
• pale green, over red and gray [lacking high Eb and d 1j]315
• high to low: clear brick red, yellow, clear green, red, with a bit of grayî^
• high to low: pale brown, yellow gray, green gray, brick redî'^
TC12A
TC12B
TC12C
• high to low: gray and gold, over blueî^
• high to low: gray and gold, translucent fluorine blueî^
• high to low: clear mauve, pinkish white, gold, translucent fluorine blue (with added B\>
and a K lacking Bl:|) 320
• high to low: white, gray, and gold; blue, similar to translucent fluorine blue32i
CTC^ (over Fft)

• high zone: thin band of very pale green blue
middle zone: stony gray, stained with pink and violet
low zone: reddish leather brown322
313. “Superpose le rose et le gris au jaune brun enfume.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 130.
314. “De haut en bas : rouge, jaune, vert, rouge, gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 387.
315. “Vert pale sur rouge et gris.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 397.
316. “De haut en bas : rouge brique clair, jaune, vert clair, rouge avec un peu de gris.” Messiaen, Traite,
V/1, 355.
317. “De haut en bas :brun pale, gris jaune, gris vert, et rouge brique.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 354.
318. “De haut en bas :gris et or sur bleu.” Messiaen, TraM , V/1, 385.
319. “De haut en bas :gris et or, fluorine bleu translucide.” Messiaen, Traite, V /1 ,460.
320. “De haut en bas :mauve clair, blanc rose, or, bleu fluorine translucide.” Messiaen,Traite, V/1, 354.
321. “De haut en bas : I’aigu est blane, gris, et or, le medium est bleu, comme de la fluorine bleue
translucide.” Messiaen, Traiti, V /1 ,457.
322. “En dessous ; brun cuir rougeatre — en dessus ; gris pierreux, tachd de rose et de violet. Les 4 notes
suppldmentaires du total chromatique font une mince bande bleu vert tres pale, tout en haut des deux
zones de couleur.” Mesiaen, Traite, V/1, 179.
156
CTC^ (over Bb)

• high zone: a bit of pale blue
middle zone: clear carmine red
low zone: a bit of green
general color: red^^s
• red sard324
CTC^ (over Bb)

• B, E, G|t, Cq, first large ruby red zone; Gb, Bb, Eb, Ft|, second zone, smaller, carmine
red; the four supplementary notes: D, C(}, A, G, adding, all around, a blue gray circle,
clear and brilliant325
• high zone: a large, clear and brilliant gray blue circle, with a trace of pale yellow
middle zone: a small zone of clear carmine red
low zone: a large zone of ruby red326
CTC12 (over Dh)

• high zone: a min band of clear greenish gray smoked quartz
middle zone: very clear Prussian blue
low zone: yellow and pink327
323. “La couleur general est rouge, avec un peu de bleu pale sur du rouge carmin clair, et un peu de vert
sous du rouge vif.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 394.
324. “Sardoine rouge.” Olivier Messiaen, Couleurs de la cite celeste (Paris: Leduc, 1966), 16.
325. “Si, mi, sol diese, do becarre, premiere grande zone rouge rubis — sol bemol, si bemol, mi bemol,
fa becarre, deuxieme zone, plus petite, rouge carmin — les quatre notes supplementaires : r6, do
difese, la, sol, ajoutent tout autour un cercle bleu gris, clair et brillant.” Olivier Messiaen, Musique
et couleur: nouveau entretiens avec Claude Samuel (Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1986), 161.
326. “En bas, une grande zone rouge rubis, en haut, une zone rouge carmin clair plus petite. Les 4 notes
suppldmentaires ajoutent tout autour un cercle bleu gris, clair et brillant, avec un soupôn de jaune
pMe.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1, 179.
327. “Jaune et rose en dessous — le dessus est bleu de prusse tres clair. Les 4 notes suppl6mentaires
ajoutent tout en haut une mince bande de quartz enfume gris verdatre clair.” Messiaen, Traite, V/1,
180.
157
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Imusique Coloréei Synest

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R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

Joseph Edward Harris

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

Thesis Supervisor: Assistant Professor Michael Buchler

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.

All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against

unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

ProQuest Information and Learning Company

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of

Joseph Edward Harris

has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

Thanks to my readers and others who provided criticism and encouragement:

Dan Broner, Florence Vatan, Jody Nibbe, and Glenn Lemieux.

Thanks to publisher Alphonse Leduc for kind permission to reproduce selected

works of Olivier Messiaen.

Seashore Dissertation-Year Fellowship.

Thanks to my parents for always being supportive of my musical and academic

Thanks to members of my dissertation committee: Stefan Eckert, John Garcia,

David Gompper, and Greg Marion.

Thanks to my advisor Michael Buchler, for his support, encouragement, and

constant enthusiasm of my research.

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m i s s io n of t h e c o p y rig h t o w n e r . F u r th e r re p r o d u c tio n p roh ibite d w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

Outline of the dissertation 2

CHAPTER 2. MESSIAEN’S SYNESTHETIC EXPERIENCE 12

Synesthesia as artistic metaphor in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth

CHAPTERS. DEFimTlON OF MUSIQUE COLOREE 24

Features of musique coloree 24

CHAPTER 4. METHOD FOR DETERMINING

Determining the base colors of Messiaen’s pcs 34

CHAPTER 5. MODES OF LIMITED TRANSPOSITION AND SPECIAL

General characteristics of Messiaen’s modes with limited transpositions 48

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

Ascertaining unknown harmonic colorations in “Apparition du Christ glorieux” 90

CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS 125

Original contributions of the dissertation 126

APPENDIX. MESSIAEN’S DESCRIPTIONS OF COLORATIONS OF

Primary resources 157

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

1.1. Notation of voicing variants in the dissertation. 7

2.1. Several graphic depictions of photisms. 20

4.2. Graphic depiction of photism evoked by the dyad C4-D4, as perceived by

4.3. Color-wheel, with Messiaen’s pc-colors. 41

4.4. Coloristic analysis of chord 1, from analysis of Sept Hai'kai,

4.5. Coloristic analysis of chord 8, from analysis of Sept Haikai,

4.6. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase2,chord 6. 44

4.7. Coloristic analysis of “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” phrase8,chord 10. 45

5.2. Concealed use of mode 1 in “Jesus accepte la souffrance,” mm. 15-16. 51

5.9. CD in root position. 55

5.10. Analysis of root-position CD. 55

5.11. CD in its four fundamental voicings. 55

5.12. The 48 CDs. 56

5.13. CDA in root position; comparison of CDA and CD. 58

5.14. CDA in its four fundamental voicings. 58

5.15. The 48 CD As. 59

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m is s io n of t h e cop y rig h t o w n e r. F u r th e r r e p r o d u c tio n prohibited w ith o u t p e r m is s io n .

5.17. CR in root position; overtone series. 65

5.18. Mode 3 ^ and three related CRs. 65