Messiaen and Alain Flashcards
What are the 7 major multi-movement works of Messiaen?
- L’ascension: Quatre meditations symphonique pour orgue
- La Nativite de Seigneur: Neuf meditations pour orgue
- Les Corps Glorieux: Sept Visions breve de la Die Ressuscites
- Messe de La Pentecoste
- Livre d’orgue
- Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite
- Livre du Saint Sacrament
Movements and details around Messiaen’s L’Ascension
- Majesty of Christ, Praying that His Father Should Glorify Him
- Serene Alleluias from a Soul Longing for Heaven
- Transports of Joy from a Soul before the Glory of Christ which is its Own Glory
- Prayer of Christ Ascending towards His Father
Movements and details around Messiaen’s La Nativite de Seigneur
- The Virgin and the Child
- The Shepards
- Eternal Purposes
- The Word
- The Children of God
- The Angels
- Jesus accepts suffering
- The Wisemen
- God Among Us
-Messiaen uses “added value” in Movement I for first time to “unsettle regularity,” with a sixteenth added to ¾ measures
-Uses Hindu Rhythms
Movements and details around Messiaen’s Le Corps Glorieux
- Refinement of the Bodies in Glory
- The Waters of Grace
- The Angel with Incense
- Combat of Death and Life
-Split into two parts, one agitated to symbolize combat and the other serene to symbolize life. - Strength and Agility of the Bodies in Glory
-monodic in octaves until last eight measures - Joy and Light of the Bodies in Glory
- The Mystery of the Holy Trinity
-Whole movement is devoted to number three, with 3 voices, form is tripartite, with melody being like a plainsong Kyrie with invocations 3 times
Movements and details around Messiaen’s Messe de la Pentecote
- Entree
- Offertoire
- Consecration
- Communion
- Sortie
-Uses plainsong, birdsong, and Greek and Hindu rhythms. It is a summary of Messiaen’s ideas on improvisation as developed over the previous 20 years.
Details and movements around Messiaen’s Livre d’orgue
1 Repetitions by Inversions
2. Trio for Trinity Sunday
3. The Hands of the Abyss
4. Birdsong
5. Trio for Trinity Sunday
6. The Eyes in the Wheels
7. Sixty-four durations
Movement is built on 64 durations from a single note equal to one 32nd up to a single note equal to sixty-four 32nds (double whole note)
Of Messiaen’s seven cycles, this is the only one that does not meditate on a feast or mystery of the church year
Movements and details around Messiaen’s Meditations sur le Mystere de la Saint Trinite
- The Father of the Stars
- God is Holy
- “The Relation really existing in God is really the same as His essene”
- God is
- God is Immense - God is Eternal - God is Ummutable…
- “In the Word was life and the life was the light”
- The Father and the Son love each other and us by the Holy Spirit
- God is Simple - The Three in One
- I AM WHO I AM
-The piece grew out of four improvisations around three sermons given on the Holy Trinity. The signal for the sermon was the call of the Yellowhammer bird, seven repeated notes and a final sustained tone
-New compositional device first encountered here is Communicable Language. This is a complete alphabet in music with 26 exact pitches, each coupled with an exact rhythm. Used by Messiaen to translate certain passages of the French translation of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.
Movements and details around Messiaen’s Livre Du Saint Sacrament
-18 movements that is about 2 ½ hours long with a short intermission after movement XI
-Movements I-IV: Acts of Adoration before Christ
-Movements V-XI: The Mysteries of Christ
-Movements XII-XVIII-Prayers to Christ through the Holy Sacrament
-songs of 11 birds are used in the work - with the birds listed in the preface
- all of his familiar compositional devices are present:
- Modes of Limited Transposition
-Greek and hindu rhythms
-plainsong
-Birdsong (all from Israel)
-serialism (most evident in Movement XII)
5 pieces by Jehan Alain
Litanies
Trois Danses
Deuxieme fantaisie
Choral Dorien
Choral phrygien
