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Cultural Studies
TRANSFORMATION OF FRENCH CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN O. MESSIAEN’S PIANO ART
Author:
City
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Tbilisi
Country :
Georgia
Pages
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1
O. Messiaen has a special place in development of the art thinking of the 20th century. His versatile art provides us great materials and stimulates us to analysis. Each aspect of his art is conceptually worked by the author himself, though, studying of O. Messiaen’s art, understanding of his innovative significance in development of the musical thought of 20th century is still of great significance and subject of interest.
The most important aspect of O. Messiaen’s art is its deep religious nature. It is saturated with the Christian and this adds especial expressiveness to its pieces in artistic and creative respect. Religious motives in the pieces of O. Messiaen’s are directly related to Christian religion. “Twenty Glances to the Child Jesus”, “Life of the Saint of Assissi” these are the pieces in which the composer directly deals with the Christian stories; by means of musical language the composer creates the images of the saints, transforms into music the stories of their lives.
New idea of O. Messiaen is based on number of significant aspects. In the conceptions of each piece there are apparent the facets of religious themes, motives of the birds, rhythmic theory and interrelation of the sounds and colors. Revealing of the various aspects and their interrelation provide the harmonic result, which makes O. Messiaen the classicist of the 20th century.
Irrespective of the innovative nature, the vision and creative ideals of O. Messiaen are deeply related to the roots of French traditions. This is the value, created and developed for ages. On this traditional line the figure of O. Messiaen is viewed. In our opinion, transformation of the French tradition in O. Messiaen’s art is clearly seen. Today we shall focus on this issue.
National tradition is a wide and all-embracing concept. its contents is many-sided and versatile. Considered together with the historical development, it contains the artistic experience of many generations and ensures the temporal link .(M. Druskin)
M. Druskin writes about French tradition: “Unlike German tradition, which is inclined towards reflecting of the abstract ideas, French tradition relies on the sensual basis, originating from the specificity of feelings.” The visual is widely worked in French culture. It is not accidental that impressionism, born from the life impressions, became the typical national phenomenon of the French culture.
E. Krezenek speaks about visible, the seen, when he deals with French music: French music, with its substance, is clear, clearly organized, apparently visible with its structure and trend. A. Oneger emphasizes different perception of proportion by the Frenchmen – continuity in time. All this was clearly reflected in the art of Claude Debussy, as a typical impressionist, which has formed the basis for the most important style trend of the 20th century.
“The impressionists, in their understanding of the color relied on actually existing, really seen and fully perceived objective event; this gaining strongly established in the art and acquired by the artists.” (J. Rewald). Motto of impressionists is: “The artist must paint what he sees and so as he sees.” In this context we recall O. Messiaen’s words: “singing of birds - these are the sounds and the rhythms. To such music, real gift of the nature, should not be added any personal; neither own memories or experienced emotions”. These words show Messiaen’s attitude towards reflection of the surrounding reality in music.
Sunlight – changing and fickle, vibrating air, permanent movement, for which the static condition is unknown, tremble of the calm surface of water, rustle of leaves, blue color of the shadows sliding on the white snow – are not these the vivid, real phenomena of the surrounding world? Permanently existing, but not noticed by the artists and realized for the first time in the paintings of the impressionists. And the citation of O. Messiaen responds to this idea, essence of which is reflecting of the beauty of the nature by means of music.
C. Debussy was the first, who managed to show such artistic images by means of music. Landscape nature, placing of the colorist origin of the sound to the foreground and these are the achievements, which were deeply reflected in art of O. Messiaen. O. Messiaen has mentioned many times the significance of C, Debussy’s ”Pelleas” for his artistic formation. It should be noted that the way to synthesis of the oriental and European music, enriching of European composing is also routed by Debussy. It is well known that Messiaen creates his rhythmic theory on the basis of the oriental rhythms. In this respect, O. Messiaen is the successor of Debussy’s ideas.
V. Ekimovski regards that the major common feature of these two innovator composers is re-consideration of the traditional musical technologies in the context of esthetic conceptions.
V.Gurkov, in his article “Debussy’s Impressionism and Music of 20th Century” expresses his opinion that Messiaen strives for inclusion of the transformed impressionist technique of music composing into the depths of program-religious conceptions.
C. Debussy emphasizes the colorful nature of the harmonies and Messiaen regards revealing of the timbres on the basis of interaction between the harmonies as one of the novelties of his art. In pure technical view, Debussy applies in his late works the instrumental techniques, which later were reflected in Messiaen’s musical texture.
Style of Debussy’s piano music has especially impacted Messiaen. The heredity is shown in revealing of the technological principles of piano sound origination.
One of the innovations in O. Messiaen’s art is placing of the interrelations between the colors and sounds at the foreground. We have discussed this one of the key characteristics of French art, related to what is visual, actually seen. Inclusion of visual-colorist presentations into the acoustic phenomenon called music shows how significant are the colors of environment seen by the artist.
Messiaen, in his interview with Claude Samuel describes in details on what he relied on in creation of “Couleurs de la cite celeste”, where the concept of color is brought for verbal presentation of the contents of music. Associations emerged in relation with the religious doctrine, as any of directions in his art, acquire the conceptual nature. He writes: “I attempted to translate in my work the colors mentioned in apocalypse; I have never imagined that I could go so far with respect of the sound-color issue. Saint John writes that the wall of the Holy City was decorated with all kinds of the jewels, (Interview with Claude Samuel ) and he states that all this, as a whole, creates the rainbow color gamma.
Some color compositions, mentions the composer, indeed responds to the combinations of various colors and I marked these colors in the sheet music to show the conductor the visual image and he, on his side, must show this image to the players.
The composer associates the sound of brass instruments with red color, sound of woodwind instruments – with light blue etc. At a time of listening to the music of such type, one makes sure that the imagination, in general, has greatest significance, allowing combining of sound and visual perception and being the precondition for the abstract thinking.
Organic relation of O. Messiaen with the nature was expressed by his ardor for pantheism. Study of the birds singing, working of the motives of various birds resulted in the “Catalogue of Birds”, “Awakening of Birds”, “Black Mockingbird”, “Exotic Birds”. In addition, in O. Messiaen’s works of various genres there are the themes of birds. “Birds’ Style” formed in the “Awakening of Birds” and “Exotic Birds”, which embraced all parameters of the musical language – intonation, rhythm, timbre, dynamics, was further refined in the “Catalogue of Birds” (1956-1958).
Program nature, presented by Messiaen in the introduction to the Catalogue is of greatest significance for the player as it shows the specific environment. Presentation of the landscape plays great role not only in the processes of the shapes formation, with respect of contrast of the material, or program creativity but it plays the supplementary function as well to open, complete or color the sound and appearance of the central personage (the bird). Messiaen always overlays the bird’s singing and the pictures of nature. He regards overlaying of singing of birds in various circumstances one over the other as a composing method.
V. Ekimovski regards that finding of the birds themes as he regards that the thematic basis has slowly degraded in his works and in the specific music there are no “timbres and lengths” any more.
As for the heredity, in relation with the form of the piece, first of all, there should be noted Messiaen’s adherence to the composition principle of repetition-renovation, apparent, most clearly, in the form of rondo. Note, that this form, with its substance, the circular, spiral thinking, was characteristic for French harpsichord composers. Therefore, rondo form became the most prioritized composition form for such thinking, among the harpsichord composers.
That’s why, based on such thinking, the form of rondo became the most prioritized composition among the harpsichord composers.
Like the harpsichord composers, in the piano art of Messiaen the rondo took the special place. In the 11th piece of the “Birds Catalogue” Messiaen created the virtuosic rondo-type music, where there actually are no exact repetitions of the bird’s refrain.
Numerous French artists have paid tribute to French harpsichord tradition. French harpsichord music was characterized with cult of clear lines, accuracy of playing and brilliance. Clear expression of the melodies leads to the refined working of the ornamental melismas and rhythmically sharp, piquant manner of mastery. Consequently, we can speak about the rhythmic orientation and declamatory clearness of play developed in France, in the harpsichord music from the middle to 17th century to the end of 18th century.
Messiaen names Rameau as one of his favorite composers. In many pieces by Rameau there are less ornamental melismas, shows free interpretation of the dance forms. He comes beyond the scopes of rococo style. His name is associated with increase of the role of harmony.
The themes of the “Birds Style” are notable in the art of harpsichord composers. The 14th suite of Kuperin, the cuckoos, swallows, other representatives of the word of the winged inspired D’Aquin, Rameau, D’Andrieu and other French harpsichord composers.
In the D’Aquin’s pieces there are many pastoral themes, there is apparent aspiration to sentimentalism. Texture of his music is clear and simple, inspired by delight with the nature.
In our opinion, prototype of Messiaen’s birds is in the art of the French harpsichord composers, the rondo refrain examples, where the rhythmic origin determines the style. To support our supposition we selected the French pieces for harpsichord composed on the birds themes, there will be also two fragments from the “Birds Catalogue” and irrespective of centuries’ interval between them the relationship could be clearly seen.
Thus, we attempted to describe the artistic image of Messiaen, in the context of French cultural traditions and we regard that this is one of the interesting and significant viewpoints for elucidation of the composer’s art.
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