Olivier Messiaen's Opera, Saint Francois d'Assise

Vincent Perez Benitez

Description

In this comprehensive study of Olivier Messiaen's magnum opus, Saint François d'Assise, Vincent Perez Benitez examines the opera from both theological and musical-analytical perspectives to ask how Messiaen expresses his Catholic theology through his work. Benitez combines a close reading of the opera score with accounts from Messiaen's associates, studies of Messiaen's birdsong notebooks and other primary documents, and an examination of the religious, musical, poetic, and visual arts literature with which the composer was familiar to explore how the opera's harmonic language and sound-color relationships motivate its musical meaning and expression. Through his analysis of these diverse sources and comparisons of Saint François d'Assise with other works such as Berg's Wozzeck and Wagner's Parsifal, Benitez places Messiaen's compositional practice within larger musical perspectives and historical contexts.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on the Text
Introduction: Setting the Stage for Messiaen's Compositional Summa
1. Theology as Light in Saint François d'Assise
2. A Theological Opera and Its Musical Themes
3. Form as an Expression of the Beyond
4. Chords and Colors: The Harmonic Vocabulary of Saint François d'Assise
5. Analyzing the Musical Language of Saint François d'Assise
6. Light, Freedom, and the Beauty of Creation: Birdsong in Saint François d'Assise
7. Tonal-Dramatic Associations in Saint Francis's Spiritual Journey
8. Saint Francis's Path toward the Numinous: A Tonal-Color Narrative
Epilogue: Saint François d'Assise as Religious Drama in a Contemporary World
Appendix 1 Glossary
Appendix 2 Dramatic Synopsis
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Musique
• Histoire de la musique
• Claude Debussy
• Opera
• Alban Berg
• Composition
• Music
• History
• Christian
• Catholic
• History of classical music traditions
• Criticism
• Multiple signal classification

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 25 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253042903
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2019 by Vincent Perez Benitez
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Benitez, Vincent Perez, [date] author.
Title: Olivier Messiaen s opera, Saint Fran ois d Assise / Vincent Perez Benitez.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018049683 (print) | LCCN 2018050024 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253042897 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253042873 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253042880 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992. Saint Fran ois d Assise.
Classification: LCC ML410.M595 (ebook) | LCC ML410.M595 B45 2019 (print) | DDC 782.1-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049683
1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20 19
For Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen (1924-2010)
Letter to the author, dated August 26, 2005,
from Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen:
Je vous remercie de votre lettre, et je vous remercie
d crire un livre sur l op ra de mon mari :
" Saint Fran ois d Assise .
(Thank you for your letter, and thank you for writing
a book on my husband s opera:
Saint Fran ois d Assise .)
CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Notes on the Text

Introduction: Setting the Stage for Messiaen s Compositional Summa

1 Contemplating Theologies of Beauty, Glory, and Light in Saint Fran ois d Assise

2 A Theological Opera and Its Musical Themes

3 Form as an Expression of the Beyond

4 Chords and Colors: The Harmonic Vocabulary of Saint Fran ois d Assise

5 Analyzing the Musical Language of Saint Fran ois d Assise

6 Birdsong in Saint Fran ois d Assise

7 Tonal-Dramatic Associations in Saint Francis s Spiritual Journey

8 Saint Francis s Path toward the Numinous: A Tonal-Color Narrative

Appendix: Dramatic Synopsis

Glossary

Bibliography

Index
PREFACE
M Y JOURNEY WRITING THIS BOOK ON O LIVIER M ESSIAEN S opera Saint Fran ois d Assise (1975-83) has taken a long, complicated path. As an undergraduate music major at the University of North Texas, I began studying Messiaen s music as both an organist and a composer, even writing music based on the modes of limited transposition I had discovered in the Technique de mon langage musical . 1 I count my memorized performance of L Ascension: Quatre M ditations symphoniques pour orgue (1933-34) on my first DMA organ recital at Arizona State University as a pivotal moment that shaped my early understanding of Messiaen s compositional aesthetics and musical language.
At Indiana University, I combined my knowledge of Messiaen s music as a composer/performer with the training I received in music theory to write my PhD dissertation, Pitch Organization and Dramatic Design in Saint Fran ois d Assise of Olivier Messiaen. 2 As a faculty member at different universities, I presented numerous lectures on Messiaen s music at national and international music conferences, and I published articles, book reviews, and a research guide on the composer, all of which encompassed not only the topic of Saint Fran ois but also other facets of his work. 3 Little did I know there was much more in store for me than what some would consider a typical path toward the publication of a scholarly monograph.
While publishing various articles on Messiaen that included musical examples under copyright by ditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc, Paris, I had to seek permission from the firm s director, Jean Leduc, to reproduce them. As a courtesy, I typically sent him copies of these articles, which he would then place in the company s archives. In a letter dated August 10, 2004, M. Leduc informed me that he had forwarded copies of two articles to Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, who at the time was aware of my work on her husband s opera. 4 The following year, I wrote to Mme Loriod-Messiaen, requesting an interview focusing on Saint Fran ois to be conducted at her Rue Marcadet address in Paris. She replied quickly, granting me the interview. We exchanged three more letters and agreed that I would interview her from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on May 25, 2006. I also contacted M. Leduc in relation to interviewing him about his interactions with Messiaen during the publication of Saint Fran ois . He agreed, and we planned to meet at his office in Paris on May 30.
During this period of correspondence in 2005-6, Mme Loriod-Messiaen did two things that substantially assisted my research on Saint Fran ois . First, she wrote a letter to Catherine Massip, musicologist and then director of the D partement de la Musique, Biblioth que nationale de France (hereafter BnF), authorizing me to examine the fair copies of Saint Fran ois and the Trait de rythme, de couleur, et d ornithologie (1949-1992) , at the time en depot at the BnF. 5 Although these two manuscripts did not shed any important analytical light on the opera, they were of obvious historical interest. But more significantly, that letter opened up more research doors for me. After receiving advice from Claude Samuel in an email about seeking permission to examine the more consequential short score of Saint Fran ois and Messiaen s birdsong notebooks at the BnF during the summer of 2010, I contacted Marie-Christine Marchal, then legal guardian of Mme Loriod-Messiaen s estate, about examining these documents. 6 I used Mme Loriod-Messiaen s authorization to Mme Massip as an attachment to a permission request in March of that year. Mme Marchal replied quickly, granting me said permission in April.
Second, Mme Loriod-Messiaen directed me to P re Jean-Rodolphe Kars as an authority on religion in her husband s music. P re Kars was a close friend of both Olivier and Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen during their later years. 7 He even preached the homily at Mme Loriod-Messiaen s funeral mass, which was celebrated on May 25, 2010, at the glise de la Sainte-Trinit , Paris (hereafter La Trinit ). In a letter dated October 4, 2005, Mme Loriod-Messiaen described P re Kars as the celebrated pianist . . . [, who] knows the work of Olivier Messiaen . . . [and] is the most appropriate person to talk to you about the subject of religion [in my husband s music]. 8 In another letter dated January 27, 2006, she reaffirmed her suggestion, stating that it would be great if you could see P re Jean-Rodolphe Kars (because he is a theologian-great pianist-[winner of the] Prix Olivier Messiaen 1968). 9
I promptly followed up on this suggestion by contacting P re Kars in order to arrange an interview at the Maison des Chapelains, Paray-le-Monial, France, on May 22, 2006. My interview with him that day lasted several hours (which I recorded) as we discussed Messiaen and different aspects of his Roman Catholic faith. That encounter was the beginning of a very fruitful association for my research on the composer.
Supported by two grants from the Pennsylvania State University, I embarked on a trip to both France and Italy in May-June 2006 to conduct research on Messiaen and his opera Saint Fran ois d Assise . During my time in France, I was scheduled-as noted previously-to interview Mme Loriod-Messiaen and M. Leduc; examine the fair copies of Saint Fran ois and the Trait de rythme at the BnF while in Paris; and interview P re Kars in Paray-le-Monial. During my time in Italy, I was to go to Assisi, to visit all the places Messiaen saw while in the city, and Florence, to visit the Museum of San Marco to view paintings of Fra Angelico (ca. 1395-1455). After interviewing P re Kars on May 22, I could not interview Mme Loriod-Messiaen on May 25, as Jessica Meuriot-a close confidante of the famous pianist-informed me via a telephone conversation and a fax dated May 24 that Mme Loriod-Messiaen had taken ill and was still in the hospital.
Despite that great disappointment, my research trip was still very productive, due not only to the interviews I conducted and the time I spent at the BnF but also for the friendships I made with several people in France. In addition to P re Kars, who has been very generous with information, materials, and insights about Messiaen and his music, I initiated contact with the organist Jon Gillock. Widely acknowledged as one of the premier interpreters of Messiaen s organ music, Gillock knew Messiaen very well and has likewise shared valuable reminiscences and resources over the years. 10 I also count Mme Meuriot and Carolyn Schuster-Fournier, musicologist and titular organist of l orgue de ch ur at La Trinit , as two others I met at this time who have assisted me with my work on the composer in various ways. And this coterie of Messiaen friends has expanded since 2006, all to the benefit of my scholarly work.
Since that year, I have made seven additional trips to Paris (in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 [twice], and 2017) to continue my research on Messiaen at the BnF. In 2010, I indeed examined the short score of Saint Fran ois , a document that not only confirmed conjectures I had about the work but also revealed aspects of which I was unaware. I also began looking at the composer s birdsong notebooks, which have preoccupied me for the past several years and counting. As is well known, Messiaen was an avid collector of birdsongs throughout his life and incorporated them into his music. From among the numerous primary source documents that can deepen our understanding of his compositional pra