Jordan Kerr

Music of Olivier Messsiaen (MLAN-288-001)

Allen Levines

Quatuor pour la fin du temps, V: Louange lEternit de Jsus

Olivier Messiaen

Based on songs for voice and piano written before Messiaens time in

imprisonment and before the writing of his treatise, this exquisite movement shows the

composer implementing his own techniques at an early stage of their development. He

does so not by using them as the sole components of the piece, but by mixing them with

more traditional practices.

The form of the piece is his own take on the classical sonata form, having three

main sections, the Exposition (mm. 1-12), the Development (mm. 13-26) and the

Recapitulation (mm. 27-32), brought to close by a Coda (mm. 33-35). We can further

break these down into musical sentences: A (mm. 1-6), A (7-12), B (mm. 13-18), B (19-

26), A (27-32) and the Coda (mm. 33-35).

The piece is written with the key signature of E major and, at first glance it may

look as if this were a regular extended tonality the first four notes in the cello (B, G#)

imply an E major triad and the first chord the piano plays in measure 3 is a root-position

E major triad. As we go on we begin to see this is not the case the second half of the

first measure introduces the pitches G natural and F natural, and the second chord in the

piano accompaniment is an A# major triad. Already, at the beginning of the piece, we see

Messiaen implementing his mode 2, in its second transposition (mode 2.2). Most of the

important structural pitches are diatonic but all pitches are from mode 2.2 - until measure

10. Also, until measure 10, Messiaen uses nothing but major triads in the

accompaniment, all of them taken from mode 2.2, but revolving around E major. Mode 2,

commonly thought of as a rather dissonant mode, is here used in a way that we almost
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believe were in E major. It is interesting to note that all of the pitches not in this

transposition of this mode D#, F#, A and C are brought into play at the end of the

Exposition, and that they fill in all of the remaining notes of a B7(b9) chord (B is in the

mode and the tonality). C becomes an important note in the piece, being the only note

that does not fit into mode 2.2 or E major.

The Development continues this dichotomy of mode 2 and E major, and they

seem to almost be fighting for our attention. Measure 18 introduces complete atonality

with an upward sequence of diminished chords - a transition to the second half of the

Development, which brings us to what Messiaen would describe as an inflection to the

dominant. This dominant area is confirmed after the F#7 chord in measure 22 resolves to

a G#m7 in measure 23 a textbook deceptive resolution of the V7 to the VI-7 in B

major. This measure (m. 23) is entirely constructed from mode 2 in its third transposition

(mode 2.3). The following three measures, the pieces most dissonant and climactic

section, are written in Messiaens mode 3 in its first transposition (mode 3.1).

Interestingly, the most stressed note in the melody is a C (see end of paragraph 3) and the

strongest harmony an E7 a dominant chord but with its root on the tonic, Messiaen is

playing with the idea of the inflection to the dominant.

After this dramatic climax, the Recapitulation begins with a sudden drop to

pianississimo and a return to relative consonance with an E major triad in second

inversion (another play on the inflection to the dominant tonic with dominant note in

bass, the opposite of the preceding harmony). The C, the most important note in the

preceding section, fades away and is not seen after the first two measure of the section.
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The rest of the piece does not stray from mode 2.2 and the piece ends on a root position E

major, with E in the melody.

Although the infinitely slow pace of this movement may obscure Messiaens

rhythmic games, the score shows us that they are definitely in use. The first thing to

notice is that the piece is ametric, that is, there is no written meter. This way Messiaen

can use barlines simply to indicate phrases, making for a smoother performance and

cleaner score. The second measure, housing one of the two motifs that the piece is built

upon, makes use of a simple added value in the form of a sixteenth-note, creating a

measure five sixteenth-notes in length. He later uses this technique to augment and

disguise his motifs. For example, in the first measure of the Development (m. 13), he

uses an added value to augment a transposition of the opening motif.

As well as added rhythm, we see here explicit use of added-note chords. Upon the

very first E major triad, the cello resolves its phrase on a C# - the added 6th. Measure 5

then introduces us to an added note characteristic of mode 2 the #11 (augmented 4th).

These added notes, along with various 9ths, 11ths (on minor chords) and b6ths are added

by the cello to the mainly triadic harmony in the piano.

In the form, in the harmony, in the melodic material and even in the rhythm,

Messiaen is playing with tradition and innovation. It is evident in this piece that, before

he developed a language of his own, he was a master of traditional technique.