Olivier Messiaen
b. 10 December 1908 in Avignon, France; d. 28 April 1992 in Paris.
L'Ascension. Composed 1932-1933, age 24-25.
Olivier Messiaen throughout his career as a composer was also organist at the Church of the Holy Trinity (Église de la Sainte Trinité) in Paris. Aside from whatever this position meant to him privately, this continuous association with the church is a crucial symbol in his life as a whole. Virtually all of his compositions have titles, inscriptions, and explanations which clarify their religious content, significance, and, occasionally, liturgical function.
Messiaen's "sound" is typically non-tonal, though never chaotic, organized around various modes and particular sonorities. Tonality is sometimes invoked as a kind of reference point. Movements tend to be built of a few clearly delineated blocks of material. Messiaen also took pains to provide mechanisms for comprehension for his audience. In addition to descriptive titles, he includes references to scripture or the order of service where appropriate.
L'Ascension, "four symphonic meditations," was composed 1932-1933. This is the first version of a suite of four pieces for organ solo (1933-1934), for which Messiaen composed a completely new third movement. While this falls quite early in the composer's output, the work is no less adventurous in the hearing than any other of his major compositions. Messiaen did not consider himself a mystic, but his music, including L'Ascension, is constantly reaching beyond a merely terrestrial existence. Following are my translations of the composer's inscriptions to the four movements.
(1) The majesty of Christ asking to receive His glory from his Father (John 17:1)
(2) Serene alleluias from a soul who desires heaven (Mass of the Ascension)
(3) Alleluia on the trumpet, alleluia on the cymbal (Psalm 46)
(4) Prayer of Christ rising toward His Father (John 17:1, 6, 11)
Using a favorite procedure, Messiaen in certain of the movements restricts the orchestration to particular instruments or sections. Only in the third movement is the entire orchestra used. The first movement is for the brass instruments alone; the second for strings and woodwinds; and the fourth for the strings. This selective orchestration helps to make the character of each movement that much clearer. In the last movement especially, the seamless flow of the strings' sound enhances the serene mood; and as the music proceeds it rises ever higher, until at the end, with an unresolved dominant-seventh sonority, it seems to lose contact with the earth altogether.
Robert Schumann
b. 8 June 1810 in Zwickau (in Saxony), Germany; d. 29 July 1856 in Endenich (near Bonn), Germany.
Introduction and Allegro appassionato, Op. 92. Premiered 14 February 1850 in Leipzig, Germany, age 39.
In this era of the compact disc--when recording companies and performers are unearthing or rediscovering all sorts of music and composers that are perhaps better left lost or buried--it is a happy and refreshing surprise to discover an "unknown" composition that clearly deserves new or renewed attention from performers and audiences. Schumann's Introduction and Allegro appassionato is precisely such a work, no doubt having suffered neglect through comparison to Schumann's hugely popular Piano Concerto in A minor. The first movement of the Piano Concerto was finished as an independent composition in 1841 titled "Phantasie." The work in this form was never performed publicly, and in 1845 Schumann added the second and third movements. The Introduction and Allegro appassionato was composed in 1849, probably in September.
The present composition is constructed on a pattern much favored in the first half of the 19th century for short "concert pieces": two movements, slow and fast. Being a truly gifted composer working a bit after other important pianist-composers (Mendelssohn comes quickly to mind), Schumann instead of bringing the slow movement to a full close leaves the music "hanging," as it were, which propels the music into the fast section. He uses other means to bind the work's components together. Shortly after the opening, the solo horn introduces a little phrase that serves as a kind of "head motive": it initiates several structural units and gives rise to varied themes. It is almost always played by the horn and is thus easily recognized.
While the composition is in G major, its relative minor key, E minor, makes frequent appearances in a contrasting role. In the slow section, the oboe introduces a descending melody in E minor--and this descending scalar shape we know from its use in Schumann's early piano music probably symbolizes Clara. (Recall the beginning of the oboe theme in the first movement of the Piano Concerto.) The opening material of the Allegro is actually in E minor, though the music is quickly deflected to another key. It is at the recapitulation of this sonata-form movement that this theme is stated completely in E minor. One reason for the nicely extended coda at the end is to "work out" E minor one more time in favor of G major.
Felix Mendelssohn
b. 3 February 1809 in Hamburg, Germany; d. 4 November 1847 in Leipzig, Germany.
Piano Concerto no. 1 in G minor, Op. 25. Premiered 17 October 1831 in Munich, Germany, age 22.
A lot more than 19 years separates Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto from Schumann's Introduction and Allegro appassionato. Mendelssohn was in a sense the last of the truly Classical composers. The character of both his performing and composing reminded many contemporaries of Mozart, the music especially so with its graceful melding of virtuosity with energetic "motor" music. Mendelssohn was also less of an experimenter than Schumann, so that juxtaposing these two compositions as we have on this program highlights Mendelssohn's relatively conservative approach versus Schumann's more forward-looking style.
Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto was composed and premiered in Munich in October 1831. Biographer R. Larry Todd states that the autograph score has no piano part, indicating clearly that the composer was in a hurry. At the least, Mendelssohn had to be carrying the piano part around in his brain; we'll never know whether he extemporized any at the first performance. He was also friendly at the time with Delphine von Schauroth, who we are told contributed a couple of ideas for passage work for the soloist. Both this and the Capriccio brillant (published as Opus 22) were composed for Delphine, with the Concerto also carrying a dedication to her.
Mendelssohn's structural model here and in other of his concertos is Carl Maria von Weber's Concertstück in F minor for piano and orchestra, in which the individual movements are reduced in length and are linked by transitions. Mendelssohn doesn't actually leave anything out, but everything is compact. The first movement is a sonata form, but the development in the middle is very short and is little more than a transition back to the home key for the return of the first theme. The second key area is interesting for being in D-flat instead of the expected B-flat. Note particularly the downward octave leap at the start, and the upward scalar motion in the second theme. The second movement is in E, another interesting choice. The lower strings state first a lovely melody in long lines that dominates the musical discourse in this movement. The sparkling last movement has two catchy themes, both of them introduced in G; it takes further development of them to find variety by modulating to other keys. Just before the final splash, there is brief allusion to the octave leap and the second theme from the first movement to tie the movements of the Concerto more closely together.
Ottorino Respighi
b. 9 July 1879 in Bologna, Italy; d. 18 April 1836 in Rome.
Vetrate di chiesa. Composed 1925-1926, age 45-46.
There are two threads running through Respighi's career which at first glance might seem at odds with each other. The better known of the two is his gift for marvelously colorful writing for orchestra. But Respighi also had a deep interest in early music and often drew on it in his orchestral compositions. Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) was composed a year or two following Pines of Rome (1923-1924). The first three of its four movements, however, were composed as a set of pieces for solo piano in 1919-1921 titled Tre preludi sopra melodie gregoriane (Three Preludes on Gregorian melodies). Thus, Respighi's kaleidoscopic orchestration and use of Gregorian thematic material balance each other nearly perfectly. The composer provided descriptive captions for each movement.
(1) The Flight Into Egypt. The little caravan proceeded through the desert, in the starry night, bearing the Treasure of the World (Matthew 2:14).
(2) St. Michael the Archangel. And a Great battle was made in the heavens; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels. But these did not prevail, and there was no more place for them in Heaven (Homily XII of St. Gregory). [Note the distant solo trumpet near the end, no doubt played by Gabriel.]
(3) The Matins of St. Clare. But Jesus Christ her bridegroom, not wishing to leave her thus disconsolate, had her miraculously transported by angels to the church of St. Francis, to be at the service of Matins (The Little Flowers of St. Francis, XXXIV).
(4) St. Gregory the Great. Behold the Pontiff! . . . Bless the Lord. . . . Sing the hymn to God. Alleluia!
Unfortunately, only one melody has been identified (so far). That melody, used in the fourth movement, is a version of the Gloria from Mass VIII ("De Angelis," for the angels) (Liber Usualis, p. 37). With this one original source handy, one can see that Respighi states the source material pretty faithfully to start, and later ornaments the melody or puts exotic harmonies beneath it.
