Messe de la Pentecôte
Encyclopedia
Messe de la Pentecôte is an organ
mass
composed by Olivier Messiaen
in 1949–50. According to the composer, it is based on twenty years of improvising at Église de la Sainte-Trinité
, where Messiaen was organist since 1931.
Messiaen himself wrote that the work "corresponds almost exactly with the length of a low Mass, and its sections are intended to match with those of the service. The music shows different aspects of the mystery of Pentecost, the Feast of the Holy Spirit." The work was never officially premiered; Messiaen included it discreetly in the celebration of the Eucharist on the Pentecost Sunday of 1951.
The work is in five movements:
The first movement uses "irrational values" applied to Greek rhythms. A motif from the fifth movement, labelled le vent ("the wind"), will reappear in Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité as "Le Souffle de l'Esprit" (The Breath of the Spirit).
There is an "imaginary" birdsong in bars 50–57 of the second movement. This passage is derived from the lines for flute and clarinet in Jardin du sommeil d'amour in Turangalîla-Symphonie
; Messiaen described these as melodic "garlands" that resemble birdsong in slow-motion. Several more bird songs are found in the fourth movement. Here, they are based on observation, and some of the species can be identified: a nightingale (mm. 201–205) and a blackbird (identical to the birdsong phrase from Ile de Feu 1).
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
composed by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
in 1949–50. According to the composer, it is based on twenty years of improvising at Église de la Sainte-Trinité
Église de la Sainte-Trinité
The Église de la Sainte-Trinité is a Roman Catholic church located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. The church is a building of the Second Empire period, built between 1861 and 1867 at a cost of almost 5 million francs....
, where Messiaen was organist since 1931.
Messiaen himself wrote that the work "corresponds almost exactly with the length of a low Mass, and its sections are intended to match with those of the service. The music shows different aspects of the mystery of Pentecost, the Feast of the Holy Spirit." The work was never officially premiered; Messiaen included it discreetly in the celebration of the Eucharist on the Pentecost Sunday of 1951.
The work is in five movements:
- Entrée (Les langues de feu) - Entrance
- Offertoire (Les choses visibles et invisibles) - Offertory
- Consécration (Le don de Sagesse) - Consecration
- Communion (Les oiseaux et les sources) - Communion
- Sortie (Le vent de l'Esprit) - Recessional
The first movement uses "irrational values" applied to Greek rhythms. A motif from the fifth movement, labelled le vent ("the wind"), will reappear in Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité as "Le Souffle de l'Esprit" (The Breath of the Spirit).
There is an "imaginary" birdsong in bars 50–57 of the second movement. This passage is derived from the lines for flute and clarinet in Jardin du sommeil d'amour in Turangalîla-Symphonie
Turangalîla-Symphonie
The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen. It was written from 1946 to 1948, on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The premiere was given by that orchestra on December 2, 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein in Boston...
; Messiaen described these as melodic "garlands" that resemble birdsong in slow-motion. Several more bird songs are found in the fourth movement. Here, they are based on observation, and some of the species can be identified: a nightingale (mm. 201–205) and a blackbird (identical to the birdsong phrase from Ile de Feu 1).