- Date: 1986
- Composer: Olivier Messiaen
- Period: Modern (1910-1949)
Review
The title of Olivier Messiaen's Un vitrail et des oiseaux invokes two of the composer's most poignant and favored images: the myriad colors of stained glass, and the endless melody of birdsong. Such an evocative title should not be seen as an arbitrary abstraction; both images correspond not only to the overall atmosphere of the piece, but also to specific components of Messiaen's compositional process. Messiaen always insisted that birds-"our little servants of immaterial joy," as he called them-were creating music in a very real way when engaging in song. As a self-trained ornithologist, Messiaen recorded and transcribed birdsongs from all around the world; a long list of these bird-borrowed motives appear in his works, many of which advertise their birdsong content in their titles. As might be expected, Un vitrail et des oiseaux relies heavily upon birdcalls, not only as melodic seeds but also as structural points. Like many of Messiaen's works, Un vitrail is built upon a large, symmetrical framework. This structure interpolates four textures: a xylophone trio with miscellaneous percussion accompaniment; chorale material, featuring the trumpet and bells, with homophonic accompaniment from the winds and percussion; a call-and-answer between xylophones and the combination of woodwinds and triangle; and a series of unconducted cadenzas in the piano, flute, and clarinet. The duality of the title can be seen and heard immediately in the structure. The first section features the xylophone trio initiating a flittering series of nightingale calls. This is followed by a chorale passage, which immediately sets the image of a stained-glass church window adjacent to that of the xylophone's nightingale. The chorale texture is not just meant as a pointer to a mental image; Messiaen's harmonies are deliberately crafted to depict a spectrum of sonic hues-which Messiaen is bold enough to associate with particular visual colors. The next passage features the xylophones again, this time as a chaffinch arguing with the woodwinds' blackcap. Other birdsongs follow, as the piano and other instruments engage in a variety of birdsong cadenzas. A second chorale passage is followed by another duel between the chaffinch and blackcap, which, along with the subsequent cadenza section, forms the center of the symmetrical form. The second half of this carefully balanced structure features a third chorale, another pairing of the chaffinch/blackcap material and the cadenza passage, and a return of the initial nightingale/chorale group. The result is a musical landscape made of dramatic, colorful, and poignant musical moments that are arranged with meticulous formal integrity. Messiaen's motivic skill turns the transcribed birdcalls into graceful, free-floating gestures that completely conceal the difficulty of their transmission. This kind of elegant accuracy poses enormous rhythmic challenges to the performer, which the composer addresses in his cryptic introductory notes: "...the birds are more important than the tempos, and the colors are more important than the birds. More important than everything is the aspect of the invisible." ~ Jeremy Grimshaw, RoviAlbums with Complete Performances of the Work
| Un Viejo amor for voice & ensemble | |
| Un adieu, for piano |
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