Le 30 juin 2017
de 16h00 à 16h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
amphithéâtre 5
Séance précomposée - New Approaches for Analyzing the Music of Olivier Messiaen
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Stefan Keym
According to Paul Griffiths, Olivier Messiaen was “the first great composer whose works exist entirely after, and to a large degree apart from, the great Western tradition.” In this pointed statement, Griffiths referred not so much to “new” materials used by Messiaen, but to the special way in which he put them together. Indeed, Messiaen’s music seems to keep a great distance from traditional concepts of form. He developed an individual concept of additive form based on the juxtaposition and repetition of rather autonomous elements, thus providing an impression of discontinuity and stasis to the listener.
The aim of this paper is to adjust this common opinion by taking a closer look at Messiaen’s formal devices, mainly in works from the 1940s. These works will be analysed from the perspective of 19th-century instrumental music and Formenlehre. Messiaen’s own statements on form will also be taken into account. The discontinuity resulting from his formal devices will be discussed using an approach introduced by Jonathan D. Kramer.
The paper will show that Messiaen’s treatment of form has more in common with 19th-century traditions than has hitherto been assumed. On one hand, he remained faithful to certain traditional procedures; on the other, some formal devices now associated with his name were in fact already anticipated in the 19th century. Thus, the paper will also reveal some hidden lines of continuity between 19th– and 20th-century music in general.
