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HMA 1951834

Frank Martin and Olivier Messiaen have few musical features in

common, but their faith overrides the fundamental differences

between them and makes them two of the most important

Christian composers of the twentieth century. Martin’s Mass for

unaccompanied double choir is the profoundly ecumenical

profession of faith of a fervent Christian of our time. As to the Cinq

Rechants, Messiaen’s last a cappella work, its composer rightly

thought it ‘one of [his] best works’.

Frank Martin (1890-1974)

Messe pour double chœur a cappella

Songs of Ariel

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Cinq Rechants

O sacrum convivium

A private mass as tribute

In 1966, Frank Martin (1890-1974) published at Geneva a text intended as his profes-sion of faith, lean, highly concentrated, bearing the quite unambiguous title ‘The Com-poser’s Responsibility’ 1. At the age of seventy-five, the Swiss artist referred his readers to a sort of moral spirituality relevant to his entire output: I am convinced that any work of art worthy of the name bears within it a moral principle. . . . Whatever the movements of the artist’s soul, his spirit, his sensibility that are to be found in his work, even if they are fear or despair . . . his work must always bear the sign of that liberation, that sublimation that evokes in us a finished form. . . . For beauty car-ries within it a strength that frees our spirit, whatever the expression that is embodied therein, and even when it expresses something that cannot be conveyed in words. Between 1922 and 1926, Martin worked – as an exercise – on the composition of a Catholic mass (he was himself the son of a Calvinist minister); the style is austere, Gregorian, showing just a few slight traces of Ravelian influence. ‘I saw it as a matter between God and myself.’ This particular ‘matter’ was then set aside for forty years before receiving its first performance in Hamburg 2, on 2 November 1963, and was printed only some ten years after that. Only historical factors can explain both the fact that this piece was held back so long, and the belated recognition it was subsequently to achieve. While the interwar period had seen the growth of a strong current of nihilism in Europe, marked by the rise of totalitarian parties with (to put it mildly) a strong aversion to spirituality, the situation was quite different in the early 1960s, the time of the Second Vatican Council, whose general leanings were so close to the composer’s natural ecu-menism 3. Hence, after his compositions on religious subjects dating from the final years of the War (In terra pax, 1944. Golgotha, 1945-48) and the following period (Le Mystère de la Nati­vité, 1957-59), Frank Martin legitimately took the view that his old Mass for eight voices of the 1920s had its place within this Christian œuvre, which was to be further bolstered by Pilate (1964), then by the admirable Requiem (1971-72); the latter work constitutes one of the peaks of twentieth-century European sacred music. Ideally liturgical, this Mass for unaccompanied double choir corresponds to the five sections of the Ordinary of the Catholic Mass, and consciously takes up the Gregorian tradition. Simple, diatonic and modal in style, and mostly homophonic, the work reveals little of the true personality of its creator, who clearly sought to remain in the background here. But even though it is easy to detect a number of blatantly obvious sources of inspiration (medieval in the Kyrie, part of the Gloria and the Sanctus, Renaissance in the ‘Benedictus’, not to mention a few typically ‘Baroque’ rhythmic elements here and there), the work’s pure contours save it from degenerating into patchwork. Listen ing to what is now one of Martin’s most frequently performed and recorded scores, one is astonished by the extraordinary cohesion of an entity that sets out to be both a recollection of five centuries of Catholic litur gical tradition and the sincerely ecumen ical profession of faith of a fervent Christian of our time. The resultant insertion of the work in a broad and continuing context gives the Mass a sort of isolated perfection within the limits it has fixed for itself, in which the composer’s art could blossom in favourable surroundings.

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When the airy spirit speaks

Between late 1949 and the early months of 1950, Frank Martin composed for the excellent Nederlands Kamerkoor (then conducted by Felix de Nobel) the Five Songs of Ariel (a cap-pella) after Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The subject was one that had long fascinated the composer, who found in Prospero a natural soul mate. Hence, after this first attempt at setting the original Elizabethan English text, Martin reused the choruses in the opera he wrote on the same theme between 1952 and 1955 (Der Sturm), this time in August Wil-helm von Schlegel’s translation into German (a language that came more easily to him than that of Shakespeare). Curiously enough, this adaptation of the Songs of Ariel required hardly any modification of the original music, so closely did Schlegel’s metre match Shake-speare’s. In his evocation of Prospero’s evanescent faithful servant Ariel, Martin chose (in the opera) to dissociate his physical appearance and his distant vocal contributions:

Ariel, the ‘airy spirit’ who appears to Prospero sometimes as a boy, sometimes as a water-nymph, must seem so light-footed that only a male or female dancer could give a satisfactory illusion of a weightless being: Du, der Luft nur bist (Thou, which art but air), says Prospero to him. But Ariel also speaks, like the others. Right from the beginning, I had decided to give him a collective voice, the voice of nature, and it was an offstage mixed chorus that sang his text. 4 Nonetheless, it is preferable to return to the work’s original version, with its ideally magic al, hazy atmosphere; it is here that the composer displays his extraordinary gift for vocal writing (the mixed choir is here sometimes split into sixteen real voices!) and his ability to create astounding harmonies in his own unique musical language.

A motet for the Blessed Sacrament

There are very few musical correspondencs between Frank Martin and Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), but their religious faith (Calvinist for the former, Catholic for the latter) unites them over and above their fundamental differences, and makes them two of the most important Christian composers of the twentieth century. Messiaen left little vocal music that was purely religious in inspiration: O sacrum convivium, Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine, and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus­Christ; there is also a Mass of 1933 for eight sopranos and four violins, and two choruses, Te Deum and Impropères, for a Jeanne d’Arc written during the summer of 1941, shortly after his liber-ation from Stalag VIII A, all of which he chose to leave unpublished. But this is merely because all the remainder of his output drew so much of its inspiration and strength from the sacred – not least his extensive catalogue of organ works. The motet for four-part unaccompanied mixed choir (sometimes misguidedly performed in a version for solo soprano and organ) O sacrum convivium, dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, moves wholly within this universe, being in effect a vocal transcription of what Dorothea Bossert has called the ‘mystificatory stasis’ of the great organ cycles of the 1930s (L’Ascension, La Nativité du Seigneur, Les Corps glorieux). Written at the request of the Abbé Brun in 1937, this short work was the only genuinely liturgical piece published by Messiaen, who here sets the Latin text as a slow, simple meditation in homophonic style and in the ‘key of mystic Love’ (F sharp major).

A song of love

Much more ambitious and personal, the Cinq Rechants (Five refrains) of 1948, for twelve mixed voices, constituted Messiaen’s second (and therefore last) a cappella piece; the composer rightly thought it ‘one of my best works’. The Rechants, which create significant difficulties in performance (essentially of rhythmic timing), were written for the excellent vocal ensemble directed by Marcel Couraud, which performed them all over the world after giving the premiere at the Salle Érard in Paris, in 1949. This work, notable for its incom-parable melodic inventiveness, was an avowed homage to the celebrated chanson Le printemps by Claude le Jeune (1528-1600), which alternates chants (couplets) and rechants (refrains). However, more important (by his own admission) in providing the com-poser with melodic guidelines were the Peruvian harawi (or yaravi) and the medieval Euro-pean alba or dawn song, one of the most singular means of poetic expression employed by the troubadours, in which a voice from above warned lovers of the coming of day, the sign of their inevitable cruel separation. Tristan and Isolde, Orpheus, Bluebeard, Viviane and Merlin; the paintings of Marc Chagall and Hieronymus Bosch; the songs of the troubadours Jaufré Rudel and Folquet de Mar-seille (also known as Foulques de Toulouse) – elements from all these sources run through this epic of love, in which Messiaen also invented a new verbal language (some-times distantly inspired by Sanskrit and Quechua) that remains entirely subservient to a musical expression rhythmic in its essence (thus displaying the strong influence of Indian music). To quote the composer: ‘These are syllables chosen for the gentleness or vio-lence of their attack, for their capacity to make the musical rhythms stand out. They

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facilitate an alliance of the four orders: phonetic (timbres), dynamic (intensity), kinematic (accents), quantitative (duration).’ Carnal to the point of eroticism, the work upset the press, which in general judged it harshly (whereas the audience at the premiere acclaimed both the piece and its com-poser). But repeated hearings of this masterpiece have enabled us to view it today in all its poetic and musical cohesion, in its blend of the broadest cultural heritage with the bold vision of a musician who truly gave here the very finest of his heart and mind.

PhiliPPe Simon Translation: Charles Johnston

1. Frank Martin, Responsabilité du compositeur (Geneva: Société des Arts, 1966).

2. Frank Martin’s Mass for unaccompanied double choir was premiered by the Bugenhagen Kantorei, conducted by Franz W. Brunnert.

3. On 7 June 1969, Frank Martin had the opportunity of hearing a performance of his oratorio In terra pax (1944) in the Vatican; the work was specifically chosen by Pope Paul VI for the universal character of its message of peace.

4. Frank Martin, A propos de… Commentaire de Frank Martin sur ses œuvres (Neuchâtel: La Baconnière, 1984).

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FRANK MARTINMesse pour double chœur a cappella

1 | Kyrie eleison.Christe eleison.Kyrie eleison.

2 | Gloria in excelsis Deo.Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te.Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus.Tu solus Altissimus Jesu Christe.Cum Sancto Spirituin gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

3 | Credo in unum Deum.Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.Et in unum Dominum, Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia secula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri, per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui, propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem, descendit de coelis.Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est.Crucifixus etiam pro nobis, sub Pontio Pilatio passus et sepultus est.Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos, cujus regni non erit finis.Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum.Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

4 | Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria ejus.Osanna in excelsis.Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.Osanna in excelsis.

5 | Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.Dona nobis pacem.

Five Ariel Songs(Texts from Shakespeare’s The Tempest)

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6 | Come unto these yellow sands,And then take hands:Curtsied when you have, and kiss’d, The wild waves whist, Foot it featly here and there;And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.Hark, hark! (Burden: Bow, wow)The watch dogs bark: (Burden: Bow, wow)Hark, hark! I hearThe strain of strutting chanticleerCry: Cock-a-diddle-dow.

Lord, have mercy on us.Christ, have mercy on us.Lord, have mercy on us.

Glory to God in the highestand on earth peace to men of good will.We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee.We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory.O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son! O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us.For Thou only art holy. Thou only art Lord. Thou only, O Jesus Christ, art most high, together with the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

I believe in one God,the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God of God, light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made; consubstantial with the Father; by Whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven;and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary; and was made man. He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried.And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; and His Kingdom shall have no end.And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified; Who spoke by the Prophets. And in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.And I await the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.Hosanna in the highest.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.Grant us peace.

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II 7 | Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made:Those are pearls that were his eyes:Nothing of him that doth fade,But doth suffer a sea changeInto something rich and strange.Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:(Burden: ding, dong)Hark! Now I hear them, — ding, dong, bell.

III 8 | Before you can say ‘Come’ and ‘Go’

And breathe twice; and cry ‘So, so’,Each one tripping on his toeWill be here with mop and mow.Do you love me, master? No?

IV 9 | You are three men of sin, whom Destiny

That hath to instrument this lower worldAnd what is in’t, the never-surfeited seaHath caused to belch up you; and on this islandWhere man doth not inhabit; you ’mongst menBeing most unfit to live. I have made you mad;And even with suchlike valour men hang anddrown their proper selves. You fools! I and my fellowsAre ministers of fate: the elementsOf whom your swords are temper’d may as wellWound the loud winds, or with bemock’d-at stabsKill the still-closing waters, as diminishOne dowle that’s in my plume; my fellow ministersAre like invulnerable. If you could hurt,Your swords are now too massy for your strengthsAnd will not be uplifted. But, remember, —For that’s my business to you, — that you threeFrom Milan did supplant good Prospero;Expos’d unto the sea, which hath requit it,Him and his innocent child: for which foul deedThe powers, delaying, not forgetting haveIncens’d the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,They have bereft; and do pronounce, by me,Lingering perdition, — worse than any deathCan be at once, — shall step by step attendYou and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from ?Which here in this most desolate isle, else fallsUpon your heads, — is nothing but heart-sorrowAnd a clear life ensuing.

V 10 | Where the bee sucks, there suck I

In a cowslip’s bell I lie;There I couch when owls do cry.On the bat’s back I do flyAfter summer merrily:Merrily, merrily shall I live nowUnder the blossom that hangs on the bough.

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OLIVIER MESSIAENCinq Rechants

I 11 | Hayo kapri tama la li la li lassaré no

Les amoureux s’envolentBrangien dans l’espace tu soufflesLes amoureux s’envolentvers les étoiles de la mort

t k t k t k t k

ha ha ha ha ha soifL’explorateur Orphéetrouve son cœur dans la mort

Miroir d’étoile château d’étoileYseult d’amour séparéBulle de cristal d’étoile mon retourMiroir d’étoile château d’étoileYseult d’amour…Hayoma kapritama hayoma kapritama

Les amoureux s’envolent...

L’explorateur Orphéetrouve son cœur dans la mortBarbe Bleu(e)Château de la septième porte

II 12 | Ma première fois terre terre

l’éventail déployéMa dernière fois terre terrel’éventail referméLumineux mon rire d’ombreMa jeune étoile sur les fleuvesHa…

Solo de flûte berceles quatre lézar(ds) en t’éloignant

Mayoma kapritama ssarimâ…

Ma première fois…mano mano mano nadjalâma krîta mata krîmalâdja na noma noma

Lumineux mon rire…

III 13 | Ma robe d’amour mon amour

Ma prison d’amour faite d’air légerlîla lîla ma mémoirema caressemayoma ssari ssari man(e) thikârioumi annôla oumi sarîsarîsa floufî yoma

trianguillo trianguillo…

Robe tendre toute la beautépaysage neuftroubadour Viviane Yseulttous les cercles tous les yeuxpieuvre de lumière blessefoule rose ma caresse

oumi annôla oumi oumiannôla oumi sarî sarîs a flôuti yoma(cheu cheu mayokapritama kalitmolinocheu cheu…)

Robe tendre…

Sarî sarî… sarî ma

Tous les philtres sont bus ce soir encore

IV 14 | Niokhamâ palalan(e) soukî

mon bouquet tout défait rayonneNiokhamâ palalan(e) soukîles volets roses Ohaamour amour du clair au sombre Oha

Roma tama tama tamaroma tama tama tamassouka rava kâli vâlissouka nahame(e) kassourava kâli vâli roma tama...

Niokamâ palalan(e)…

V 15 | Mayoma kalimolimo

Tes yeux voyagent dans le passéMélodi(e) solaire de corbeille courbet k t k t k t kDans le passé

Losangé ma sœur toujoursphiltre Yseult rameur d’amourflako flakoFé’e) Viviane à mon chant d’amourcercle du jour hayo hayoFoule rose hayo bras tenduPieuvre aux tentacules d’orPersé(e) Médusel’abeille l’alphabet majeur

Fleur du bourdon tournetourne à mortQuatre lézards la grottepieuvre et la mortdoka do do do doka doka…

Corolle qui mord deuxièmegarde à manger d’abord… Hal

Fleur du bourdon…

Losangé ma fleur toujoursflako flakophiltre Yseult…Quatre lézards grottepieuvre à mort la mortQuatre lézar(ds) et la pieuvreet la mort tourne à mort

Corolle qui mord…Losangé ma fleur…

Mayoma kalimolimot k t k t k t k Dans l’avenir

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O sacrum convivium

16 | O sacrum convivium!in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis ejus: mens impletur gratia.

O sacrum convivium!in quo Christus sumitur: mens impletur gratia:et futurae gloriaenobis pignus datur, alleluia. O sacrum convivium!

O sacred feastin which Christ is received,the memory of his Passion is renewed,the mind is filled with grace

O sacred feastin which Christ is received,the mind is filled with graceand a pledge of future gloryis given us. Alleluia.O sacred feast!