Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Part 4

by David Doty

Dynamic Or Static? 

In this post we return to Olivier Messiaen’s Quator pour le fin du Temps (1941) and consider some of the dynamic and static elements of the second movement.

The Second Movement

The second movement, “Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps,” consists of a ternary (three part) formal structure comprised of A, B, and A-prime sections.  The contrast of styles between the A and B sections suggests that the formal structure in this movement acts as a dynamic element (by providing appreciable change over time relative to the first movement’s single section through-composed formal structure). The fragmentary A and A-prime sections of the second movement, functioning as introduction and coda, share a number of similarities including the use of sudden tempo changes and great contrasts of expression. 

A Note on the Formal Structure

Neither the duration of the A nor A-prime section is very long relative to the middle B section, although the introduction contains more measures and material than the coda.  The A section spans from Reh. A to Reh. D, while Reh. D to Reh. H (rehearsal markers in the score) to the comprise the B section, and the coda or A-prime section follows at Reh. H to the conclusion of the movement.    

Proof of Dynamism

Among the similarities of the A and A-prime sections are segments with inverted melodic contours.  Corresponding melodic identities in the A and A-prime sections are identified by comparing rhythm, contour, and instrumentation.  The variety of melodic identities in these sections suggests that they should be considered dynamic in nature.  This is evidenced at Reh. C of the A section in which the violin and cello ascend in unison sixteenth notes for two measures before a sudden tempo change brings sustained trills in the violin, clarinet, and cello with staggered entrances.  This scalar ascent mirrors two measures of descending sixteenth notes in the violin and cello at Reh. H of the A-prime section that also precedes sustained trills with staggered entrances.  In both the A and A-prime sections, these trills are joined by thirty-second notes in the piano.  The ascending thirty-second notes layered over the trills of the A section are mirrored by descending thirty-second notes in the piano at Reh. H+4 of the A-prime section. 

A Concluding Thought

The final two measures of the A and A-prime sections likewise contain similar gestures in the piano: four descending chords at fortississimo (wow, so loud!) in the A section are echoed by four ascending chords at fortississimo in the A-prime section. What could be called a “tag” or “button,” such as those commonly found at the end of marches, follows each of these.  In the context of this movement, the button consists of a forceful piano chord coinciding with a thirty-second note triplet in the clarinet. Considering the B section solely as a structural unit for the time being, enclosed by the A and A-prime sections that are unified by corresponding gestures of inverted contours, these sections create a structural and melodic palindrome similar to the non-retrogradable rhythms that Messiaen scatters throughout Quatuor.   

For the next post in this series, click here.