Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Part 10

We now turn our attention to the “Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes.” This movement features the quartet playing in unison with tessituras (the range of pitch content) that fall mostly in the staff. The movement uses a binary formal structure. And the double barline at Reh. I indicates the division between the exposition and development sections. 

Elastic Phrases and Additive Rhythms

Elastic phrase duration and rhythmic complexity characterize the opening theme of this movement. Phrases are “elastic” because Messiaen varies the number of rhythmic values in each phrase. These are known as “additive rhythms.” No meter given, so barlines are merely used to mark the end of phrases. Notice how the number of shorter rhythmic values leading up to a quarter note or half note differs from phrase to phrase in the example below.

Example: Theme of Movement VI at Rehearsal A. Brackets indicate rhythmic palindromes.

Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Part 9

Overview of the fifth movement

The fifth movement is the first of two movements written in the key of E.  Reflecting the concept of eternity in its title, the duration of “Louange à l’Èternité de Jésus” is one of the longest movements in Quatuor resulting in part from a unchanging and very slow tempo. Irregular phrase durations also characterize the movement. This irregularity results from Messiaen’s un-balancing of phrases with the addition or subtraction of a sixteenth note that create rhythmically asymmetrical measures. The fifth movement is therefore dynamic in terms of phrase duration as well as melodic contour and gradual contrasts of expression.  

The Melody of the fifth movement

Messiaen places the cello melody, characterized by lyricism and gradual contrasts of expression, in a high tessitura that never strays below B3.  As with the third and fourth movements, the melody of the fifth movement uses Messiaen’s Mode 2 for pitch content.

The Accompaniment

The piano accompaniment of the fifth movement initially appears to be rather simple:  Three-voice chords, which gain a fourth voice after Reh. D, sustain harmonies by repeating the chords in sixteenth notes.  The accompaniment is dynamic, however, in that it contains a harmonic progression that ascends into a higher register before returning to the register in which it began. 

Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Part 8

Messiaen, Confusing Our Perception of Time

In “Intermède,” the fourth movement of Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps, Messiaen uses a conventional simple duple meter, barlines, and dynamic elements (things that change, not expression) to confuse the listener’s perception of time. The playful, clear rhythmic pulse disguises Messiaen’s technique, making the whole movement sound rather... conventional... or perhaps straight forward, yet it is not.  

How Does He Do It? Stretching!

Messiaen achieves confusion of our accurate perception of time, despite using a clear rhythmic pulse throughout much of the movement, by progressively stretching musical phrases. The phrases of the A section, extending from Reh. A (“rehearsal marker A”) to Reh. B, begin with brief gestures one beat in duration that consist of two sixteenth notes followed by an eighth note (♬ + ♪). In the second measure, Messiaen extends phrase duration to fill the whole measure with six sixteenth notes preceding the eighth note marking the end of the phrase, which creates a moment of relative repose. Messiaen stretches this phrase to cover the next two measures, followed by an even greater phrase-stretch spanning four measures and coming to rest on the quarter note in the measure preceding Reh. B. 

Quantifying Phrases by Beats

The stretched phrases may be quantified by the number of beats involved, resulting in the series: 1, 1, 2, 4, and 8.  Thus, the dynamic nature of phrase durations eliminates the possibility of perceptible hypermeter (another cool, big word that should be added to the Jargon glossary), which depends on the regularity of hypermetric beat duration. (Note: Hypermeter is so much fun). Messiaen also momentarily suspends time at Reh. C with a quotation of birdsong in the clarinet lacking a clear rhythmic pulse, that spans two measures, shown in the example below.

Example: Birdsong in clarinet at Reh. C of Movement IV first used in Movement II at Reh A+1

Bridging Connections to Other Movements

Helping to connect this movement to other movements of Quatuor includes the use of Messiaen's "Mode 2" in the melody, quotations of birdsong, and the foreshadowing of the melody in Movement VI at Reh. F of Movement IV.  

For the next post in this series, click here.

Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Part 6

Using Isorhythm to Treat Time

            We discover Messiaen’s unique treatment of time in the homophonic section of the second movement of Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (1941).  The isorhythmic piano accompaniment consists of a repeating series of eight descending chords in sixteenth notes at pianississimo (PPP). Initially four voices comprise these chords.

The repetitious and consistent nature of this isorhythmic accompaniment could be labeled “static” because it creates a clear rhythmic pulse through its rhythmic regularity.  See (link: previous post) for a discussion of static versus dynamic elements.

Cycle, Interrupted

Messiaen uses interruptions of this cycle, however, to confuse the listener’s perception of time (see example below).  Each initiation of the eight descending chords in sixteenth notes functions as a kind of hypermetric beat (!) that creates, in the context of triple simple meter, a sense of hemiola.  By interrupting the cycle at irregular intervals with new harmonic material, thus delaying the next repetition of the eight primary descending chords, Messiaen distorts the regularity of hypermetric beat duration and thereby destroys the perception of a clear hypermeter (which we use, whether consciously or subconsciously, to mark the passing of time). Can you perceive it? Give it a listen and tell me what you think! (Buy an MP3 of the second movement here!)

Maintaining a Clear Rhythmic Pulse

Messiaen maintains unity and a clear rhythmic pulse in the piano, however, by continuing the sixteenth note isorhythm in descending progressions of chords with as many as eight voices (glad I don’t have to play that!).  The B section concludes with the cessation of descending motion and the beginning of sustaining harmonies through the repetition of chords in sixteenth notes. This conclusion foreshadows the piano accompaniment of the fifth movement. 

Excerpt of the eight descending chords in sixteenth notes, indicated by the brackets, which primarily comprise the piano accompaniment beginning at Reh. D of the second movement.  This excerpt is taken from the piano in Movement VII at Reh. C+4, which borrows extensively from the second movement.

To read the next post in this series, click here.