- CDISC M1001 M37T87
- CDISC M1001 M47T82 (also on reserve)
- DVD MT125 L438v.2 (DVD with Simon Rattle)
Monday, November 5, 2007
Music 206: Turangalila
Dear 206 composers: I'm taking over this blog from a class I taught last summer on music since World War II (which you should check out if you're interested). For the remainder of this semester, I would like us to focus on a single work: Messiaen's gigantic Turangalîla-Symphony. I do not have this piece online, but there are several CD's in the library:
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Turangalia – I (Introduction)
From Sanskrit words “turanga” and “lila”.
Wikipedia says: “love song and hymn of joy, time, movement, rhythm, life, and death”.
Roger Nichols says: “turanga” signifies “time” in the sense of time passing, rhythm, movement. “lila” means “play”, and includes the notions of opposition, resistance, creation, destruction, and love. Where “turanga” urges ever onward, “lila” holds up or at least articulates the flow of time with dramatic incident.
The title seems to suggest some opposition or struggle between love/life and death or some interdependent relationship between the two.
Timed marks are from CISC M1001 M47T82.
Section 1: (about 0 – 0:33)
Functions as introduction.
At the end of this section, the woodwinds answer the brass in opposition. The brass and woodwinds will oppose and complete each other in different ways in the rest of the movement. An Ondes slide separates section 1 and 2.
Section2: (end at 1:44)
Statue Theme, which brass states. Loud.
The statue theme is stated multiple times with each statement separated by an ondes slide.
Statement 1: 6 equally-long notes
Statement 2: 9 equally-long notes
Statement 3: 12 notes, the last one is 3 times as long as long, and a rest (shorter slide)
Statement 4: 4 notes, and a rest
Section 3: (end at 2:11)
This section begins with 4 high-register “downward swishes” all starting from the same point and lasting about the same amount of time. Winds embellish this with high-register flutters, trills, and fast ascending/descending shapes. The 4 short, downward gestures are followed by a large descent starting with high register instruments. The lower brass join in and complete the descent at the end.
Section 4: (end at 2:33)
Intervallic, accelerating descent in strings and brass with cadence. (016) trichord based.
Section 5: (end at 2:51)
More intervallic cells (sounds like more (016)), but quieter, suspended quality, in the same higher register. Winds and strings.
Section 6: (end at 3:15)
“Flower” theme. Soft, in winds. Repeated 3 times. The last time, it is held longer so that it leads directly into the next section. Big contrast to brass “statue” theme.
Section 7: (end at 4:28)
Piano solos.
I. Features clusters moving down, then up, ending in a trill that reminds me of the wind activity in Section 3. (end at 3:44)
II. Harplike arpeggios, soft (end at 3:50)
III. Louder blocked chords, ending in trill and descent to low register (end at 4:28). The end of this section hints at the kind of descents that will occur in the ostinato section.
Section 8: (end at 6:26)
Big ostinato section.
The ostinato has 3 sections, and the sections vary in length at each repetition.
Part A of the ostinato is repeated a varying number of times, and sometimes it is rhythmically compressed.
Part B of the ostinato has two subsections. The subsections can be repeated independently. Sometimes this part of the ostinato is rhythmically compressed.
Part C of the ostinato is a descending figure. It varies in the number of descents at each statement of the ostinato.
I.
A. Repeated 3x
B. long notes+faster pulses
C. 2 descents
II.
A. Repeated 3x
B. Longer, more long notes
C. 2 descents
III.
A. Shorter, 1x
B. Longer, sequence repeated 4x
C. 2 descents
IV.
A. Shorter & compressed
B. Compressed and repeated,longer
C. 3 descents
V.
A. Shorter, 1x
B. Short
C. 1 descent
VI.
A. Shorter, 1x
B. Longest yet, repeated
C. 1 descent
VII.
A. Longer, 5x
B. short
C. 4 descents
VIII.
A. Short 1x
B. None
C. 1 descent
Section 9:
Statue theme and descent theme together.
Movement 1 from Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony
Messiaen begins this introductory movement with a short but gripping introduction that leads quite effectively to the important “Statue Theme.” The strings, constantly re-divided into 2 unison choirs, begin by chugging along a winding 16th note trail that leads to a long sustained note. Select trios of wind instruments join in on the longer sustained notes, while the strings sustain just a short bit longer than they do. This pattern of 16th notes leading to sustained “collaborations” continues, leading the winds to claim the role of a sparse collaborator. There are a total of 4 wind collaborations in this pattern. Just after the last occurrence of this interjection, there is a three 16th note pattern in the strings that leads to the collaborative downbeat of measure 7, and the subsequent 16th note downward run in the low strings. Because the low strings lead into a longer run, I argue that the previous pattern is now broken. I will refer to this 3 16th note-long cell as an introductory cell, which I will argue is important later.
So this introductory cell lead to a collaboration by the winds and high strings. This collaboration is one 16th note long. This is important. The low strings continue to wind downward in unison until sustaining. More sustaining collaborations occur as the low brass joins in the low strings and crashing percussion on the sustained notes. This is at rehearsal mark 1. After the last sustained note, the three 16th note introductory cell occurs again, this time fortissimo in the higher brass, leading to a sustained note (this note is no longer unison though … there are different simultaneous pitches in this line). This loud sustained note is the support for the falling 16th note line that happens in the piano, percussion, and high woodwinds. This falling line leads, importantly, to two 16th notes to end the introduction. Whereas earlier, the collaboration after the introductory cell at measure 7 was one 16th note, now there are two 16th notes in a huge collaboration (all the instruments except piano and pitched percussion join in on this choir). This signifies the end of the introductory material, and is followed by silence at rehearsal mark 2, where we will see our first cycle of the “Statue” theme.
The Statue Theme has an important structure to it. Primarily, there are 2 choirs. The first begins with an ascending sextuplet in the space of an eighth-note that leads to long sustained trills (always trills and then an eight-note-long repeat of sustained note). The other choir is constructed of eighth-note interjections that loudly plod along during the other’s sustained trills. The second choir’s last eight-note happens after the eight-note-long repeat of the sustained note. This is the basic structure of the Statue Theme, as seen in its first cycle. We will see that this structure has certain elements that transform in some following cycles.
I will now take a quick moment to discuss the importance of the sextuplet line in the first choir. I believe it is essentially just the so-called three 16th note-long introductory cell transformed into a sextuplet. This is because it serves the same function, leading to powerful sustained notes. This powerful run is underscored by the incredible lyrical glissando as only the unique Ondes Martenot can provide. This connection of ideas shows just how well Messiaen has constructed his introduction.
Now back to discussing the statue theme-- it cycles through itself four different times; each time, however, the length of the idea changes. If we are counting the eighth-note as the unit of the beat, we would say the first cycle has 9 beats, the second has 12, the third 18 and the fourth, a short 8 beats. In our first choir, Messiaen keeps the sextuplet length constant- it will always take place within an eight-note. However, he pumps in extra length to the sustained trills before the repeated note. The other choir simply adds extra notes into the theme as they plod along. Now, something important is that through the first 2 cycles, the repeated note in the first choir occurs just after the eight notes in the second choir. The third time, however, it occurs before the eighth note idea is finished. The last time, both choirs end at the same time with the repeated note and the last note in the plodding-along. Then there is a rest. The rest will become very important later.
After the rest, we reach a descent and swirl section with a very unique rhythmically driven smaller choir. This is at rehearsal 4. The piano part has rhythmic cells that build upon themselves… The first consists of a sextuplet in the space of a quarter note (perhaps derived from the introductory cell sextuplet?), then a grouping of 8 32nd notes, and 10 and 12lets. So this is ever-increasing speed of rhythm. The piano part counters other instruments doing various groups of 6, 8, 10, and 12.
At rehearsal 5, sextuplets in the flutes lead upwards to a trill, drawing back on the introductory cell leading to the high sustaining trills. Meanwhile, there is a pseudo-statue theme underneath in the brass. The rest of the instrumentation is reworking the rhythmically driven material from earlier, this time in cells of 4 (16th notes in the strings), 6 (sextuplets in space of quarter note in woodwinds) and cells of 8 (32nd notes in piano line). This brings up to another downward spiral at Rehearsal 6, where the woodwinds break into a long falling 16th note line. These groups of 4 begin to get broken up as the line progresses. One cell of 4 bumps its way into Rehearsal 7.
At rehearsal 7, we see a falling 0-1-6 motive in different and varying displacements and sequences that all descend downward. These descents speed up rhythmically as well, first in eighth notes, and later in 16ths. Another rhythm appears. This rhythm is very important. The basic cell of this rhythm is a 16th note, 8th, note, 16th and again 8th. There is another important part to this rhythm, which an eighth note rest. The placement of the rest changes, while the cell remains the same. This rhythmic cell is important!
Rehearsal 8 is a short transition, where the groupings of 4 return and are interjected, combined with the return of our important rhythmic cell, which bumps its way into Rehearsal 9.
Rehearsal 9 is our “Flower Theme.” The sparse three 16th note (introductory cell?) to eight note motive clusters its way down in the reedy woodwinds.
Rehearsal 10 is a transition out of the sparse flower theme. There are fast 16ths leading to the fast sextuplets in the space of a quarter note again!
This leads us to the very rhythmically driven piano solo at Rehearsal 11. Complex rhythms prevail here, with groups of 3 and 4 intertwining and working against each other, leading to a rushing explosion of energy downward, which then dies into slow dotted eighth notes downward. This slow line cannot prepare us for what is to happen next.
From rehearsal 12 to rehearsal 21, we have a huge section that is constructed of 3 main units that combine and transform in different ways.
The first unit is an eighth note “chug, chug, chug, chug” motive. It is constructed out of eighth notes, and is apparent in the piccolo part. This is again defined in placement by an eighth note rest.
The second unit is a series of pitches in the rhythm as follows: if the 16th note is the unit, we see a 2,3,4,4 rhythm that repeats itself many times over.
The third unit is reacting 16th note lines, starting with the piano, and then in a descending motion in the winds and then piano.
These 3 units interchange between instruments, and also as individual units are transformed many times over.
The last time before Rehearsal 21, we see the second unit 2,3,4,4 get cut off- it only gets to 2, 3, 3! The third unit idea does not appear.
Rehearsal 21 marks the return of the statue theme, with non-retrogradable rhythms underneath. We then have a short calamitous codetta at Rehearsal 22 (accentuated by the awesome abilities of the Odnes Martenot).
The first movement of the Turangalila functions as an Introduction.
The beginning of this movement works as an intro. It begins with low strings passing off constant 16th notes that answer each other.
Section A - Begins with the ondes martenot which plays a glissando. Then the brass section plays what Messiaen called the "statue" theme. This theme is repeated four times, with each time being longer than the previous. The statue theme is also accompanied by a high trill in the piano.
Section B - The statue theme ends somewhat abruptly and after the silence, it moves to a new idea which is lighter and transition like. The piano and woodwinds pass off a falling figure.
Section C - The "flower" theme. This is more tranquil and there is less going on here. The woodwinds present this.
Section D - Piano solo. Some parts of the statue theme are brought back.
Section E - The full ensemble comes back in full force and within this section there is the structure ABC.
Section A' - Lastly, the statue theme returns at the end of the piece, without the gliss though and the piano is not doing the trill anymore.
The cymbal and bass drum end the piece.
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