MESSIAEN Olivier (1908 - 1992)

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  4. Lot n° 131 
Lot n° 131
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Estimation :
80000 - 100000 EUR
MESSIAEN Olivier (1908 - 1992)
MUSICAL MANUSCRIPT autograph "Olivier Messiaen", Chronochromie for orchestra (1960) ; a large folio volume of 4 leaves and 215 pages (plus 6 intermediate titles), interleaved with serpents, bound in black cloth. Manuscript of one of Messiaen's major works for orchestra. Commissioned by Heinrich Strobel for the Donaueschingen Festival in Germany, Chronochromie was written in 1959-1960. The original title was "Postlude," and Messiaen probably originally conceived it as an orchestral conclusion to the Catalogue d'oiseaux. Without renouncing the presence of birds, to which he adds the transcription of the sounds of waterfalls and torrents of the Alps, with great violence of effect, Messiaen makes his work a kind of synthesis of his rhythmic and chromatic research, and pushes as far as possible the laws of orchestration. Freeing himself from classical forms, Messiaen adopts the periods of the triad of Greek choral poetry in a free but complex structure of seven interlocking movements. First performed on October 16, 1960 at the closing concert of the Donaueschingen Festival by Hans Rosbaud and the Südwestfunk Orchestra, then at the Besançon Festival by Georges Prêtre with the Orchestre National on September 13, 1961, and finally in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by the same orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati, Chronochromie caused a scandal during these first auditions, with strong reactions from a part of the public, disoriented by the novelty of the work and shocked by its sonic violence, and a vigorous polemic; but it appeared nevertheless as "one of the summits of the music of this time, and on the other hand at the same time as a result and a synthesis of the art of Messiaen, and as a new departure" (Harry Halbreich). It was published by Alphonse Leduc in May 1963. The manuscript is very carefully written in black pencil on paper of 18 to 32 lines. It is meticulously annotated, with many indications of tempo, dynamics, nuance, and the various interventions of birds... The title page (one guesses the primitive title Postlude gummed up) bears various notes in pencil: an explanation of the adopted title, notes for the rereading and revision of the score, and the "total duration of the work: about 35 minutes". This is followed by two notes from the author, the first being a sort of preface. "Written in 1959-1960, at the request of Heinrich Strobel and the Südwestfunk, Chronochromie is based on a double material of sound and time. The temporal material in rhythmics uses 32 different durations, treated in symmetrical inversions, always interchanged in the same order. The 36 permutations thus obtained are heard either alone and fragmentarily, or superimposed 3 by 3. Not all of them are used. Those that appear in the score are indicated by numbers corresponding to their exact place in the general table of 36 permutations. The sound or melodic material uses bird songs from France, Sweden, Japan, and Mexico. The names of the birds are written on the score at the precise moment they enter the musical scene. Their country of origin is also indicated. The birds without country names are birds from France. One also finds in the sound material sounds of mountain streams, noted in the French Alps. The mixtures of sounds and timbres, very complex, remain at the service of the durations, which they must underline by coloring them. The color thus serves to manifest the cuttings of Time. Hence the title: Chronochromy (from the Greek Khronos = Time, and Khrôma = Color) - translation: Color of Time. The work is composed of 7 linked parts: Introduction - Strophe I - Antistrophe I - Strophe II - Antistrophe II - Epode - Coda". The 2nd note is more technical: "The whole score is notated in real tones and at the real octave, and this for all instruments. There are no transposed instruments - for example, clarinets in B flat sound as written, horns in F sound as written. There are also no instruments written in a lower or higher octave", etc. Following is the Nomenclature of instruments, arranged by family. " WOODS: 1 small flute, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 1 small clarinet in E flat, 2 clarinets in B flat, 1 bass clarinet in B flat, 3 bassoons. CHEWERS : 1 small trumpet in D, 3 trumpets in C, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, 1 tuba. KEYBOARDS : 3 players : 1 glockenspiel (with keyboard), 1 xylophone (with stick), 1 marimba ; N.B. : the xylophone and marimba parts are difficult (especially in the 2 Antistrophes) and require excellent instrumentalists. CLOCHES : Set of 25 bells giving all the chromatic degrees [...] (in 2 rows of superimposed tubes) - played by a single performer. METALL PERCUSSION
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