Hill Peter - The Messiaen Companion

With Messiaens death, on 28 April 1992, music lost a figure remarkable for this or any age. Almost alone among the supreme artists of the twentieth century Messiaen was an optimist , so that even his most radical ventures into new territory were never mere dabbling with the bizarre, but always embedded in a clear purpose and conviction. Indeed the key to his achievement and to his paradoxical position in musical history is that he combined in the highest degree the mind of an innovator, of an explorer, with skills and beliefs which were rooted in tradition. A musicians musician organist, pianist, improviser, and with a musical ear of legendary acuteness the musical heritage which he had at his fingertips seems never to have hampered his decisive originality (any more than did his lifelong, unquestioning commitment to Catholicism). In this respect, among his near contemporaries only Bartk was his equal; and, like Bartk, for all his uncompromising intelligence Messiaen had at his heart a simplicity which makes his music universal.

TheMessiaenCompanion is the first major study since Messiaens death, the first to view his life as a completed whole. There is necessary catching-up to be done, with an account of the last works (including the posthumously premiered Eclairssurlau-del), and a reappraisal of the masterpieces of the 1960s and 1970s. Where previous accounts of Messiaen have tended to view him as a vast but monolithic presence, the portrait that emerges here is complex and many-sided. In part this is a reflection of the talents and interests of my contributors; significantly, a number of these are practising musicians, and indeed, almost all bridge the worlds of scholarship and music as a living art. But the books diversity is also a consequence of its design, which focuses not only on Messiaens music but on other aspects of his achievement.

The Companion falls into two very unequal halves, dividing around 1950, a time of radical new departures after the climactic achievement of Turangalla. In the Interlude, a series of essays consider the inspiration of nature, and birdsong in particular ; Messiaens highly idiosyncratic approach to colour; and his theological outlook is set in context, and examined in relation to the Quatuorpourlafindutemps. The section concludes with tributes to Messiaen as a teacher, and an interview with the composers widow, Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, which contains much previously unrecorded biographical detail.

Before expressing my thanks to the numerous individuals who have helped in the preparation of this book, I should first like to record my deep gratitude to Messiaen himself, who advised, encouraged and inspired me in the study and performance of his music, and gave me unstintingly of his time. My profound thanks also to Mme Loriod-Messiaen, not only for her contribution to the book, but for making available unpublished material, and for her kindness and hospitality over many years.

The generous provision of music examples has been made possible by the willing co-operation of Messiaens publishers: Durand et Cie, Alphonse Leduc et Cie, Editions Salabert and Universal Edition. I am most grateful to the staff at Faber and Faber for help at every stage of the books genesis, in particular Helen Sprott, Andrew Clements, Jane Feaver and David Watson; to Elizabeth Holloway and Virginia Messenger for secretarial help, and to Ruth Jordan who transcribed meticulously the interview with Yvonne Loriod. I also received invaluable assistance from Christopher Sayward (of United Music Publishers) and Timothy Day of the National Sound Archive. Among friends and family who advised and encouraged were Bob Auger (engineer of all my recordings of Messiaen), George Benjamin, Malcolm MacDonald, Anthony Pople, and last (though she should be first) my wife, Charlotte, who was a constructive critic of my first drafts, and gave me constant support and encouragement. My particular thanks go to Christopher Dingle, who not only supplied the invaluable Catalogue of Works and Discography but placed his encyclopaedic learning at the service of eliminating errors; and finally to Ingrid Grimes, my dedicated copy-editor, who rooted out inconsistency and infelicity from my far from immaculate typescript, and who, moreover, contributed countless positive suggestions which have been immeasurably to the books benefit.

PETER HILL

Sheffield

September1994