Modes and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen: A Brief Discussion of 'Première Communion de la

Vierge'
Author(s): Rosemary Walker
Source: Music Analysis, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Mar. - Jul., 1989), pp. 159-168
Published by: Wiley
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/854329
Accessed: 25-06-2016 10:04 UTC

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ROSEMARY WALKER

MODES AND PITCH-CLASS SETS IN MESSIAEN:

A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF 'PREMItRE COMMUNION
DE LA VIERGE'

The following discussion concerns the relations between tonal, modal and
chromatic elements in the eleventh movement of Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-
Jfsus. 'The Virgin's First Communion' is a descriptive piece representing
various aspects of the Annunciation and the Nativity and apparently inspired by
a painting showing the Virgin kneeling in contemplation. The overall layout of
the eighty-bar movement is straightforward: a contemplative opening section
based on a fragment of the Th me de Dieu (the God-theme), a series of variations
on the theme, and a coda which returns to the opening material. The chordal
God-theme is the principal cyclic element in Vingt Regards; in No. 11, only the
first four chords of the theme are used. Messiaen articulates the music
unambiguously by the traditional compositional means of varied tempo,
register, contour, dynamic and rhythm. Fortunately, therefore, one of the most
problematic aspects of pitch-class set analysis is avoided, for I consider my
segmentations to be uncontroversial.
Major/minor tonality makes a number of appearances in Vingt Regards, not
least in the eleventh movement, where a Bb major triad seems to be prolonged
throughout and the composer resorts to a dominant-to-tonic cadence (see Ex. 1).
However, the actual pitch array in 'Premiere communion', as in all the other
movements of the Vingt Regards that sound more or less 'tonal', is mostly
derived from one of the Modes of Limited Transposition. Messiaen has
affirmed that his system of modes was among the first elements of his harmonic
language to develop (Samuel 1976: 23); the modes and the harmonies derived
from them were codified in Technique de mon langage musical, published shortly
before the completion of the Vingt Regards in 1944. As is well known, Messiaen
specifies seven modes in all; the first of these is the whole-tone scale, the second
the octatonic collection. The term 'limited transposition' is the composer's own,
applying to the symmetrical properties of each mode in which the original pitch-
class content is replicated if the mode is transposed beyond the limiting levels
which characterize it. The initial pitches are not intended to be 'tonics' or
'finals': no pitch class takes precedence over any other in this respect, and the
modes can begin on any degree or their pitch classes appear in any order.

MUSIC ANALYSIS 8:1-2, 1989 159

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 ROSEMARY WALKER

Example 2 shows Mode 2 in its three possible transpositions. For Messiaen, one
of the prime attractions of the modes (particularly Modes 2, 3, 4 and 6) is that
they enable him to work with a rich palette of sonorities that have colour
associations entirely personal to him (see Bernard 1986: 45-7). Keys themselves
do not seem to correspond to specific colours in his theory, which is quite
forthright about the extent to which tonality and modality interact, as the
following quotation shows: 'There are tonal passages in my works but they are
precisely blended with these modes which colour them and finally they have
little importance' (Samuel 1976: 23).
The piece to be examined here is mostly in Mode 2. In this mode, Bb , F and
D occur together only in the second transposition, which must therefore be the
transposition of choice for a Bb tonality. If the matter were as simple as that,
there would of course be no further need for theorizing about the pitch content.
However, Messiaen's pitch arrays are often modally impure. 'Premiere
communion' exhibits a variety of material within its pitch structure: there is
material based entirely on one transposition of Mode 2; but there are also
passages in which non-modal pitches appear, as well as a contrasting section at a
noticeably quicker tempo than the rest of the movement in which the mode
becomes indiscernible because of the degree of chromatic saturation. I propose
to employ the apparatus of pitch-class set theory to examine the modal and non-
modal pitch collections, exploring the possibility of association between the two
with the intention of explaining the extra pitches that are introduced at certain
points in the piece.The suffixing of the symbols A and B to certain sets follows
the approach of Larry Solomon, in which separate labels denote inversions, thus
allowing inversion between sets to be treated as a relation rather than an
equivalence (Solomon 1982). Major chords, for example, can be distinguished
from minor, as can the dominant seventh from the so-called 'half-diminished'
chord. Those collections which are not suffixed with A or B (8-28, for instance)
are inversionally symmetrical.

Ex. 1 ,s.
kvs
dimil. ?9d

dim

8a bassa----------------------------8a bassa_

d im?. __ _ __ _ __ _

w ww OF w v w 4p w v pvw go w ww wUv* WwU

s ---
8 ,1bas sa_- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

160 MUSIC ANALYSIS 8:1-2, 1989

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 MODES AND PITCH-CLASS SETS IN MESSIAEN

Ex. 1 cont.

Tres lent (?=96)

8 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- - -- --- -- - - ------- .----"-------- .,i..

?2 1?4
s.

I IT I f b i11 1 - 1I
1 1 r" i_ ,_RM
I t , i ' -- I 1 1 l ! -"

8-------------------- -------------I Rall.

------ ----------

(Embrassenment int~rieur)5 -5
@ ~T,-e lent (2 5023-- ......4
(E m ra seren i tereu )
(i6 1ti eu ri

T- T)-I

2~izca I 3'Y

p7

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

MUSIC ANALYSIS 8:1-2, 1989 161

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 ROSEMARY WALKER

Ex. 2
Mode 2i

Mode 2ii

Mode 2iii

d6 1,11 all
W" o a n lb --LoI -

The octatonic Mode 2 is set 8-28 in Forte's numbering. It is important to

stress that the distinctive qualities of the colour modes (that is, Messiaen's
Modes 2, 3, 4 and 6, which are equivalent to sets 8-28, 9-12, 8-9 and 8-25
respectively) derive partly from the fact that there are no inclusion relations
among them. Therefore, it should be possible with pitch-class sets to determine
the modal identities of Messiaen's music, particularly in sections where the
mode is incomplete or contains extraneous pitch classes - the only limit to the
potential for explanation here being that the modes do have various subsets in
common. Moreover, absolute pitch is crucial in Messiaen, for precise colours
are attached not only to the different modes but also to different transpositions
of the same mode. The mode is disposed in a variety of ways in 'Premiere
communion': apart from providing the God-theme (see Ex. 4), it is used to form
an anacrusis and resolution gesture, in repeated-note figures, in grace notes and
in cadenza-type figuration which, typically, tends to follow the scalar order of
the mode. Purely modal sonorities occur first in bs 10-15, then at 17-19. In the
latter segment, the change from second to third transposition of Mode 2
coincides with a new motivic gesture (a brief quotation from an earlier work of
Messiaen - the opening movement of La Nativiti du Seigneur). Four pitches are
held invariant between the second and third transpositions of Mode 2: D, F, G#
and B. Messiaen highlights this feature in bs 13-15 (see Ex. 3).
Modal qualities become more difficult to interpret when not all the pitches of
a chord or passage belong to the same transposition of a mode. In b. 1, the right-
hand arabesque, which Messiaen describes as 'rapid melodic festoons evoking
the designs of stalactites in mysterious grottos' (Messiaen 1944b), adds three
pitches (C, D# and F# ) to the eight of Mode 2 (second transposition) in the left
hand (see Ex. 4): the total pitch content yields the near-aggregate, set 11-1. In
Chapter 17 of Technique de mon langage musical, Messiaen emphasizes that his
modes may 'borrow from themselves in their different transpositions' (1956:
65): thus the most obvious interpretation of the foreign pitches is that they are
borrowed from either the first or, more likely, the third transposition of Mode 2.
Although any extra pitch can always be explained as a transpositional
'borrowing', this theory of Messiaen's, which may well represent his
compositional method, does not explain why each particular choice is made and
its effect on the pitch structure.

162 MUSIC ANALYSIS 8:1-2, 1989

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 MODES AND PITCH-CLASS SETS IN MESSIAEN

Ex. 3

Premier mouvement (.=5o)

8----------------------

Mf

I 1 1 4 - 1 1 i 11,1 " : ]-l f ta

p I Mode 2ii

n mf mf_ bilio: , o
-6

-7nf Wz ?? r ?Plus lent (.=76)

-------------------------------------------

I I

~ *~e (appel de"IaVierg~e

_________________________________ aba_ __ et 1'Enfant")
VMode 2iii

(a) W II-M
I i i

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

In applying set theory here, it becomes obvious that Messiaen is working not
only with the master set 8-28 but with various other large sets too: in particular,
7-31, 10-3 and 11-1, all of which are sub- or supersets of 8-28. The harmonic
repertoire is littered with trichords, particularly 3-11B, but these are bound to
appear. This also applies to most tetrads and pentads in the piece. Moreover,
collections of cardinal 6 are so rare in Messiaen that the issue of hexachordal

MUSIC ANALYSIS 8:1-2, 1989 163

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 ROSEMARY WALKER

Ex. 4
Tris F
lent ( =50)
8;
#?" I 5 2

A 2. VA 6-:17 -1 1 m

(interieur) 8-28
(Theme de Dieu)

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

connectedness, crucial in classic Fortean theory, does not arise, nor can the
possibility of a 'nexus' set. Rather, the fact that Messiaen tends actually to use
large pitch collections enforces an analytical focus on sets of cardinality 7 and
above. There is no case for discussing sets in terms of their complements, for
absolute pitch remains a crucial factor within the pitch organization: although
Messiaen deliberately uses invertible pc collections, for him the function of
absolute pitch in defining colour is comparable to its function in defining key.
Set 7-31 has an important role to play in this movement, not least because it is
the largest octatonic subset. It first appears in b.2 (Ex. 5a). The justification

Ex. 5

b)) 2~~db_
5.--7 -1

-17-31A

c))

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

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 MODES AND PITCH-CLASS SETS IN MESSIAEN

for taking this collection in isolation is that Messiaen himself does so at the end
of the piece (Ex. 5b). Transformations of 7-31A and B also appear horizontally
in the cadenza-type passages (Ex. 5c), and the inverted form generates the total
pitch content of bs 39-41 (Ex. 6). Why Messiaen should present Mode 2 (in
second transposition) minus one pitch (G) in this segment cannot be regarded as
an arbitrary question. All the subcollections of this pre-ecstatic passage are
triads and dominant sevenths. This overall sonority cannot be achieved by a
partitioning of the complete eight-note mode, but only by the exclusion of one
pitch to form the largest subset (the smallest superset of 8-28, 9-10, does not
have a high profile anywhere in the music).

Ex. 6

of cresc.

Rall. 8--

cresc. molto

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

One of the most opaque passages from the point of view of pitch is bs 43-72,
which abandon the serenity of Bb major and modal sonorities in favour of dense
chromatic collections (see Ex. 7). This kind of juxtaposition of modal and non-
modal material in Vingt Regards has provoked criticism, not least from Boulez,
who only recently remarked of the work:

For [Messiaen] there is no problem in two worlds coexisting - a very

complicated world, very atonal and sometimes very aggressively so without
any polarisation of any kind; and then you find beside that the kind of
relationship even Debussy would not have written any more. For me it is
rather strange. I don't see the coincidence very much. (Boulez 1986: 168)

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 ROSEMARY WALKER

The pitch structures from b.43 seem to be designed for maximum variety of
sonority. Sets of cardinal 8 are prolific: the upper D is harmonized variously in
8-21, 8-12A and so on. Parsing the non-modal section in pitch-class sets enables
associations with earlier modal material to be revealed; for instance, 4-18, 3-5
and 4-Z29A, the only subsets of 8-28 here, are highlighted in self-evident ways.
Of the six possible sets of cardinal 10, there is only one noteworthy example in

Ex. 7

Mod6r6 (?=12) 4-
-- - - -- - - -- - - -- - - ------ -

8-21 9-5A 8-Z 15B

5- 8 8 - -%Y
7 j lip

3-54-29

A..s,6 ,<
,4-'Ts
_r- _ms
I
f f r Sf <- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

l Elm
8-21.=1
9--AIl
bassa B Sabssa--------

4 ,Leur-de
9-9 f s -1Len0!,00_del_-
>- W-2 9 3_de '13fa5)
f=1 1-1L.NM
A ,6,6L
I.I.-L.
6 .6 Igo
, . II L

IO-.7.aeusd ' en r-.3. '31 5

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

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 MODES AND PITCH-CLASS SETS IN MESSIAEN

this piece. Significantly, it appears in the non-modal passage, at b.53, where the
pitch-change is suspended for four bars to emphasize a rhythmic device. The
combination of the two verticals forms set 10-3, echoed at pitch in b.61. The
missing pitches are C# and E, but the C# is reintroduced directly at b.57 and
both CQ and E are the boundary notes at the start of b.59. The fact that 10-3 is a
superset of 8-28 and of no other colour mode is of the essence here; for although
10-3 appears within a section that overtly disregards modal sonorities, the
underlying control of 8-28 is unmistakable, and this demonstrates the
explanatory force of interpreting the near-aggregate, not as a mode with
randomly 'borrowed' additional pitches, but as a superset with explicit and
unique modal content.
In his brief notes to the work, Messiaen discusses his 'chords of transposed
inversions' in the chromatic passage. This indicates their general importance to
him, but their specific formations are revealed by examining set relations. In a
three-bar segment (bs 58-60), collections of 7-20A and 8-20 alternate, the
combinations in each bar forming larger sets of 10-3 (b.58), 11-1 (b.60) and the
total chromatic (b.59) (see Ex. 7). There is a clear link between this three-bar
segment and the horizontal aggregate in b.42 - not least because the first seven
notes in b.42 are a transformation of 7-20A (see Ex. 8):

Ex. 8

12-1

Rubato Pressez

7-20A

Reproduced by permission of Editions Durand S.A., Paris/United Music Publishers Ltd.

In the eleventh movement of Vingt Regards there is a clear interaction not only
between modal and tonal elements but also between the modes and chromatic
structures. The application of a rather simple set classification can account for
pitch collections that do not conform to the exclusive Mode 2 presentations.
Messiaen is a most meticulous composer, and without doubt there are no
random gestures in his control of pitch organization: every detail counts. This is
why any exploration of pitch structure in his music, particularly those pitch
components outside the modes, is so inherently compelling.

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 ROSEMARY WALKER

REFERENCES

Bernard, Jonathan, 1986: 'Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between

Color and Sound Structure in His Music', Music Perception, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Fall),
pp.41-68.
Boulez, Pierre, 1986: 'Boulez on Messiaen: Pierre Boulez in Conversation with Roger
Nichols', Organists' Review, No. 3, Vol. 71, No. 283, pp.167-70.
Messiaen, Olivier, 1944a: Technique de mon langage musical, trans. John Satterfield,
1956 (Paris: Leduc).
1944b: 'Note de l'auteur', Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jtsus (Paris: Durand), trans.
Susan Bradshaw (sleeve notes to CSD 3680-3681; SLS 793/2).
Samuel, Claude, 1976: Conversations with Olivier Messiaen, trans. Felix Aprahamian
(London: Stainer and Bell).
Solomon, Larry, 1982: 'The List of Chords, Their Properties and Use in Analysis',
Interface, Vol. 2, No. 2.

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