Olivier Messiaen's Liturgical Improvisations: A Theological Practice and its Resonances

奥利维尔·梅西安(1908-1992)是二十世纪最具创新精神和影响力的作曲家之一，他还曾在巴黎的La Trinité教堂担任管风琴演奏家。皮埃尔·布列兹在《梅西安的旋律、古勒和鸟类学特征》的序言中评论说，梅西安作为管风琴演奏家的角色是他音乐思想最坚实的支点之一。他在这个角色中对礼拜仪式的大部分贡献都是即兴的。这个项目的主要研究问题是，我们可以通过理解梅西安的即兴演奏来了解他的作曲实践吗？对他的即兴演奏的分析只有在充分了解其礼仪背景和梅西安作为神学音乐家的自我概念之后才能完成。次要问题将包括梅西安从哪里获得即兴创作的动机材料；他如何发展这些材料；这能告诉我们什么关于他对礼拜背景的反应；这如何解释我们对他已发表的管风琴作品的理解？主要来源是素描材料和他在La Trinité即兴创作的录音；这些未发表的录音最近才在法国国家图书馆的梅西亚档案馆获得。该项目将分析选定的录音，这些录音与他们在天主教礼拜仪式上的背景有关，与梅西安关于礼拜和神学音乐的声明有关，以及与梅西安出版的风琴作品有关。虽然梅西安的许多管风琴作品起源于即兴创作，但他的即兴语言和经过努力的作曲行为之间的关系仍有待建立。梅西安的音乐来源将被确定，他们的处理将被分析和联系起来。我将发展一个互文解释梅西安的音乐神学评论，使用与素材相关的文本，礼仪日历的具体办公室，并在他的即兴创作这些材料的发展。我的本科神学学位，其中包括一篇关于礼拜仪式的特别论文，构成了语境元素的全面基础；我作为礼仪管风琴演奏者的实践和自我反省的经验加强了我的这一点。我的硕士论文分析了梅西安管风琴乐曲的录音表演。在MA中，我写过关于查尔斯·图内迈尔的L的《奥秘》(出版于1927年至1922年)，这是一部发展平淡主题并与作曲家的即兴创作有关的作品；关于巴黎管风琴演奏家对第二届梵蒂冈理事会后礼仪变化的反应；关于阿里斯蒂德·卡维莱-科尔(1811年至1899年)，La Trinité的S管风琴的建造者。

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), one of the most innovative and influential composers of the twentieth century, also served as organist at the church of La Trinité in Paris. Pierre Boulez comments in his preface to Messiaen's Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d'ornithologie, that Messiaen's role as organist was "one of the most solid anchor-points of his musical thought." Much of his contribution to the liturgy in this role was improvised.The principal research question for this project is what can we learn about Messiaen's compositional practice by understanding his improvisations? Analysis of his improvisatory practice can only be complete with full understanding of its liturgical context, and of Messiaen's self-conception as a theological musician. Subsidiary questions will include from where does Messiaen draw his motivic material for improvisation; how does he develop this material; what can this tell us about his response to the liturgical context; how does this illuminate our understanding of his published organ works?The primary sources are sketch materials and recordings of his improvisations at La Trinité; these unpublished recordings have only recently been made available in the Messiaen Archive at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The project will analyse selected recordings relating them to their context in the catholic liturgy, to Messiaen's statements about liturgical and theological music, and to Messiaen's published works for organ. Although many of Messiaen's organ works originated in improvisation, the relationship between his improvisatory language and the worked-through act of composition remains to be established.Messiaen's musical sources will be identified and their treatment analysed and contextualised. I will develop an intertextual interpretation of Messiaen's musical-theological commentary, using the texts associated with the plainchant material, the specific office of the liturgical calendar and the development of this material in his improvisations. This underexplored aspect of Messiaen's musicianship will generate important insights into his wider compositional language.My undergraduate Theology degree, which included a special paper on Liturgy, constitutes a thorough grounding for contextual element; enhanced by my practical and self-reflective experience as a liturgical organist. My MA dissertation analysed recorded performances of Messiaen's organ compositions. Within the MA I have written inter alia about Charles Tournemire's L'Orgue Mystique (published 1927-32), a work which develops plainchant themes and relates to the composer's improvisations; about the responses of Parisian organists to the liturgical changes following the Second Vatican Council; and about Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-1899), the builder of La Trinité's organ.