Olivier Messiaen's Music for a Sad Mother's Day

As I continue to write articles about the haunting music of Olivier Messiaen, I have repeated the sad story of his two marriages. His first wife Claire Delbos spent the last years of her life institutionalized, but Messiaen, remaining true to the teachings of the Catholic Church, did not remarry until after her death, despite his intense artistic and emotional attraction to the pianist Yvonne Loriod, who became his second wife.

But, of course, before these two women, there was another woman in his life, his mother, the poet Cecile Sauvage, who died while Messiaen was in his teens. Two of his early compositions were written in response to her death.

Note: Apparently AC no longer allows us to use accent marks, and so many of the French words, even the name of Messiaen's mother, show up here misspelled.

Trois melodies

Messiaen sometimes set biblical and liturgical texts to music. Otherwise, with only one exception, he wrote his own texts,and that one exception was a poem "Le Sourire" ["The Smile"] by his mother, the second of the "Trois melodies" or "Three Melodies," premiered in 1930. It might be said that he collaborated with her on this little song:

A word whispered.
BY you is a kiss,
intimate and prolonged,
like a kiss on the soul.
My mouth wants to smile,
and my smile trembles.

You can listen to all three of these songs, not much more than five minutes in total length using these links

1. "Pourquoi?" "[Why?"] - Video
2. "Le sourire" ["The Smile"] - Video
3. "La fiancee perdue" ["The Lost Fiance"] - Video

Preludes

While he was still a student, he composed for piano the eight Preludes, which he said were "a collection of successive states of mind and personal feelings," in response to his mother's death. As we consider the titles of these pieces, premiered in1931, we can feel the ongoing influence of his mother's poetry.

While the Preludes obviously reflect the young composer's sense of loss, especially number 6, they are also enriched by the comforts of happy memories and, even at such a young age, his Christian faith. As you listen (using the links below), you can share in a simple form so much of what the music of Olivier Messiaen would become:

1. "La colombe" ["The Dove"] - Video
2. "Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste" ["Ecstatic Singing on a Sad Voyage"] - Video
3. "Le nombre leger" ["The Light/Nimble Number"] - Video
4. "Instants defunts" ["Defunct Instants"] - Video
5. "Les sons impalpables du reve" ["The Impalpable Sounds of Dreaming"] - Video
6. "Cloches d'angoisse et larmes d'adieu" ["Bells of Anguish and Tears of Goodbye"] - Video
7. "Plainte calme" ["Plaintive Calm"] - Video
8. "Un reflet dans le vent" ["A Reflection in the Wind"] - Video

Although I refer to a sad Mother's Day in the title, I do not think Olivier Messiaen would approve. His capacity for faith and for joy (which, of course, go together) gave him the ability to create beauty even in the loss of his mother. That can give us who enjoy his music, whether or not we share his faith, some joy and beauty in our lives.

Sources

Boston University maintains an information-packed website on Olivier Messiaen here.