Introduction 

In this chapter I will present my analysis of the harmony and voice leading in the two chorales from Messiaen’s La Transfiguration in a way that takes into account the listening experience. The focus will be on aspects of melody, harmony, voice leading, range and cardinality to the extent that these are directly accessible by listening.

3.1      Chorale melody 

Messiaen uses the chorale through his entire oeuvre as mentioned in Chapter 1. However, it is only in Couleur de la Cité Celeste that he uses existing Gregorian chants as melodies of the chorales. The melodies used in the chorales in La Transfiguration use the texts of Psalm 47,¹⁴² verse 2 in Choral de la Sainte Montagne and the first half Psalm 25, verse 8 in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire). Examples 3.1 and 3.2 show the melody of Choral de la Sainte Montagne and a Gregorian chant with the same text; Examples 3.3 and 3.4 show the melody of Choral de la Lumière de Gloire and a Gregorian chant with the same text. Upon comparing these Gregorian chants to Messiaen’s melodies, one can see that the two are completely different. The text setting and intervals used at the start of Messiaen’s melodies also bear no relation to the Gregorian chants at all. It could be that Messiaen was ‘inspired’ by a Gregorian chant and took ideas from the melodies to create his own. However, the contrast between the melodies is so huge that a relationship is difficult to find. One could imagine that Messiaen took the text of the chorales because of their religious meaning and created his own melodies with this text without any relationship to the actual Gregorian chant. 

In the melodies of the chorales, Messiaen uses a mix of syllabic and melismatic text settings. Messiaen emphasises important words like ‘Dei’ or ‘monte’ in Choral de la Sainte Montagne and ‘gloriae’ in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire through repetition, melismatic text placement and the use of longer notes. The rhythm in Messiaen’s melodies follows the ‘rhythm’ of the text in a natural way: when speaking the text aloud, an emphasis on the accented words or syllables naturally creates the rhythm Messiaen uses.¹⁴³ The contour of the melodies also follows the text in a natural way: one could imagine declaiming the text in a vivid and expressive way, would generate these melodies naturally.  Some examples are shown in Figures 3.1 and 3.2.

It is difficult to see any further relationships between the (meaning of the) text and the music, for example, the choice of interval between bass and soprano, or a chord at a specific moment in the chorale. However, one can find an ascending melody used in the Choral de la Sainte Montagne with the text ‘in monte’ in bars 21-24; whereas the descending motion in bars 25-27 could suggest the subsequent descent from the mountain.

The character of the two chorale melodies is noticeably different. In Choral de la Sainte Montagne the melody has a range of a tenth and is mostly stepwise; those leaps which do occur are mostly within the E major chord. In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire Messiaen uses many more leaps which make the melody more expressive. Moreover, the range is nearly two octaves which could be related to the fact that this chorale is twice as long as the first. In both melodies, the majority of phrases finish on e, g♯ or b. The final cadence is notated as pianissimo on b¹ in the first chorale, whereas the second chorale finishes on a fortissimo a b². Within both melodies, Messiaen repeats melodic patterns which influences the structure of the chorales (see Chapter 3.4 on phrases); the second chorale even repeats some melodic fragments of the first, using the same harmonies.¹⁴⁴

3.2      Counterpoint between the bass and soprano 

The soprano and bass are the most important voices in these homophonic and homorhythmic chorales and therefore will be studied in these paragraphs.

Intervals between bass and soprano 

The analysis of the intervals between bass and soprano in the chorales is shown in Examples 3.5 and 3.6. These analyses are based on the reductions (see examples 2.3 and 2.7 in Chapter 2). The intervals in the analysis are mostly reduced to within the octave.¹⁴⁵ Table 3.1 shows the number of intervals and their percentages, as well as the ratio of consonant and dissonant intervals. There are differences between the intervals used in the two chorales which make it difficult to draw conclusions from only these examples about what type of intervals Messiaen uses between bass and soprano in a choral-like setting. However, the relationship between the intervals used in both chorales can be discussed. Some remarks on the intervals used in Choral de la Sainte Montagne: the majority of the intervals used are a m7 whereas other intervals are used less frequently. The M3/M10 is used 13.2% of the time and their inversion, the m6 also 13.2%; m3/m10 and their inversion, M6 5.7%; P4 and the inversion P5, 3.8%. It is remarkable that, for some intervals, the inversions are used in equal amounts. However, it seems doubtful that Messiaen used some intervals with the same frequency as their inversions on purpose.

A categorisation of the consonant¹⁴⁶ and dissonant intervals shows that Messiaen uses 25 dissonant and 28 consonant intervals in Choral de la Sainte Montagne; most phrases start on a dissonant interval between bass and soprano and end on a consonance preceded by a dissonance. The phrase in bars 17-20 is special because it uses only consonant intervals between the bass and the soprano, moreover, the soprano does not move but stays on the b¹; all this is ‘compensated’ for by the use of harmonies with a high cardinality number (see Chapter 3.3) as well as the use of the ‘resonant chords’ in the higher wind instruments. All other phrases show a balanced alternation between consonant and dissonant intervals.

In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, the use of intervals between the bass and soprano reveals different figures: the majority of the intervals are either a m3/m10 or a m7, followed by the P5 and T (augmented 4/diminished 5).  The use of consonant and dissonant intervals also occurs in a different proportion: 79 consonances and 52 dissonances. However, the overall character of this chorale is more intense, perhaps because of other aspects such as range, dynamic and cardinality. Whereas in the first chorale one can see a balanced use of consonances and dissonances within phrases, in the second chorale Messiaen uses more phrases with only consonant or dissonant intervals: in bars 4-6 and bars 7-8 only consonances, bars 9-10 only dissonances; bars 60-63, only dissonances, bars 64-68 only consonances are used. To summarise, in both chorales the majority of the intervals between bass and soprano are a m7, a m6, a m3/m10 or m3/M10; the ratio between consonances and dissonances and their use within phrases is different in the two chorales.

The bass and soprano are important in this chorale setting but can one actually hear the intervals between the two voices? In some cases, the attention of the listener is caught by other aspects such as the complexity of the chords. Messiaen builds the chords with higher complexity out of two or three different layers. Since the soprano and bass are mostly part of two different layers, it is difficult to distinguish the intervals between those two outer voices clearly.

Counterpoint between bass and soprano 

The different types of motion between the bass and soprano are analysed for both chorales and shown in Examples 3.7 and 3.8; Table 3.2 shows their percentages. What do these figures demonstrate? In Choral de la Sainte Montagne Messiaen uses ‘contrary motion outwards’ in high numbers: around 1/4 of the total number of motions; in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire it is ‘similar motion’ that is mostly used. What does this mean? Messiaen prefers different types of motion in each choral, but only the similar motion is used in high numbers in both chorales. 

One could imagine that the analyses of intervals and of the motions between bass and soprano are related. However, a relationship is difficult to find: all types of intervals are used with all types of motions. A systematic use of specific intervals connected to specific types of motion in the chorales is probably not one of Messiaen’s compositional techniques. It seems that Messiaen is varying as much as possible and does not intentionally create a systematic relationship between the intervals and types of motion between bass and soprano.

Some phrases work clearly to a climax through the use of a (dissonant) interval between bass and soprano and/or the use of a leap in one or both voices that emphasises a certain moment. An example can be seen in the first phrase of Choral de la Sainte Montagne where the first notes of bar 2 are emphasised by both the type of motion and the interval between bass and soprano.

As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to find a relationship between the intervals or type of motion and the text.

3.3      Cardinality 

The cardinality is one of the aspects of an analysis with Forte numbers as discussed in Chapter 2.3. Since these numbers are based on pitch classes, the cardinality indicates (more or less) the complexity of a chord. As explained in Chapter 2.4, Beckman uses her HCI to indicate this complexity. Apart from Forte’s numbers and the HCI, an easier way to describe the complexity of a chord is to analyse the cardinality only; the result gives a general idea of the complexity of the chords based on the number of different pitch classes. Figure 3.3 shows an overview of the cardinalities used in Choral de la Sainte Montagne. Some remarks:

• Messiaen uses chords ranging from 3 to 12 different pitch classes

• all 3-note chords (the E major triads) are preceded by a chord with a higher cardinality 

• chord no. 42¹⁴⁷ is the climax of the piece, not only in terms of cardinality but also in dynamic and range. Figure 3.4 shows the analysis of the dynamics and range in Choral de la Sainte Montagne

• all phrases end with a chord with a cardinality of 3 or 4 

• six phrases build up from an average cardinality to a higher number and end with the cardinality 3 or 4: Messiaen builds up the tension first and releases it into a cadence¹⁴⁸

• a phrase that uses a 12-tone chord builds up in cardinality gradually

In Choral de la lumière de Gloire, Messiaen already uses a 12-tone chord in the second phrase. Figure 3.5 shows the cardinalities of the chords in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire. Some remarks:

• Messiaen uses chords with 3 to 12 different pitch classes

• most cadences have a contrast in cardinality between the last chord and the preceding chord

• overall, a variety of cardinalities is used throughout the chorale

• a phrase that contains a 12-tone chord usually builds up in cardinality gradually

In Choral de la Sainte Montagne Messiaen uses only one 12-tone chord which is the climax of the chorale; in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire the 12-tone chord is used 8 times. Generally, Messiaen constructs the phrases in the same way as in the other chorale: starting with a low or average cardinality and gradually increasing, up to 12 pitch classes per chord and ending with a much lower cardinality. Table 3.3 shows the cardinality of the chords used in the cadences in Choral de la Sainte Montagne (see Chapter 3.4 for details on the cadences) and Choral de la Lumière de Gloire. In both chorales, each final chord of the cadences is preceded by a chord with a higher cardinality; in the second chorale one cadence has final chords with the same cardinality.

3.4      Phrases, tonality and cadences

Phrases  

In Choral de la Saint Montagne, Messiaen matches the textual phrases with the musical phrases: the cadences fit with the textual punctuation. Messiaen composed the phrases with respect to the word accents within a phrase as well as within individual words. Below, the text as printed in the preface to the score:¹⁴⁹

“Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis: in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus.” 

(Grand est le Seigneur, et digne de toute louange, dans la cité de notre Dieu, sur sa montagne sainte.) (Psaume 48, v.2)¹⁵⁰  

The text could be divided into two phrases: ‘Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis’ and ‘in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus’. The first phrase has 12 syllables, the second one 16. Because of the repetition of the words ‘in civitate’, ‘Dei’ and ‘monte’ in the second phrase, this phrase has 28 syllables in total and is almost twice as long as the first. A division based on the musical phrases, also shows a division in two sections: section 1, bars 1-16; and section 2, bars 17-31. Because of the cadence in bar 16, bar 17 feels like the start of a new phrase. However, these two musical phrases do not respect the two textual phrases: the first ends thus with ‘in civitate Dei’ and the second starts with ‘Dei nostri’.¹⁵¹

Focusing on the smaller textual phrases, the text could be divided into 7 phrases, although taking in account all punctuations in the text, there are 8 phrases (‘Dei’ in bars 15/16 is therefore considered a separate phrase). Using the division in 7 phrases, Table 3.4 shows this division with the text (including repetitions of words in italics) and the musical structure; Table 3.5 shows the phrases with their cadences, syllables and number of chords.  Phrases 4 and 7 are subdivided because of their cadences. The words ‘Dei’ (phrase 4b) and ‘in monte’ (phrase 6 and 7a) are set melismatically, which emphasises these words.

Choral de la Lumière de Gloire is, with 76 bars, much longer than Choral de la Sainte Montagne with 31 bars, but has almost the same number of syllables (27) as the Choral de la Sainte Montagne (26) in the original text. The text as printed in the preface of the score:¹⁵²

“Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae, et locum habitationis gloriae tuae!” 

(Seigneur, j’aime la beauté de votre maison, et le lieu où habite votre Gloire!) (Psaume 26, v.8)¹⁵³

In this chorale, Messiaen repeats several words and some textual phrases as a whole. Table 3.6 shows a division of the chorale into sections along with the text including repetitions (in italics) of words. This division into two large sections corresponds to the musical structure of the chorale. In general, the division in parts based on the text fits the musical structure. Table 3.7 shows the musical phrases with their characteristics. Only four phrases show a very clearly melismatic use of text setting, while the rest is basically syllabic. In phrases 7 and 13 all words are set melismatically, whereas in phrases 2 and 12 only the words ‘dilexi’ and ‘Domine’ are melismatic. 

Tonality

As mentioned in Chapter 2.2, the principle tonality of the two chorales is E major. Messiaen writes that his use of modality has the potential to create multiple tonalities (see Chapter 2.2), without being polytonal. From this perspective, it is plausible to perceive one or more tonality in the chorales. Since most of the cadences finish on a E major chord, the E is the tonic in the chorales. Moreover, the final chord of both chorales is an E major chord. Could this be enough to consider the E as a tonic chord? The use of E major at the end of the two chorales is not surprising since Messiaen creates many cadences on E before – it would be a surprise if other cadences were on other consonant chords and only the final cadence on E. What would happen if the cadences were on dissonant chords only? An experiment with a new harmonisation of the chorale melody, with the cadences all finishing on a dissonant chord except for the final cadence, could answer this question but is beyond the scope of this research.

Cadences 

The last chord in both chorales is an E major chord in root position, with the fifth in the soprano, and is preceded by a chord with a much higher cardinality. Do these cadences function similarly to a Dominant–Tonic progression? Because of the lack of important characteristics such as typical harmonic progressions as well as bass and soprano formulae, it is difficult to find a D-T cadence from a traditional perspective. However, in Choral de la Sainte Montagne all phrases do end on a (more or less) stable chord:  8 cadences on an E major chord, 2 cadences on an F♯m⁷ (=A⁶/f♯). While it is perhaps difficult to apply the traditional concepts of cadence such as T-D, S-D and S-T to those in the chorale, the cadences Messiaen uses have a similar function: they close a phrase or phrase part with a progression of chords. Example 3.9 shows the cadences in Choral de la Sainte Montagne. Of these cadences ending on an E major triad, five finish in an E major in 2^nd inversion, two in 1^st inversion and only one in root position; the other two cadences finish in an F♯m⁷-chord. Table 3.3 shows the cardinality of the chords in the cadences in Choral de la Sainte Montagne. The contrast between the final and the penultimate chords is large due to the difference in cardinality. This creates the feeling that the penultimate chord resolves into the stable, consonant E major chord. Therefore, one could even see this penultimate chord as functioning like a ‘dominant’ which resolves into the tonic E. These dominant chords are not dominant from a traditional perspective: it is not the chord on the dominant note of the scale that resolves to the tonic: in some cadences the ‘dominant’ has not even the fifth note of the scale as a chord member. However, these ‘dominant’ chords do use leading notes that resolve into the tonic. In some cases the ‘real’ leading note, the d♯, is missing but other leading notes such as f (to e), g and a (to g♯), a♯ and c (to b) are part of the ‘dominant’ in E.¹⁵⁴ It is difficult to distinguish between a D-T and S-T cadence in the chorales. In Choral de la Sainte, all cadences that finish on an E major chord could be seen as D-T cadences. The cadences that finish on an F♯m⁷ sound unfinished – could one compare this with a S-D cadence? However, one could also interpret this cadence as a broken cadence because of the surprising colour (the minor 7) of the last chord.

In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, many more cadences finish on dissonant chords: 7 out of 11 cadences finish on a consonant E major chord; 1 on an E^add♭13; 2 on a Gm^maj7♯11 and 1 on a B⁷ chord. The cadence that finishes on a B⁷ could be seen as a half cadence, although imagining a resolution to a E major chord does not work in the context of the harmonies used by Messiaen in these two chorales. Chords nos. 20 and 21¹⁵⁵ make a cadence where the bass jumps a perfect fifth up: one could see this as a plagal cadence.

The E major triads (tonic chords) are stable because they are consonant, but from a traditional perspective their position is important too: only one E major chord is used in root-position and is the last chord of the chorale.¹⁵⁶ Although the 2^nd inversion of the E major triad could be seen as an unstable position from the perspective of traditional harmonic language¹⁵⁷. In the Messiaen’s case, the 2^nd inversion of a major or minor triad loses its dissonant character because Messiaen does not resolve the chord. Moreover, the preceding chords are much more dissonant, which most likely means that we could consider a major or minor triad in any position to be a consonant chord. The 1^st inversion of a major or minor triad traditionally has a more neutral character than the 2nd inversion. Michèle Reverdy, a French composer who studied composition with Messiaen, quotes Messiaen on the use of the triad in 1^st inversion:¹⁵⁸

“J’aime beaucoup l’accord de sixte. Il a un calme faux car la tierce est en bas.”¹⁵⁹

3.5      Common tone connections 

As mentioned by Forte in his article on Messiaen’s chords, common tone connections between chords can/may “offer yet another view of voice-leading”.¹⁶⁰ Apart from voice leading aspects, common tones between successive chords influence the sense of contrast between chords. An analysis of common tones between consecutive chords could partly clarify Messiaen’s colours. In his colour analysis of Choral de la Sainte Montagne, Messiaen describes the change of colour when moving from chord 47 into 48:¹⁶¹

“Le changement de couleur très brusque et très frappant, de la mesure 27,  par rapport aux deux mesures 25 et 26, a trois causes: d'abord, l'accord de septième neutre sur Fa dièse contient un La bécarre et un Fa dièse qui sont absents du mode 2, 2^e entendu précédemment - ensuite, nous sommes passés du rouge (couleur chaude) au bleu (couleur froide) - enfin, le rouge, brun et or, du mode 2, 2^e est plein de feu et  de soleil, au contraire, le bleu profond de l'accord de septième neutre est calme,  presque nocturne. Il est impossible de ne pas voir et entendre ce changement de couleur.”¹⁶²

Apart from Messiaen’s individual perception of colours connected to chords, one could imagine a change of atmosphere or colour when arriving on the F♯m⁷. The contrast between bars 25-26 and bar 27 is something a listener could perceive, not necessarily using Messiaen’s own colours but perhaps in terms of a character or colour change, influenced by the lack of common tones.

In Choral de la Sainte Montagne, the g♯ is present (in different registers) in 49 out of 53 chords (92%)– thus only 4 chords do not share the g♯ as a common tone. The g♯ is part of mode 2² as well as the first three transpositions of mode 3, the modes that are used in the chorale (see Chapter 2.2). Table 3.8 shows the common tones between consecutive chords and their orchestration. Can one hear the common tones between consecutive chords? This analysis shows that the g♯ is rarely used in the same register and instrument which makes it difficult to hear the common tone between chords. In 12 cases, the g♯ is used as a common tone within one or more instruments between two consecutive chords. However, when there is no common tone at all, the contrast between two chords is something one could perceive. What is the reason that Messiaen avoids a common tone in the same register and instrument? Might it create the impression of a static voice? Experimenting with re-orchestrating and changing the voice leading in order to keep the common tones in the same instrument and register and comparing this with Messiaen’s version, could give a possible answer to this question, but is beyond the scope of this research.

In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire the g♯ is also used as a common tone: 103 out of the 131 chords use a g♯: that is 78% whereas it was 92% in the Choral de la Sainte Montagne. Since Messiaen uses more chords of mode 2¹ and 3⁴ than in the first chorale, the g♯ appears in a smaller number of chords. Table 3.9 shows the common tones between consecutive chords and their orchestration in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire. In some cases, Messiaen repeats a chord directly but changes the orchestration, which creates a slightly different colour.¹⁶³ These chords are printed in bold in Table 3.9. The analysis shows the number of common tones within the same instrument or voice; this number varies from 7 out of 51 voices to 37 out of 51 or even a tutti repetition of a chord. In several cases two consecutive chords share all their notes, having up to 12 notes in common. These do not, however, necessarily appear in the same register or instrument. Examples can be found in chords nos. 105-125. It seems that Messiaen would like to create as much variety as possible.

3.6      Chord types 

Messiaen uses different types of chords in the chorales. A categorisation of the different chords:

• simple consonant triads

• modal chords

• accords spéciaux

• chords with 'resonant notes' in the higher wind instruments which complete a mode or make a full set of 12 tones

In both chorales there is a different balance of which types of chord Messiaen uses. Firstly, the use of chords with different cardinalities is different in the two chorales; this is shown in Table 3.10. In the first chorale, the 3 and 8-tone chords both account for almost 1/4 of the total amount of chords; in the second 1/5 of the chords are a 3-tone or a 5-tone chord; the second chorale has more chords, with 10 and 11 pitch classes, and the 12-tone chord accounts for nearly 1/7 of the chords. The chords with 8 and 9 different pitch classes, connected to Messiaen’s mode 2, are often used in the first chorale, but less in the second. Overall, Messiaen’s focus in the second chorale is on different cardinalities than in the first. In both chorales, most cadences have a chord with a high cardinality as the penultimate chord. Comparing the two chorales, could one say the triad is used a lot by Messiaen? The percentages of cardinality 3 are high in both chorales, but this does not mean that all these triads are (consonant) triads in the traditional way. However, in the first chorale, all triads are E major triads; in the second chorale, Messiaen uses 16 E major triads and 9 other chords with 3 different pitch classes that do not create a triad with a third and a fifth.

Secondly, Messiaen uses 12 accords tournants in Choral de la Sainte Montagne; this is 23% of all chords; in Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, 40 out of the 131 chords are accords spéciaux; this is 30%. The accords spéciaux used by Messiaen in the second chorale are accord sur dominant, accord de la résonance and accords à résonance contractée according to Michaely.¹⁶⁴

Thirdly, the overall dynamic of the second chorale is ff, which is emphasised by a greater orchestration. In the pp first chorale, Messiaen only adds the higher wind instruments as ‘resonant chords’ to 12 chords (27%), which create an extra layer, whereas in the second chorale 67 chords (51%) have this added layer.

Messiaen repeats chords in both chorales. The first chorale contains 53 chords, but only 24 different chords are used: thus 19 chords are a repetition of a chord, which is 36%. In the second chorale, 79 of the 131 chords are unique: 52 chords are a repetition, which is 40% of the total number of chords. However, in the second chorale the direct repetition of a chord at the end of phrases influences these numbers. In 12 phrases, the two last chords are the same. Thus, 40 chords are repeated within phrases and are not a repetition of a chord in the cadence at the end of a phrase: this makes up 30% of the chords. In the first chorale, there is only one cadence that finishes with two same chords. When we take this in account, only 18 chords are repeated within a phrase, 33% of the total number. We could conclude that Messiaen repeats almost the same number of chords within the phrases in both chorales. Apart from the E major chords, in the second chorale Messiaen uses  certain chord progressions that he also used in the first.¹⁶⁵ These chords are nos. 16-20, 53-57 and 40-41 in the second chorale, and respectively nos. 20-25 and 1-2 in the first.

Messiaen does create some chords out of two or three different layers, using a different triad or seventh chord per layer. He describes some of these chords in his analysis of Choral de la Sainte Montagne and mentions these layers with their different triads and/or chords with added notes like sixte ajoutée and quarte augmentée ajoutée.¹⁶⁶ Can one hear those different layers? If the layers have a recognisable or identifiable chord, one probably can. However, the layers ‘blend together’ when forming a chord with 6 up to 12 different pitch classes which makes it difficult to make an ‘aural division’ and subsequently identify individual layers.

3.7      Voice leading 

‘Blurred voice leading’

When focusing on the last two chords of each cadence in Choral de la Sainte Montagne, it is hard to see any consistent voice leading from one chord to the next.  Messiaen constantly varies the cardinality of the chords and furthermore the number of voices is less than the number of instruments or singers. This suggests that Messiaen should (partly) double voices and notes per chord. Messiaen does double voices and chord tones, but in an inconsistent way. Since the choir presents the harmony in the chorales, one would expect a strict ‘colla parte’ doubling by the orchestra from the perspective of traditional orchestration. Upon observing the voices within the orchestra and choir, a complex texture is seen: Messiaen partly doubles the voice leading of the choir in the orchestra, but not in a strict way: he is ‘blurring’ the voice leading.¹⁶⁷  An example of this ‘blurred voice leading’ can be seen in the progression of chords nos. 1-5 in Choral de la Sainte Montagne as shown in Example 3.10. Some parts of the choir are exactly doubled by one of the orchestral instruments, whereas others are partly or inconsistently doubled. Within the choir, there are also some (inconsistent) doublings. Messiaen only doubles bass and soprano in a strict way; whereas the inner voices are doubled inconsistently. From the perspective of a homophonic chorale, this strict doubling of the outer voices seems logical since those parts are the most important.

Can one hear this ‘blurred voice leading’ in the inner voices? The lines of the inner voices are hardly audible since the chorale is homorhythmic and Messiaen doubles these lines in an inconsistent way; even with chords that are directly repeated but with small changes in voicing, the lines are difficult to hear. Does Messiaen like to create variety by using inconsistent doubling of inner voices? Would Messiaen change the voicings because of the individual melodic lines? One might try to take out the ‘blurred voice leading’ and orchestrate the chorale strictly ‘colla parte’: perhaps there is an audible difference with Messiaen’s orchestration.  

In Choral de la Sainte Montagne, Messiaen repeats chord no. 4 directly, but changes the voicings: Example 3.10 shows the changes in voicing with these chords. In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, Messiaen also repeats several chords directly and changes the voicing as shown in Example 3.11. The differences in voicing are small, however, in the second chorale, those chords have a different orchestration which results in an audible difference.

How to analyse voice leading in the chorales when Messiaen orchestrates the choral parts in an inconsistent way and is ‘blurring the voice leading’ even more with the orchestration? Is it useful to analyse aspects of voice leading that are not audible? It seems to be logical to analyse the audible aspects first: the counterpoint between bass and soprano (see Chapter 3.2) and the audible movement from one chord to another. The reductions of the chorales show the ‘overall result’ of the harmony and ignore the ‘blurred voice leading.’ Therefore, it seems to be reasonable to speak about aspects of voice leading based on the reductions. 

Exchange of layers

In his analysis of Choral de la Sainte Montagne,¹⁶⁸ Messiaen analyses the first two chords as “Fa mineur sur Fa dièse mineur, puis le contraire: Fa dièse mineur sur Fa mineur.”¹⁶⁹

This quote makes it clear that Messiaen sees these chords as a combination of two triads and that he is exchanging triads to create chords. See Table 2.4 for Messiaen’s remarks on the chords.

Sequences within modes

In Choral de la Sainte Montagne Messiaen uses sequences, in which a chord or progression of chords is repeated on another pitch. In some cases, the structure of the chord is identical, sometimes Messiaen transposes a chord within the mode¹⁷⁰ which results in slightly different chords due to the structure of the mode. Example 3.12 shows the sequences used in Choral de la Sainte Montagne. Example 3.12a shows that Messiaen uses two different types of chords (in Forte numbers 5-Z17 and 5-15). Since those bars are in mode 3², transposing the chords up with a major 3^rd makes it possible to keep the intervallic structure of the chord.¹⁷¹ In bars 17-18, Example 3.13b, the low¹⁷²er six notes of the chord¹⁷³ are transposed up by a second within mode 3¹. Because of the structure of the scale, chords nos. 30, 31 and 32 have a different intervallic structure;¹⁷⁴ chord no. 33 repeats the structure of chord no. 30 because the chords are a major 3^rd distance apart. Taking chord no. 30 as the starting point of this sequence, each individual voice follows the 3¹ scale in an ascending direction in this chord progression. Since mode 3 has a 1 - ½ - ½ structure, the voices show a different succession of seconds and, as a consequence, chords nos. 30, 31 and 32 are different in structure. Chords nos. 36-37 are repeated sequentially in chords nos. 38-39¹⁷⁵ where all chords belong to mode 3³; the structure of the chord is the same in all chords which is possible since the progression is transposed up by a major 3^rd. See Example 3.12c.

In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, bars 11-13 and 35-36 repeat the progression of bars 12-13 from Choral de la Sainte Montagne. Overall, in the second chorale, Messiaen demonstrates a different approach to sequences than in the first. Example 3.13a shows bars 8-10 where the sequence is in the soprano and the underlying chords are different: this is a melodic sequence from a traditional perspective. Messiaen uses a sequence in E major three times, as shown in Example 3.13b. From a traditional perspective, this is a tonal sequence.¹⁷⁶ Example 3.13c also demonstrates a melodic sequence, based on the progression of bars 8-10, but the melody varies too. In Example 3.13d, the chords¹⁷⁷ of bars 70-71 show a poly-modal¹⁷⁸ succession where the upper layer follows mode 2² and the lower mode 3².

Chord connections

In Choral de la Sainte Montagne, Messiaen connects chords using either stepwise motion or with larger leaps between all the voices. In Choral de la Lumière de Gloire, more chord connections show these jumps. However, the progressions of chords are playable at the keyboard in all cases and seem to have been created with the keyboard in mind. Although some chords created out of three layers (in which the upper layer is the ‘resonant chord’ in the winds) are not playable with two hands, one feels the connection with the keyboard since each layer is playable with one hand. Since Messiaen was an organist, this connection is not surprising, but it clarifies the chord constructions and the way in which the chords within the different layers are connected.