Olivier Messiaen Throughout The Holocaust

Tobias Wack

Schiavone 1B

5/26/15

English 10 GT

Olivier Messiaen Throughout the Holocaust(Research Paper)

Olivier Messiaen is a famous composer and songwriter who lived through the despair and emptiness that was the holocaust. Although he wrote many pieces in various styles, he is most famous for a Quartet he wrote during his time as a German POW. His vast expertise in music, strong Catholic beliefs, and experiences as a POW in WWII allow him to convey his hardships and his appreciation for the beauty of life through Quartet for the End of Time, a world-renowned piece he composed for a concert at his POW camp in Germany.

Olivier Messiaen, son of Pierre Messiaen and Cecile Sauvage, was born into a life full of art. As a child Olivier showed

promise in many different subjects including painting, literature, theatre, and cooking. He Entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and stayed until his early twenties learning his craft (music). At 22 he became organist of La Sainte Trinite and stayed there pursuing his musical interests until his death. Olivier was fascinated by birdsong, and listened to bird songs worldwide, eventually incorporating birdsong transcriptions into his music. Olivier believed that birds were the most beautiful and musical animals on earth and imitated their complex calls and conversations in many of his movements. He travelled all over the world and used musical patterns as diverse and eccentric as Japanese styled songs. Olivier used melodies from India, ancient Greece, and the orient to convey different tones and stories in his music. According to many, he had the ability to “transcribe sounds into colors in his inner imagination and went to great length to describe them.” He was best known for his countless number of songs delving into “mystical and religious themes” and was deeply inspired by Roman Catholic Theology. “He developed a highly personal style noted for its rhythmic complexity, rich tonal colour, and unique harmonic language” said one listener. It was clear that Olivier had a promising career in music from the very beginning.
Along with promising talent in music, Messiaen was also a very religious man, and many colleagues and friends of his say “the driving force of his music was his belief in Catholicism.” Olivier often dreamed about religious events that he incorporated into his music.

In the Quartet for the End of Time, the eighth movement is the musical expression of a particular vision of Olivier’s. It is titled “Liturgy of Crystal” and is dedicated to the angel and the immortality of Jesus. In the vision he witnesses the angel from the book of Revelation who announces the end of time to those on earth. To further symbolize the vision of the end of time, Messiaen does away with regular meter and time keeping of music. He instead creates rhythms based on Indian patterns of repeating cycles. The Quartet is a piece containing many movements and different parts, many of which were affected by his Catholic

faith.
Messiaen’s strong Catholic beliefs helped to carry him through the hard times of WWII.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, many countries gave their talented elite low-risk military positions to protect them from casualties. Olivier was assigned to be a nurse rather than a soldier. As a French soldier he was taken prisoner and lived at a POW camp called Gorlitz, where he wrote the Quartet on paper provided by a kind guard who kept watch on Messiaen while he wrote it. Although conditions were not as harsh as in other Nazi camps, it was still an emotionally and physically taxing experience for Olivier. “At the POW camp, a crowd of prisoners and Nazi guards gathered in a freezing hall to listen to the live performance of the Quartet.” With all of the prisoners and guards packed into the small space the temperature rose to just above freezing. Olivier sometimes claims that the keys on the piano did not pop back up after being pressed and that the cello used in the concert only had three strings. This goes to show how many people have had to twist and contort their memories in able to cope with the symptoms of their struggles during the Holocaust. Although his recollection of the concert is often said to be exaggerated, the piece that he composed for the “four instruments available at the camp” - a cello, piano, clarinet, and violin is still known as one of the most famous pieces to arise from WWII because of it’s unique and meaningful intertwined

melodies.
Olivier’s life's work in music, his prominent Catholic faith, and his experiences in WWII allowed him to convey the sorrows of his time through Quartet for the End of Time, and his deep recognition for the beauty of the earth and the life it contains. As well as summing up the mid-20th century, the Quartet for the End of Time also managed to open up the doors to a whole new kind of style in classical music. Messiaen's unique approach to musical patterns and time caught on as several other composers began to use musical styles that were “heavy” and “melancholy” in the mid to late 20th century. His style has directly effect techniques that are used in classical music today.

Rhetorical Analysis:
Olivier Messiaen wrote the Quartet for the End of Time to tell the world that WWII was the final sin of the human race, and that the second coming would soon happen. Olivier often had dreams and visions of religious figures and happenings. Several movements from the Quartet are meant to tell a story depicting these visions. One particular vision, depicted in “Liturgy of Crystal” (movement 8) tells the story of an angel coming down from heaven to announce the end of time. Olivier was extremely religious and believed that WWII would end the world and soon Christ himself would come to “judge the living and the dead.” In the Quartet, the music changes melodically from slow and sad (symbolizing the war) to short bursts of speed (symbolizing the second coming) to sad long movements (symbolizing the judgement of those on earth). The constant uniqueness and complexity of Messiaen’s rhythms show his radical belief in Catholicism and therefore his belief that this Quartet portrays the actual ending of time as we know it.