EDITORIAL NOTES

General overview and principles

Messiaen provided music for the entire movement. In other words, no passages were added, omitted or changed in terms of the fundamental musical content for this score. The only additions are a few extra elements of unpitched percussion in line with Messiaen’s usage elsewhere (details are given below). There are also some horn and bassoon chords where Messiaen indicated that tubular bells should be added without specifying the pitch(es). In these cases, the tubular bells draw on pitches from the chord, but some are necessarily at a different register (see below for further details).

In many cases, Messiaen’s indications of orchestration are straightforward and unproblematic. For instance, for bars 4 and 5 of the full score, the manuscript short score has three musical lines marked ‘fl’, ‘htb’ and ‘bassoon’ so the lines translate directly to flute 1, oboe 1 and bassoon 1. Similarly, where the manuscript short score has three musical lines moving in parallel with the marking ‘3 xylos’, it is clear that the top line will be xylophone, the middle line xylorimba and the bottom line marimba. In other cases, Messiaen’s indication for a chord will be for an orchestral section or sections, e.g. ‘bois’ [woodwind], or for a selection of instruments without the precise allocation and voicing being clear. Wherever possible, the starting point for determining the voicing is a precedent elsewhere in Messiaen’s music. Precedents were sought from music as close as possible to Un oiseau des arbres de Vie, first in Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà…, then other post-Saint François works, then the opera and further back in Messiaen œuvre. In particular, the generous woodwind scoring for chords such as those found in bar 3 and equivalent passages later in the score is a result, in part, of precedents in Éclairs and La Ville d’EnHaut. The first of these is what Messiaen termed ‘un accord à renversements transposés sur la même note de basse’ (a chord with inversions transposed onto the same bass note). These chords are prevalent in the works of Messiaen’s final years, so exemplars are not uncommon. It should be noted, though, that the voicing does not slavishly follow individual precedents as neighbour chords are different here.

It is important to note also that, while this orchestration follows Messiaen’s indications, he sometimes changed details between the particelle and the final score. For instance, the draft orchestration for ‘L’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville-Fiancée’ indicates that the two demisemquavers at the end of bar two, as well as the entirety of bar 3, should be played by flutes, clarinettes, hautbois, bassons, trompettes et cors1. Pourtant, dans l’orchestration définitive, ce sont les xylophone, xylorimba et marimba qui jouent les dernières notes de la mes. 2 et doublent le premier accord de la mes. 32. La présente orchestration ne correspond évidemment pas aux finesses équivalentes que Messiaen n’aurait pas manquer de trouver en la réalisant lui-même.

Barres de mesure

La particelle comporte relativement peu de barres de mesures, qui n’ont pas leur fonction habituelle consistant à délimiter des mesures. Elles signalent plutôt la différence entre deux types de matériau : l’accord « arraché » en tutti qui est le leitmotiv du mouvement et le matériau plus fluide du chant d’oiseau. Elles encadrent aussi les mesures de silence. Les barres indiquant le début des mesures suivantes sont reprises exactement de la particelle : clarinets, oboes, bassoons, trumpet and horns.1 However, in the final orchestration, xylophone, xylorimba and marimba play the last notes of bar 2, and double the first chord of bar 3.2 The realization presented here will inevitably fall short of equivalent finesses that Messiaen would undoubtedly have made had he completed the orchestration.

3, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 40, 42, 50, 51, 58, 59, 63, 68, 69, 71, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 95, 126, 127, 129, 130, 133, 149, 150, 158, 159, 161, 182, 184, 188, 191, 194, 198, 205, 212, 219.

Toutes les autres barres de mesures ont été ajoutées. Il existe des milliers de permutations et de combinaisons possibles pour diviser la particelle en des mesures reflétant le sens musical dans l’optique d’une exécution orchestrale. La manière de disposer les barres de mesures choisie ici tente d’adopter la pratique de Messiaen consistant à suivre les motifs individuels (il utiliserait le terme grégorien de « neumes »), correspondant à des changements d’instrumentation et permettant de placer les débuts et les fins de phrases de manière adéquate en terme de temps forts ou faibles. À certains endroits, la logique musicale suggère de placer des mesures à un seul temps comme ! Messiaen n’était pas hostile à ce type de chiffrage de mesure, mais étant donné la nature très rapide de ce mouvement, cette solution a été écartée. Malgré cela, le résultat est complexe, avec 164 changements de mesure après le  initial pour une partition de 219 mesures. Par comparaison, « L’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville-Fiancée » d’Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà… ne comporte que 69 changements de mesure pour 194 mesures (bien que « L’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville-Fiancée » comporte sept tempi différents, alors qu’Un oiseau des arbres de Vie (Oiseau Tui) n’en contient que cinq).

Barlines

The manuscript short score has relatively few barlines. These do not function in the conventional manner of delineating bars. Rather, they mark the difference between two types of material; the tutti ‘arraché’ chord that is a leitmotif of the movement and the more flowing birdsong. They also frame the silent pause bars. The lines marking the beginning of the following bars are equivalent to where the barlines occur in the manuscript short score:

3, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 40, 42, 50, 51, 58, 59, 63, 68, 69, 71, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 95, 126, 127, 129, 130, 133, 149, 150, 158, 159, 161, 182, 184, 188, 191, 194, 198, 205, 212, 219

All other barlines are additions. There are myriad possible permutations and combinations for dividing Messiaen’s manuscript short score into bars that reflect the musical sense of the material for orchestral performance. The adopted barring attempts to follow Messiaen’s practice in following the sense of the individual motifs (he would use the plainsong term ‘neumes’), while reflecting changes in instrumentation and enabling the beginnings and ends of phrases to be placed appropriately in terms of weak or strong stresses. In some places, the logic of the music suggested single beat bars such as !. Messiaen was not averse to such time signatures, but, given the fast-moving nature of this movement, these have been avoided. Even so, the resulting barring is complex, with the 219 bar score having 164 changes of time signature after the initial . For comparison, ‘L’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville Fiancée’ from Éclairs has 67 changes of time signature in 194 bars (though ‘L’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville Fiancée’ has seven rather than five distinct tempi).

1. Voir Rés. Vma. Ms. 1488(5), p. 7 dans les Archives Messiaen à la Bibliothèque nationale de France.

2 Notons que le manuscrit Rés. Vma. Ms. 1488(5) de « L’OiseauLyre et la Ville-Fiancée » présente un état moins abouti que celui d’Un oiseau des arbres de Vie (Oiseau Tui), les sections apparaissant dans un ordre différent de celui de la partition définitive.

1. See Rés. Vma. Ms. 1488(5), p.7 in the Messiaen Archive at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

2 It should be noted that the music for ‘L’Oiseau-Lyre et la VilleFiancée’ in Rés. Vma. Ms. 1488(5) is in a less polished state than that in the manuscript for Un oiseau des arbres de Vie (Oiseau Tui), with the sections appearing in an order different to that in the score.