Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux
- Submitting institution
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The Royal Academy of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- RAM026
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- Chapter and recording
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
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- Year
- 2020
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- This output consists of a monograph and a CD.
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This double-weighted submission is in two parts: the monograph 'Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux: From conception to performance', co-authored with Professor Peter Hill (Sheffield University) and published by CUP; and the Divine Art recording 'La Mer bleue', which positions Book 1 of the Catalogue alongside works by David Gorton (Ondine) and Karol Szymanowski (Sonata No. 3). My contribution to the book comprised the chapter ‘Beyond the Birdsong of Catalogue d’oiseaux’, the co-authored chapters ‘Performance’ and ‘Postlude’, and studies of seven of the cycle’s 13 pieces in the books’ central chapters. The latter is where the authors’ collective aim is focussed: to combine study of Messiaen’s cahier sources with analyses and insights into performance; to show how material notated in the field is transformed into diverse musical structures and thence into sound; and to consider how structure is used as a metaphor for landscape, climactic conditions, avian interactions and the passage of time. My contribution to ‘Performance’ examines Yvonne Loriod’s two complete recordings. This represents a significant re-evaluation, one that positions Loriod as a key influence upon Western European avant-garde piano style, and reflects on the parallel evolution of her playing and Messiaen’s writing.
The key section in relation to my own performances of this repertoire is ‘Time and Memory, Opera and Colour’ (the first part of ‘Beyond the Birdsong’), which appraises Messiaen’s colour sensitivity via his renewed propensity for quotation. Peter Hill’s recollections of studying with Messiaen were also influential. The CD recording was made with relatively up-close sound, both to maximise the colouristic possibilities of the instrument, and in homage to Loriod’s first recording of the work. The violin interludes – constructed by me from cahier material and the players’ improvisations – extend the notion of musical memory.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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