Page 128 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2020. Konservatoriji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela ▪︎ The conservatories: professionalisation and specialisation of musical activity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 4
P. 128
konservator iji: profesionalizacija in specializacija glasbenega dela
letter to his friend Felix Aprahamian in 1943. Since 1942, Aprahamian had
been helping Tony Mayer organize the Concerts de Musique Française se-
ries at the Wigmore Hall in London. In his letter, Messiaen asked Apra-
hamian for permission to leave French territory (for himself and his young
friend Yvonne Loriod). He also asked for two “good grand pianos.” He de-
scribed his Visions of Amen as his “best work.”11
A wartime composer?
His best work, indeed? Indeed, this wartime period was fruitful. As a mat-
ter of fact, Messiaen had written his most famous works during this short
period. After the extremely famous Quartet for the End of Time (1940–
1941) came the Trois petites liturgies de presence divine (1943), the Vingt re-
gards sur l’Enfant Jésus, for piano (also premiered by the Conservatory pu-
pil Yvonne Loriod in 1944), and soon, after the war, the most famous piece
for orchestra, Turangalîla Symphonie (1948–1949). Was Messiaen a wartime
composer? Was the severe “mise en loge” of the world conflict some kind of
Mallarmé’s “salutary constraint”?
Another idea would be that it was the Conservatoire which advanced
Messiaen’s development as a composer, since his appointment as a young
professor in 1941. In another text,12 we tried to show that the Conservatoire
engendered a strong esprit de corps. And Messiaen probably had a special
and particularly shining role in the Conservatoire de Paris, a role in the
very center of this esprit de corps (a powerful professional “club spirit”). He
may have been like a young “d’Artagnan” in this old institution resembling
a cadet school. Having won numerous awards certainly made him a stu-
dent legend. It seems natural that this esprit de corps worked to promote the
young career of this “prince of the Conservatoire”. Thus, Yvonne Loriod, as
a young “musketeer of this cadet school”, might have put all her talent (and
more), in 1944, for premiering what would become – as a consequence of
her special engagement? – Messiaen’s most famous piano piece (The Vingt
regards sur l’Enfant Jésus).
Messiaen may have also been inspired, no doubt, by this return to
the Conservatoire as a musical Garden of Eden temporarily lost (during
the 1930’s), and a crucible of a new love (with Yvonne Loriod), a new hope,
and, 18 years later, a new marriage. For Messiaen, particularly during this
11 See Nigel Simeone, «Bien cher Félix…»: Letters from Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne
Loriod to Felix Aprahamian (Cambridge: Mirage Press, 1998).
12 See Vingt regards sur Messiaen (Aix-en-Provence: PUP, 2017), 159–66.
126
letter to his friend Felix Aprahamian in 1943. Since 1942, Aprahamian had
been helping Tony Mayer organize the Concerts de Musique Française se-
ries at the Wigmore Hall in London. In his letter, Messiaen asked Apra-
hamian for permission to leave French territory (for himself and his young
friend Yvonne Loriod). He also asked for two “good grand pianos.” He de-
scribed his Visions of Amen as his “best work.”11
A wartime composer?
His best work, indeed? Indeed, this wartime period was fruitful. As a mat-
ter of fact, Messiaen had written his most famous works during this short
period. After the extremely famous Quartet for the End of Time (1940–
1941) came the Trois petites liturgies de presence divine (1943), the Vingt re-
gards sur l’Enfant Jésus, for piano (also premiered by the Conservatory pu-
pil Yvonne Loriod in 1944), and soon, after the war, the most famous piece
for orchestra, Turangalîla Symphonie (1948–1949). Was Messiaen a wartime
composer? Was the severe “mise en loge” of the world conflict some kind of
Mallarmé’s “salutary constraint”?
Another idea would be that it was the Conservatoire which advanced
Messiaen’s development as a composer, since his appointment as a young
professor in 1941. In another text,12 we tried to show that the Conservatoire
engendered a strong esprit de corps. And Messiaen probably had a special
and particularly shining role in the Conservatoire de Paris, a role in the
very center of this esprit de corps (a powerful professional “club spirit”). He
may have been like a young “d’Artagnan” in this old institution resembling
a cadet school. Having won numerous awards certainly made him a stu-
dent legend. It seems natural that this esprit de corps worked to promote the
young career of this “prince of the Conservatoire”. Thus, Yvonne Loriod, as
a young “musketeer of this cadet school”, might have put all her talent (and
more), in 1944, for premiering what would become – as a consequence of
her special engagement? – Messiaen’s most famous piano piece (The Vingt
regards sur l’Enfant Jésus).
Messiaen may have also been inspired, no doubt, by this return to
the Conservatoire as a musical Garden of Eden temporarily lost (during
the 1930’s), and a crucible of a new love (with Yvonne Loriod), a new hope,
and, 18 years later, a new marriage. For Messiaen, particularly during this
11 See Nigel Simeone, «Bien cher Félix…»: Letters from Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne
Loriod to Felix Aprahamian (Cambridge: Mirage Press, 1998).
12 See Vingt regards sur Messiaen (Aix-en-Provence: PUP, 2017), 159–66.
126
