''Visions de l'Amen'' ("Visions of the Amen") is a suite of seven pieces for two pianos by the French composer

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

(1908–1992), commissioned for the Concerts de la PléiadeLiner notes by Nigel Simeone on the recording of Steven Osborne and Martin Roscoe for Hyperion, CDA67366. that were held during the

German occupation of Paris Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10, 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. The French governme ...

. It was composed in 1943 for the composer and

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

, and its performance requires about 40–45 minutes.

Overview

According to Messiaen's "author's note" attached to the original score,Stephen Schloesser, Visions of Amen: The Early Life and Music of Olivier Messiaen, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, page 353. the work takes its inspiration from a quote of

Ernest Hello Ernest Hello (4 November 182814 July 1885) was a French Roman Catholic writer, who produced books and articles on philosophy, theology, and literature. Life Born at Lorient, in Brittany, he was the son of a lawyer who held posts of great impor ...

: "Amen, word of Genesis, which leads to Revelation; Amen, word of Revelation, which is the consummation of Genesis". Messiaen gives four basic interpretations of Amen:Jean Wentworth, Review of Records, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Apr., 1973), pp. 323–328. "It is done", "So be it, according to thy will", "In the hope, the desire, that I may freely give and freely receive", "It is so, world without end". He describes the music as seven musical visions which reflect the living beings who say "Amen" in gratitude for their existence. Messiaen explains the different roles of the two piano parts: he assigned the ''primo'' part (played by Yvonne Loriod) "rhythmic difficulties, chord clusters, all that has speed, charm, and quality of sound". The ''secondo'' part (played by himself) he assigned "the principal melody, thematic elements, all that demands emotion and strength". One of the principal themes of the work is the Creation theme, appearing in the first movement in the bass in long notes, in the fifth movement in three variations (altered), and finally in the seventh movement, over ten times. MessiaenCreationTheme

Movements

There are seven movements: # Amen de la Création ("Amen of creation") # Amen des étoiles, de la planète à l'anneau ("Amen of stars, of the ringed planet") # Amen de l'agonie de Jésus ("Amen of Jesus' agony") # Amen du Désir ("Amen of desire") # Amen des Anges, des Saints, du chant des oiseaux ("Amen of angels, of saints, and of bird chant") # Amen du Jugement ("Amen of judgement") # Amen de la Consommation ("Amen of consummation")

References

Bibliography

*Bruhn, Siglind (2008). ''Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity: Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations, and Opera''. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . *Bruhn, Siglind (2008). ''Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musico-poetic Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three Related Song Cycles''. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . *Bruhn, Siglind (2007). ''Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s''. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . *Dingle, Christopher (2007). ''The Life of Messiaen''. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. . *Dingle, Christopher (2013). ''Messiaen's Final Works''. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. . *Dingle, Christopher, and Nigel Simeone (eds) (2007). ''Olivier Messiaen: Music, Art and Literature''. Aldershot: Ashgate. . * Samuel, Claude (tr. E. Thomas Glasow) (1994). ''Olivier Messiaen: Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel''. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. . *Sherlaw Johnson, Robert (1975). ''Messiaen''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Visions De L'Amen Compositions by Olivier Messiaen Compositions for two pianos 1943 compositions