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Harawi (Messiaen)

February 07, 2023

For other uses, see Harawi (disambiguation).

Harawi - Chant d'amour et de mort (French: Harawi - A Song of Love and Death) are a song cycle for "grand, dramatic" soprano and piano whose music and libretto were composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1945. They are considered to be the first part of the his Tristan trilogy, a collection of works inspired by the myth of Tristan and Iseult.

Incipit

The cycle of twelve songs, written in the composer's native language of French and occasionally featuring words in Quechuan languages, is the last of three song cycles for soprano and piano that Messiaen wrote.

They received their première on 27 June 1946 in Brussels with the composer himself at the piano and his preferred singer Marcelle Bunlet as vocalist.

A typical performance lasts about 50 minutes on average.

Analysis

Messiaen, the son of two writers, had written two song-cycles beforehand (Poèmes pour Mi and Chants de Terre et de Ciel) but these were composed on personal levels. Several sources of inspiration had led to Messiaen conceptualising Harawi, then eventually the entire Tristan trilogy (succeeded by the Turangalîla-Symphonie and the Cinq rechants, both completed in 1948) such as folk music from the Andes and the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, where he was introduced to the myth.

A harawi or yaravi is a genre of Peruvian folk music and poetry, akin to a tragedy, often dealing with lost love and a contemplation on death, often played on the flute. The cycle concentrate on Messiaen's Peruvian reimagining of the myth of the two fated lovers, Tristan (unnamed) and Iseult (Piroutcha). However, it is very likely that the work has a subliminal context as an expression of love to Messiaen's mentally deteriorating wife Claire Delbos. Despite this, no mention at all is made of her in the work.

The texts of the cycle are written in a highly surrealist form, generally with comprisations of isolated symbols, raised to the ultimate symbolic ideal in that they are emancipated from grammatical on syntactical constructions. As is the case for almost all of his vocal works, Messiaen himself wrote the libretto; following Wagner's music dramas and Debussy who set his own symbolist poetry in his four Proses lyriques. The work borrows melodies from numerous traditional folksongs of the Andes as compiled in a book by Raoul d'Harcourt and his wife Marguerite Béclard. In addition to the French text, Harawi also uses Quechua words, some faux, some real, not for their semantic meaning, but for their sound, that is, their timbral and syllabic qualities. He would later reuse this practice in the Rechants and Saint François d'Assise. Despite these inspirations, his own musical style prevails.

Songs

La ville qui dormait, toi

Translating to "You, the city that slept", this song opens the cycle on a slow and tender note; evoking past love. The lovers are sleeping in this episode.

It also borrows from the refrain of a French folk song.

Bonjour toi, colombe verte

The origins of this movement lie in a Peruvian folksong titled Deliria, which was then harmonised as a 'love theme' by Messiaen for organ in 1945 as he improvised incidental music to a play by Lucien Fabre about Tristan and Iseult; this same theme, now more well-known as Harawi's love theme or simply the Tristan theme (which appears in the succeeding movements, seven and twelve) is also alluded to in the Turangalîla-Symphonie and is one of the bases for the latter's famous love theme.

The female lover Piroutcha is alluded to as a "green dove", hence the title "Greetings, O Green Dove". Faux birdsong appears in the movement. Symbolism occurs in the lines: "Enchained Star, shared shadow, thou, of flower, fruit, sky, and water, [of] Bird song".

Montagnes

This strong work, with high force from the pianist, creates musical impressions of the peaks of the Andes mountains. The singer sings in a lower range than usual.

Dondou tchil

In what is perhaps the most famous song of the Harawi cycle, the male lover performs, with crotal bells attached to his ankles, a dance of courtship, which then turns into an ecstatic serenade. It climaxes with faux birdsong.

The song's title onomatopoeically represents the ringing of the miniature bells. Contrary to popular belief, the words are at variance with Quechua phonetics and are gibberish (similar to what Messiaen practised in his later Cinq rechants).

L'amour de Piroutcha

The music itself was composed in 1945, but not originally for this cycle: the Conservatoire de Paris, where Messiaen served as harmony professor shortly after his release from Stalag VIII-A in early 1941, commissioned him to write a short examination piece for oboe with piano accompaniment. The result was titled Pièce. Satisfied by the work, Messiaen placed the work verbatim in the Harawi cycle by simply replacing the oboe part with a soprano one.

Titled "Piroutcha's love", in it, a dialogue is held between the two lovers. She flirts with the unnamed man, but he tearfully responds by saying that they can only be united in death. The man then asks Piroutcha to behead him.

Répétition planétaire

The title translates to Planetary Repetition, with this song evoking a dark, vast, and chaotic vision of the universe. Eventually, the drama of the lovers begins to resonate with the grandeur of the cosmos with a planet of destruction and representations of a mental breakdown.

The Sanskrit word lîla, or 'divine play', takes a prominent part in this movement.

Adieu

A sombre equivalent to the second movement 'Bonjour toi', transforming the joyous serenade into a dolorous lament of grief expressing worries of an eternal farewell. Evocations of bells and gongs are heard and Piroutcha reminisces about how they took a love potion.

Syllabes

As Piroutcha mourns and yearns for her lost beloved, awaiting her entry into Heaven, she dances out of grief. Notably, this uses repetitions of the word 'pia' to simulate the cries of apes, descending from a Quechua legend in which these animals' cries rescued a prince from danger. The quasi-campanological Dondou tchil chant from the fourth movement also returns.

Here, Piroutcha is associated with the number five, alluding to the Hindu god Shiva. There are numerous references to mythology and the supernatural in this movement.

L'escalier redit, gestes du soleil

('The Stairs Echo the Gestures of the Sun').

Amour oiseau d'étoile

('The Lovebird of the Star').

One of the most famous parts of the cycle, it is explicitly referred to in one of Messiaen's own programme notes to the Turangalîla-Symphonie.

An excerpt of the song also appears on the gravestone of Messiaen himself and his second wife Yvonne Loriod in Saint-Théoffrey.

Katchikatchi les étoiles

(Quechua: Grasshopper, French: the Stars).

Dans le noir

('In the Dark').

Reception

Discography

, mezzo-soprano, and Fuminori Tanada, piano:

  • Daphénéo, 3534610812038, distribution Codaex, record. Conservatoire de Montreuil, October 2008

Yvonne Loriod, piano, and Rachel Yakar, soprano:

  • Erato, 2292-45505-2/IX ECD 75501, record. Studio 107 Radio-France, Paris, February 1988

Carl-Axel Dominique, piano, and Dorothy Dorow, soprano:

  • BIS, 7318590000861, record. Nacka Aula, Sweden, 27–29 May 1977

References

Further reading

  • Siglind Bruhn. Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musical Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three related song cycles, Pendragon, 2008. ISBN 978-1-57647-136-4 - Google

February 07, 2023
harawi, messiaen, other, uses, harawi, disambiguation, harawi, chant, amour, mort, french, harawi, song, love, death, song, cycle, grand, dramatic, soprano, piano, whose, music, libretto, were, composed, olivier, messiaen, 1945, they, considered, first, part, . For other uses see Harawi disambiguation Harawi Chant d amour et de mort French Harawi A Song of Love and Death are a song cycle for grand dramatic soprano and piano whose music and libretto were composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1945 They are considered to be the first part of the his Tristan trilogy a collection of works inspired by the myth of Tristan and Iseult Incipit The cycle of twelve songs written in the composer s native language of French and occasionally featuring words in Quechuan languages is the last of three song cycles for soprano and piano that Messiaen wrote They received their premiere on 27 June 1946 in Brussels with the composer himself at the piano and his preferred singer Marcelle Bunlet as vocalist A typical performance lasts about 50 minutes on average Contents 1 Analysis 2 Songs 2 1 La ville qui dormait toi 2 2 Bonjour toi colombe verte 2 3 Montagnes 2 4 Dondou tchil 2 5 L amour de Piroutcha 2 6 Repetition planetaire 2 7 Adieu 2 8 Syllabes 2 9 L escalier redit gestes du soleil 2 10 Amour oiseau d etoile 2 11 Katchikatchi les etoiles 2 12 Dans le noir 3 Reception 4 Discography 5 References 6 Further readingAnalysis EditMessiaen the son of two writers had written two song cycles beforehand Poemes pour Mi and Chants de Terre et de Ciel but these were composed on personal levels Several sources of inspiration had led to Messiaen conceptualising Harawi then eventually the entire Tristan trilogy succeeded by the Turangalila Symphonie and the Cinq rechants both completed in 1948 such as folk music from the Andes and the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner where he was introduced to the myth A harawi or yaravi is a genre of Peruvian folk music and poetry akin to a tragedy often dealing with lost love and a contemplation on death often played on the flute The cycle concentrate on Messiaen s Peruvian reimagining of the myth of the two fated lovers Tristan unnamed and Iseult Piroutcha However it is very likely that the work has a subliminal context as an expression of love to Messiaen s mentally deteriorating wife Claire Delbos Despite this no mention at all is made of her in the work The texts of the cycle are written in a highly surrealist form generally with comprisations of isolated symbols raised to the ultimate symbolic ideal in that they are emancipated from grammatical on syntactical constructions As is the case for almost all of his vocal works Messiaen himself wrote the libretto following Wagner s music dramas and Debussy who set his own symbolist poetry in his four Proses lyriques The work borrows melodies from numerous traditional folksongs of the Andes as compiled in a book by Raoul d Harcourt and his wife Marguerite Beclard In addition to the French text Harawi also uses Quechua words some faux some real not for their semantic meaning but for their sound that is their timbral and syllabic qualities He would later reuse this practice in the Rechants and Saint Francois d Assise Despite these inspirations his own musical style prevails Songs EditLa ville qui dormait toi Edit Translating to You the city that slept this song opens the cycle on a slow and tender note evoking past love The lovers are sleeping in this episode It also borrows from the refrain of a French folk song Bonjour toi colombe verte Edit The origins of this movement lie in a Peruvian folksong titled Deliria which was then harmonised as a love theme by Messiaen for organ in 1945 as he improvised incidental music to a play by Lucien Fabre about Tristan and Iseult this same theme now more well known as Harawi s love theme or simply the Tristan theme which appears in the succeeding movements seven and twelve is also alluded to in the Turangalila Symphonie and is one of the bases for the latter s famous love theme The female lover Piroutcha is alluded to as a green dove hence the title Greetings O Green Dove Faux birdsong appears in the movement Symbolism occurs in the lines Enchained Star shared shadow thou of flower fruit sky and water of Bird song Montagnes Edit This strong work with high force from the pianist creates musical impressions of the peaks of the Andes mountains The singer sings in a lower range than usual Dondou tchil Edit In what is perhaps the most famous song of the Harawi cycle the male lover performs with crotal bells attached to his ankles a dance of courtship which then turns into an ecstatic serenade It climaxes with faux birdsong The song s title onomatopoeically represents the ringing of the miniature bells Contrary to popular belief the words are at variance with Quechua phonetics and are gibberish similar to what Messiaen practised in his later Cinq rechants L amour de Piroutcha Edit The music itself was composed in 1945 but not originally for this cycle the Conservatoire de Paris where Messiaen served as harmony professor shortly after his release from Stalag VIII A in early 1941 commissioned him to write a short examination piece for oboe with piano accompaniment The result was titled Piece Satisfied by the work Messiaen placed the work verbatim in the Harawi cycle by simply replacing the oboe part with a soprano one Titled Piroutcha s love in it a dialogue is held between the two lovers She flirts with the unnamed man but he tearfully responds by saying that they can only be united in death The man then asks Piroutcha to behead him Repetition planetaire Edit The title translates to Planetary Repetition with this song evoking a dark vast and chaotic vision of the universe Eventually the drama of the lovers begins to resonate with the grandeur of the cosmos with a planet of destruction and representations of a mental breakdown The Sanskrit word lila or divine play takes a prominent part in this movement Adieu Edit A sombre equivalent to the second movement Bonjour toi transforming the joyous serenade into a dolorous lament of grief expressing worries of an eternal farewell Evocations of bells and gongs are heard and Piroutcha reminisces about how they took a love potion Syllabes Edit As Piroutcha mourns and yearns for her lost beloved awaiting her entry into Heaven she dances out of grief Notably this uses repetitions of the word pia to simulate the cries of apes descending from a Quechua legend in which these animals cries rescued a prince from danger The quasi campanological Dondou tchil chant from the fourth movement also returns Here Piroutcha is associated with the number five alluding to the Hindu god Shiva There are numerous references to mythology and the supernatural in this movement L escalier redit gestes du soleil Edit The Stairs Echo the Gestures of the Sun Amour oiseau d etoile Edit The Lovebird of the Star One of the most famous parts of the cycle it is explicitly referred to in one of Messiaen s own programme notes to the Turangalila Symphonie An excerpt of the song also appears on the gravestone of Messiaen himself and his second wife Yvonne Loriod in Saint Theoffrey Katchikatchi les etoiles Edit Quechua Grasshopper French the Stars Dans le noir Edit In the Dark Reception EditDiscography EditMarie Kobayashi mezzo soprano and Fuminori Tanada piano Dapheneo 3534610812038 distribution Codaex record Conservatoire de Montreuil October 2008Yvonne Loriod piano and Rachel Yakar soprano Erato 2292 45505 2 IX ECD 75501 record Studio 107 Radio France Paris February 1988Carl Axel Dominique piano and Dorothy Dorow soprano BIS 7318590000861 record Nacka Aula Sweden 27 29 May 1977References EditFurther reading EditSiglind Bruhn Messiaen s Explorations of Love and Death Musical Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three related song cycles Pendragon 2008 ISBN 978 1 57647 136 4 Google Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harawi Messiaen amp oldid 1125160192, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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