Gail Archer at Galloway United Methodist Church, November 8, 2008
This program consisted of the nine parts of
The Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, by
Olivier Messiaen, namely
1. The Father Unbegotten
2. The Holiness of Jesus Christ
3. The true relation in God is Truly identical to his essence
4. I Am, I AM!
5. God is Immense, Eternal, Immovable.
6. The Son, Word, and Light
7. The Father and the Son Love Themselves and Us through the Holy Spirit
8. God Alone is Love
9. I AM THAT I AM
This was the first performance of this work in its entirety in Jackson.
Archer preceded it with a few remarks about Messiaen and his music. Among
other comments, perhaps the most interesting was that Messiaen was a
registered ornithologist, and traveled widely, recording countless bird
calls. It is no concidence that these often show up in his music, and
there were many examples in The Meditations. Anyone aspiring to
be a composer faces two tasks: first, to develop a unique style, so that
the informed listener can identify the composer just by hearing the music.
Most classical music fans could, I suspect, when told that four pieces
would be played, one each by Bach, Mozart, Brahms, and Debussy (but not
in that order) would be able to sort out easily which one belonged to
which composer. A bit more difficult would be the simple question "Who
composed this piece?" Some composers are a little easier to spot than
others; for me personally, Brahms is one of the easiest. Messiaen, for
the well-informed organ fan, would be fairly easy, especially if there
were the bird calls. His musical language is distinctive. The second
task for the aspiring composer is to develop a diversity so that while
all his/her works are in a unique style, they don't all sound alike.
A good example is the typical symphony, with its movements contrasting
in dynamic level and tempo. Choral settings of the Mass also require
great variety. In The Meditations there was remarkable variety,
with considerable bombast and dissonance in some sections, and great
tenderness, bordering on sentimentality, in others.
The titles of the sections of The Meditations, along with
a line or two of scriptural and other comments, set the musical mood of
each section. Unfortunately it was not easy to tell when one section
ended and another began, so it was difficult to hear how Messiaen
responded to the different texts. If Archer had read the scriptural
comments before each section, it would have been a major
improvement, because the audience could have kept track easily; it
would not have added more than a few minutes to the 1+ hour program
and would have helped the listeners try to make sense of the music
in one way or another; frankly, Messiaen can be difficult, although
highly rewarding with familiarity.
Archer's playing was brilliant, and she got sounds from the 66 rank
Casavant that most of us had not heard before. As she admitted afterward,
she plays primarily with her ears, and they did not fail her in this
program. By contrast, for Bach's music, for example, there are rules
that one can learn so that when playing on an unfamiliar instrument
one can usually do a reasonably good job without having heard the instrument
before. Of course one must be able to control ones fingers and feet
in order (as Bach famously remarked) "to press the right key at the right
time". To play with ones ears means one must listen! listen! listen!
(The same is true of choral singers - I have heard the expression
"sing with your ears!" many times - and this becomes of overriding
importance in barbershop quartets). Archer, of course, had total control
of her fingers and feet, but additionally used her ears most impressively.
Finally, as Austin Wilson (Professor of English at Millsaps) once told me
about James Joyce's Ulysses - a rather complicated work - "The
thing to do when you finish reading Ulysses is to pick it up and
reread it." In that spirit I would like to hear The Meditations
again, and soon! Thanks, Gail Archer! And thanks to Galloway Church!
- Glenn A. Gentry