Apparition de l'église éternelle
Apparition de l'église éternelle (Apparition of the eternal church) is a work for organ, written by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1932.
The piece is in arch form, beginning in pianissimo (pp) and building up to a fortississimo (fff) climax featuring a C major chord, and then receding back to pianissimo. Richly colored chords alternate with open fifths, on top of a throbbing bass which repeats a simple rhythmic pattern.[1] Programmatically, the piece describes the appearance of the eternal church, which then fades away. This imagery has been compared to Dante's description of the inferno.[2]
Messiaen described the piece by quoting from the hymn Cœlestis urbs Jerusalem: "Scissors, hammer, suffering, and tests, tailoring and polishing the elected persons, living stones of the spiritual edifice", stating that the throbbing bass depicts the incessant work of construction.[1] He also wrote the following poem:[3]
Made out of living stone,
Made out of heavenly stone,
It appears in heaven:
It is the Lamb's bride!
It is the heavenly church
Made out of heavenly stone
Which is the chosen's souls.
They are in God, and God is in them
For heavenly eternity!
Like Messiaen's early organ piece Le Banquet Céleste, the piece is in extremely slow tempo, and can take up to 10 minutes to perform.
Film
Filmmaker and musician Paul Festa created the film Apparition of the Eternal Church which captures the responses of 31 artists and writers to the piece.
It is also featured during the elevator scene in Pedro Costa's 2014 film Horse Money.
References
- ^ a b Jon Gillock. "Program notes".
- ^ Fallon, Robert (2010). "Chapter 7". In Shenton, Andrew (ed.). Dante as Guide to Messiaen's Spirituality. Messiaen the Theologian. Ashgate Publishing.
- ^ Mauerblümchen (October 21, 2012). "Messiaen: Das Orgelwerk (III) – Apparition de l'Église éternelle". Capriccio Kulturforum. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
- v
- t
- e
- Saint François d'Assise (1975–83)
- L'Ascension (1932–33)
- Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine (1943–44)
- Turangalîla-Symphonie (1946–48)
- Oiseaux exotiques (1955–56)
- Chronochromie (1959–60)
- Sept haïkaï (1962)
- Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964)
- La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (1965–69)
- Des Canyons aux étoiles... (1971–74)
- Éclairs sur l'au-delà... (1988–92)
- Concert à quatre (1990–91)
- Thème et variations (1932)
- Fête des belles eaux (1937)
- Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940–41)
- Le Merle noir (1952)
- Feuillets inédits (2001)
- Le Banquet Céleste (1928)
- Offrande au Saint Sacrement (ca. 1928)
- Prélude (ca. 1929)
- Diptyque (1930)
- Apparition de l'église éternelle (1932)
- La Nativité du Seigneur (1935)
- Les Corps glorieux (1939)
- Messe de la Pentecôte (1949–50)
- Livre d'orgue (1951–52)
- Verset pour la fête de la Dédicace (1960)
- Monodie (1963)
- Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité (1969)
- Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement (1984)
- Préludes (1928–29)
- Visions de l'Amen (1943)
- Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus (1944)
- Cantéyodjayâ (1949)
- Quatre Études de rythme (1949–50)
- Réveil des Oiseaux (1953)
- Catalogue d'oiseaux (1956–58)
- La Fauvette des jardins (1970)
- Petites esquisses d'oiseaux (1985)
- O sacrum convivium! (1937)
- Poèmes pour Mi (1936–37)
- Chants de Terre et de Ciel (1938)
- Harawi (1944)
- Claire Delbos (first wife)
- Yvonne Loriod (second wife)