| $20.93
new to stock as of
june 22nd, 2009
threads:
1980s-electronic
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
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| | | ina-grm (france) #ina c 2016 cd jacques lejeune “messe aux oiseaux” compact disc - premier temps : kyrie (18:40)
eleison (7:32)
kyrie eleison (1:35)
christe eleison (3:56)
kyrie eleison (5:37)
deuxième temps : gloria-credo (29:12)
gloria in excelsis deo (3:54)
et in terra pax (2:52)
laudamus te (1:22)
qui tollis (1:02)
quoniam tu solus sanctus (1:10)
credo in unum deum (3:37)
et incarnatus est (3:28)
crucifixus (1:52)
et resurrexit (2:03)
credo in spiritum sanctum (4:54)
et exspecto (2:58)
troisième temps : sanctus - agnus dei (19:03)
sanctus (0:17)
hosanna (0:45)
benedictus (3:24)
hosanna (2:02)
agnus dei (4:35)
dona nobis pacem (8:00)
- ave maria (5:29)
| 2000 release ; ina-grm edition of the 1987 gmvl cd, covering jacques lejeune’s “mass for the birds”, composed during 1986 & 1987 at the grm & gmvl studios & “revised” at the grm in 1999 ...
this one has “1986” written all over it, from the ungainly pitch-shifter algorithms (the voices are slathered with it throughout) to the brassy, low-bit digital textures throughout ... coupled with copious use of birdsong & heavily filtered / modified concrète elements made to sound like birdsong and, well, you’ve got one of the classic mid-late-80s long-form grm pieces ... |
| | messe aux oiseaux
the music of the first section of messe aux oiseaux (mass for the birds) presents sharp contrasts of material and syntax and moves through an exploration of the voice as feeling, via a series of cries, wails and moans, before eventually reaching a place of peace. this exploration, which moves in fractured, dislocated steps from one extreme to another, also presents the antagonism between the various expressive registers of the human voice. more than anywhere else in the work the musical material draws its being from feelings of heaviness. it surges and explodes into bursts of sound that generate cells of more or less identifiable meaning. these cells jostle with one another evoking feelings of crisis and danger; the hieratic mingles with the familiar and the dramatic. in the polyfiguristic approach underpinning this continuous back-and-forth between realism and idealism, between the realms of living beings and the merely plastic, individuals, groups and crowds all rub shoulders. the mixture contrasts children's voices with those of adults; anticipation and anxiety; realism, impressionism, expressionism and the stylised; cries and moans, speech and song. the result is both disturbing and entertaining .and open to a variety of levels of meaning and interpretation.
the kyrie starts out against a dark background from which emerge harsh bursts of sound and gusty, brassy implosions. there follows a short breathing-space characterised by the sound of heartbeats before the initial texture returns to reveal images of frightened birds. the first exposition of this theme creates a feeling of a nameless, elusive vocal element like a dull blade rising that leads to the return of the brassy motif followed by the frightened bird music in a series of shattered chords. the vocal feeling develops to give way to the syllables e-i-son. two cries of pain then suddenly transform the kyrie eleison into a nervous, febrile texture of multiple broken voices.
this fresco-like movement is followed by a temporary feeling of greater intimacy. against a background similar to that of the beginning of the movement, overlapping voices hesitatingly begin the christe eleison. the bird theme returns over a vocal baseline. in the second section of the christe eleison, the conflicting sounds of the broken crowds are again present before a brief reminder of the brassy motif introduces an agitated climax that leads into a repeat of the kyrie eleison. the addition of muted, humble, plaintive voices gives the overall sound an ambiguous character before the explosions and cries acquire a more exclamatory, urgent tone. the final section introduces a choir of female voices whose repeated formulations gradually give the music a calmer, more stable feel.
the keystone of the mass's structure is the combined gloria and credo. this twofold movement has a dynamic, radiant character and is built on the repetition and interplay between, on the one hand, textures that are specifically designed to move the music forward, and on the other, material that is more anchored in a feeling of inert flow and archetypes of breathing or resonance.
after the rising introduction of the gloria in excelsis deo, a dense, lyrical mass explodes, dominating the aural space. into this space the text is repeated in the form of far-off chords. this section is followed by the sustained voices of the et in terra pax, which are punctuated by snatches of sparkling sound that move against a harmonic background. these ideas are developed in an atmosphere of fluidity that gives rise to the dislocated repetitions of the laudamus te. the anguish of the qui tollis comes as a violent contrast to this movement of exultation before the earlier rhythmic material returns to the words quoniam tu solus sanctus.
the texture and rhythm of the beginning of the credo are generated by the end of the gloria that precedes it. the word credo is vehemently repeated and the musical material appears to swell. the credo in unum deum is sustained by bursts of percussive material in a succession of choral motifs. against a background of breathy, flutelike textures, in which ticking sounds and insect noises start to be perceived, the sound gradually builds into a rich, organic musical fabric that ends by opening into the warm, mellow key of the et incarnatus est. the breathy, flutelike texture is repeated before the crucifixus begins in an atmosphere of tension between different types of musical material and fragmented utterances. after the et resurrexit, which is written in the same climate of gentle, warm harmonies as the et incarnatus est, the flutelike texture returns before gradually fading into nothing.
energetic repetition again characterises the setting of credo in spiritum sanctum in which the text is first divided into three sections that alternate with the solo percussive accompaniment that gradually takes on the character of a train. the voices return with the word credo before the entire text is repeated set to the same sequence punctuated by the sound of bells. at the end of the movement the music is transformed into a realistic image of flight before metamorphosing into a stylised harmonic flow that is a variant on the «birds» theme from the kyrie. the words et expecto are set to a huge, muted, fluctuating vocal chord. the movement ends with a second reprise of the «birds» theme.
while the images evoked by the first section of the mass are ones of suffocation and the labyrinth, and those of the second section ones of the arches and pillars of a bridge, the third section is less violent and dramatic in character, despite the contrasted character of its linked sections. the atmosphere has an almost oriental flavour, full of arabesques and pointillist writing. it is in the benedictus that the bird theme, which has hitherto been used as an individual colour and acted as a witness to the unrolling events, is finally fully integrated into the musical development.
the sanctus is initially announced by a solo choir in fast, triumphant steps. a musical fabric composed of vocal melismas, birdsong and sparkling, free-floating electronic droplets soon gives way to the first hosanna. to this pearly, luminous texture is added a solo voice chanting the word benedictus while an off-stage choir recites the full text like a litany on a gently rising scale. the final repetition brings the second, barely modified hosanna. the conclusion of the movement is a miniature gossamer of tiny, whirling electronic motifs and phrases mixed with instrumental colours of the same type.
the pointillist, slightly mysterious short-wave sounds of the agnus dei bring a change of register. the music is made up of electronic sparkles, ticking and insect noises. as the text of the first two stanzas moves through this texture, whose tension and density change from moment to moment, it too is transformed. the third stanza minus the word pacem is briefly enunciated in a mood of sadness and expectation; it is answered by the tinkling, crystalline percussion, rubbed glass and pedal notes of the et in terra pax material.
the entire structure is illuminated by sustained vocal notes through which one can barely hear the ill-defined word pacem, its colour alone being perceptible, evoking the syllables e-i-son from the beginning of the work. there is a brief recapitulation of the plaintive phrase of the dona nobis and a return to the crystalline material and vocal layers rising through a long, luminous development that leads to an electronic continuum of tinkling bells and insect noises. the end is very gentle and peaceful: there is a brief resolution in which a choir finally enunciates the words dona nobis pacem. |
...
ave maria
in stark contrast with the huge structure of the messe aux oiseaux, the ave maria is a very short piece; another difference is that the prayer it sets is very simple. the two pieces were, in fact, composed virtually at the same time. the piece is an exercise in writing for the voice in a way that distances it from the meaning of the text. it is an attempt to make the voice remote, to dramatise it and distance it by multiplying the tone colours. the voice becomes anxious and carnal as in a cruel dream; only it surroundings remain angelic.
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