The Jazz Influence on Olivier Messiaen

The Jazz Influence on Olivier Messiaen

By Devin Roth

'I have never been fond of jazz. I think jazz is a robber whose innovations are, in reality, borrowings from earlier symphonic music. I've never believed in jazz'.1 Although Olivier Messiaen publicly denounced jazz in his 1986 discussion with Claude Samuel, his compositions appear to be full of borrowings from this 'thieving' genre. Given that jazz was such a powerful force in France during the 1920s and 30s, influencing an array of classically trained French composers from Ravel to Poulenc, it seems unlikely that Messiaen would not have also come under its spell. Messiaen, like many of the classical composers of the time, incorporated jazz elements into his compositions, but unlike his contemporaries he refused to accept jazz as a legitimate art form. Within this paper I will discuss the rise of jazz in Paris during Messiaens formative years and the influence that jazz had on composers whom Messiaen studied and admired. Specific examples within Messiaens compositions will be examined and compared to various jazz composers affirming that Messiaen was, in fact, influenced by jazz. Possible explanations of Messiaens disapproval of the genre will then be explored. The exact origin of jazz is unknown but it's a widely accepted fact that it evolved from the southern Louisiana town of New Orleans. Because of the well established shipping docks in New Orleans, the town became a multicultural centre for all types of people. White plantation owners, free blacks, upper-middleclass black Creoles, poor white workers and even poorer black slaves all worked together in New Orleans. It was in these conditions that jazz was born. In the mid-19th century, the white skinned New Orleans born Creole, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, was the first to bring the exciting syncopated rhythms of the new world to the saturated musical society of Europe. Gottschalk's music stunned the European world and spawned the rhythmic craze in French classical composition. Debussy was a direct heir of the Gottschalk legacy. Barbara Meister notes that Debussy's good friend and publisher, Jacques Durand, loved and published the works of Gottschalk and that Ernest Guiraud, one of Debussy's teachers, was a student of Gottschalk in New Orleans. 2 This influence is evident in Debussy's composition, Golliwogg's Cake-walk. The cakewalk genre, a
1 Olivier Messiaen, Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel, (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1994), pp.195. 2 Barbara Meister, Music Musique (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), pp.16.

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precursor of jazz, originated in New Orleans and through Gottschalks influence, Debussy included many of the cakewalks features in Golliwogg's Cake-walk including an ABA form, syncopated melody and a steady 4/4 bass. 3 Another French composer to be directly influenced jazz was Ravel who famously admonished those who were dismissive of the new genre: 'You Americans take jazz too lightly. I could sit down and play you some French music written about 1849 that you would take for jazz so characteristic is it, so syncopated....What is more, it is considered as classical music'. 4 While Messiaen denied the influence of jazz, he embraced the music of Ravel and especially Debussy who he praised as 'one of the greatest rhythmicians of all time'.5 Even though Messiaen would never admit it, Debussy's sense of rhythm was directly linked to Gottschalk, resulting in a clear lineage to American jazz. During the First World War, Colonel William Hayward ordered the formation of an all-black jazz marching band to entice African-Americans to join the army. The band, along with all the new army recruits was sent over to Europe. During this war time African-Americans were legally forbidden to fire at any white persons including German soldiers; consequently, the United States was forced to 'lend' these men to the French army.6 Because of their ferocity in battle, the African-American soldiers gained the nickname Harlem Hellfighters. Many of the Harlem Hellfighters were talented jazz musicians and the French were ecstatic over their music. Following the war, many of the Harlem Hellfighters returned to live in Paris, and along with them jazz found a second home. This was the start of the jazz frenzy that engulfed Paris throughout the 1920s and 30s. During Messiaens teenage years, jazz was the music of Paris. Jazz was everywhere: on the radio, in the restaurants and on the streets. Is it plausible that a composer such as Messiaen, who embraced music from all over the world, would singularly reject the harmonic and rhythmic freedom of jazz? Another composer who had a huge impact on Messiaen was Igor Stravinsky. Messiaen first fell in love with Stravinskys compositions at the impressionable age of twenty-two and continued to analyze Stravinsky throughout his life with his pupils at the Paris Conservatory.7 The influence of jazz on Stravinsky is clear. His first introduction to jazz was from the conductor Ernest Ansermet who, in 1918, became enamoured with the music of Sidney Bechet during an American tour.8 After moving to America, Stravinsky became an avid jazz fan. In 1946, he wrote the Ebony Concerto for Woody Herman and throughout the 1950s he was known to attend Charlie Parker performances in New York.9 While the relationship between Messiaen and jazz may be traced through his
3 Ibid., 17. 4 Maurice Ravel as quoted in Jack Sullivan, New World Symphonies: How American Culture Changed European Music (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pp.199. 5 Messiaen, Music and Color, pp.70. 6 Meister, Music Musique, pp.92ff. 7 Ibid., pp.71. 8 Ibid., pp.127. 9 Ibid.

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admiration of classical composers such as Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, the most compelling connection between Messiaen and jazz is found in his compositions. His compositions are full of jazz rhythms and jazz harmonies derived from works of earlier jazz composers such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Despite the similarities with jazz, Messiaen had a unique understanding of rhythm. He used the Greek definition from Plato to describe rhythm as 'the ordering of movement'. Messiaen goes on to say that 'this definition has the advantage of being applicable to dance, to words, and to music but it's incomplete. Rhythmic music is music that scorns repetition, squareness, and equal divisions, and that is inspired by the movements of nature, movements of free and unequal durations'.10 By this definition, jazz is 'nonrhythmic' music because it is based on a foundation of equal note-values. Messiaen explains that 'through the use of syncopation, [jazz] also contains rhythm, but these syncopations exist only because they're placed over equal note-values which they contradict. In spite of the rhythm produced by this contradiction, the listener once again settles down to the equal note-values that bring great tranquility'. 11 An excellent example of rhythmic music in Messiaen's own definition is Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes from Quatour pour la fin du temps (see Example 1). Ironically Danse de la fureur is quite reminiscent of trumpet solos from jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong. Even Meister points out that Danse de la fureur 'has some suspiciously jazzlike syncopations'.12 Among the many compositions of Messiaen that contain jazz rhythms and harmonies, the Turangalila Symphony provides excellent examples. The Turangalila Symphony was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered on December 2, 1949. This was Messiaen's first large orchestral commission. There is no doubt that he was trying to impress the American public to become an internationally renowned composer. As a result, the Turangalila Symphony is full of rich jazz harmonies and dance-like jazz rhythms to appeal to American sensibilities. Furthermore, the voluptuous jazz idiom is a perfect complement to the themes of unrequited love that pervade the symphony. The Turangalila Symphony is full of 'nonrhythmic' jazz rhythms. The Final begins in a 3/16 meter and contains a strong triplet pulse (Example 2). Not only is the pulse evident but the rhythms contain numerous 'repetitions' and the melody is in a 'square' nine measure repeating pattern. The first and third triplet repeating figure in the first two measures is typical of jazz swinging eighth notes. In comparing the first three measures with a Louis Armstrong solo on Savoy Blues from a 1927 recording of the Hot Fives (Example 3) we see the exact same rhythms. Playing on the second triplet was a signature of Louis Armstrong which gave his solos a special lift. Messiaen no doubt heard these types of rhythms and
10 Messiaen, Music and Color, pp.67. 11 Ibid., pp.68. 12 Meister, Music Musique, pp.134.

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copied them to achieve the same effect. It is also worth mentioning that the intervals of the beginning of the Final and Louis Armstrong's solo are almost identical. Harmonic parallels between Turangalila and jazz are also evident. Central to the jazz sound is the addition of the major 6th to the tonic chord, not as an extension but as part of the tonic chord. The major 6th chord dominated the jazz band harmonies of the 1920s and 30s. It was typical of arrangers such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington to create a four-part voicing of a line using a major scale with an added augmented 5th and doubling the melody an octave lower in the baritone saxophone (Example 4). These harmonies became known as block chords. Block chords typically follow the melody in parallel motion creating temporary dominant flat nine chords between the tonic chord and its inversions. Messiaen closely follows this model in the string harmonies of the 6th movement, Jardin Du Sommeil D'Amour (Example 5). Like the big band arrangements of Basie and Ellington, Messiaen arranges the strings in parallel motion, the melody is doubled an octave lower in the cellos and the tonic stations of major 6th and Mixolydian chords are separated by dominant functional harmonies. The similarities are so close that the parallels cannot be ignored. It was a common belief of the time that jazz stimulated sexual arousal. In Anne Faulkners 1921 article titled 'Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?' Dr. Henry van Dyke says of jazz, 'As I understand it, it is not music at all. It is merely an irritation of the nerves of hearing, a sensual teasing of the strings of physical passion'.13 Perhaps Messiaen incorporated jazz idioms into the Turangalila Symphony for precisely this reason. The 'sensual teasings' of jazz evoke the 'physical passion' of his passionate Turangalila Symphony. Given the influence jazz had on many of Messiaen's compositions, why then did he publicly denounce jazz? If he truly disliked jazz, why did he incorporate its harmonic and rhythmic idioms in his compositions? Firstly, Messiaen has been known to be a bit dishonest. When recounting the premier of the Quatour pour la fin du temps, Messiaen said there was an audience of 5,000 fellow prisoners of war and prison guards and that the only available cello had three strings. On the other hand Rebecca Rischin, who studied the conditions surrounding the premiere in depth, points out that there were only about 500 people in attendance. 14 She also points out that the three-stringed cello is a complete myth fabricated by Messiaen. tienne Pasquier, the cellist on the premiere, not only repeatedly insisted that his cello had all four strings but also stated that the quartet would be impossible to perform without them. 15 Even though Messiaen tells a good story, Rischin concludes that Messiaen was a bit of 13 Anne Shaw Faulkner, Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation? Ladies Home Journal, August,
1921, accessed December 2, 2010, http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/syncopate.html. 14 Rebecca Rischin, For the End of Time: the Story of the Messiaen Quartet (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003), pp.62. 15 Ibid., pp.65.

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a 'dramatist'.16 Secondly, Messiaen's strong Catholic faith was in conflict with the sexual and barbaric nature of jazz rhythms and harmonies. Faulkner stated in her article, 'Certainly, if [jazz] is in any way responsible for the condition and for the immoral acts which can be traced to the influence of these dances, then it is high time that the question should be raised: Can music ever be an influence for evil?' 17 There is no question that Messiaen wanted nothing to do with this 'evil music.' Finally, Messiaen had a silent rebellious nature. Throughout his career he would write music to protest against current trends. Mode de valeur et d'intensites was written in protest against twelve-tone music. Messiaen's extensive use of plainchant began after the Catholic Church removed plainchant from the liturgy. These are excellent examples of his quiet protests. Perhaps the jazz-like Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes from Quatour pour la fin du temps was in silent rebellion against the anti-jazz Nazis by whom Messiaen was being held captive. It is possible that Messiaen refused to give credit to jazz simply because of its overwhelming influence on contemporary musical trends? In order to appear original he kept silent about his secret jazz influences. In conclusion, Messiaen continued the legacy of the great classical composers from Gottschalk to Debussy to Stravinsky, all of whom were influenced by 'new world' sounds and rhythms. These composers who were directly influenced by jazz, in turn, influenced Messiaen. During Messiaen's formative years of the 1920s and 30s Paris was a hotspot for jazz. This jazz influence is illustrated in the Turangalila Symphony. The rhythms are reminiscent of Louis Armstrong and the harmonies resemble big band music of the 1930s. Despite all this, Messiaen still voiced his distaste of jazz calling it a 'robber' of earlier symphonic works. Even though Messiaen never accepted jazz as legitimate art, his compositions are full of elements from this new American genre.

16 Ibid., pp.66. 17 Faulkner, Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?

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Bibliography: Armstrong, Louis. Savoy Blues, OKeh Records 8535. Faulkner, Anne Shaw. Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation? Ladies Home Journal, August 1921. Accessed December 2, 2010. http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~knichols/syncopate.html. Meister, Barbara. Music Musique. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. Messiaen, Olivier. Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel. Trans. E. Thomas Glasow. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1994. Messiaen, Olivier. Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Paris: Durand, 1942. Messiaen, Olivier. Turangalila-symphonie: pour piano solo, onde Martenot solo et grand orchestre. Paris: Durand, 1946. Rischin, Rebecca. For the End of Time: the Story of the Messiaen Quartet. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003. Sullivan, Jack. New World Symphonies: How American Culture Changed European Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.