Monodie

This article is about the short organ composition by Olivier Messiaen. For the monophonic solo vocal style, see Monody.

Monodie (French for 'Monody') is the shortest stand-alone published composition for organ by French composer Olivier Messiaen.

Monodie
by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen in 1986
Catalogue	A.44
Composed	1963 (1963): Paris
Performed	19 May 1998 (1998-05-19): London
Published	1997 (1997): Paris
Scoring	Organ

Background

The Monodie was composed in 1963 at the request of Jean Bonfils, who was Messiaen's assistant at the church of the Sainte Trinité, Paris, where he was the main organist. It was written for Bonfils's and Noémie Pierrot's organ method book entitled Nouvelle méthode de clavier. Messiaen presumably did not have his own organ at La Trinité because of a major refurbishment.^[1] It was then published as a part of that book in 1963 by the Schola Cantorum. Musicologist Nigel Simeone alleges that Messiaen could have composed the Monodie as a part of a sight-reading examination at the Schola Cantorum.^[2] The piece was later republished posthumously by Éditions Alphonse Leduc in 1997, as most other short works that were lost, forgotten, or never intended for publication.^[1] It was formally premiered on May 19, 1998, at Westminster Cathedral, in London, with Gillian Weir at the organ.^[3]

Structure

This composition has a total duration of 6 minutes and a total of 17 bars of variable length. As was customary in many works by Messiaen, the monodie has no time or key signature. It starts with a single staff (as opposed to a three-staff system, which is typical of organ works). Messiaen used the tempo marking "Très modéré". The stop configuration used in the piece is stable throughout: Flute 8 (or Quintaton 16), Cor de Nuit 8, Nazard 2⅔, and Octavin 2. The piece features multiple triplets, quintuplets and sextuplets.^[4]

Recordings

Following is a list of some of the most notable recordings:

Organ	Record company	Year of recording	Format
Olivier Latry	Deutsche Grammophon	2002	CD[5]
Gillian Weir	Priory Records	2004	CD[6]

References

1. Dingle, Christopher (5 July 2017). Messiaen's Final Works. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-55843-3. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
2. Simeone, Nigel (1998). Olivier Messiaen: A Bibliographical Catalogue of Messiaen's Works : First Editions and First Performances, with Illustrations of the Title Pages, Programmes, and Documents (in French). H. Schneider. ISBN 978-3-7952-0947-6. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
3. Benitez, Vincent (13 November 2007). Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-87130-7. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
4. Messiaen, Olivier (1997). Monodie: pour orgue. Paris: Alphonse Leduc & Cie. ISMN 9790046291463. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
5. "MESSIAEN Complete Organ Works Latry". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
6. "Messiaen - The Complete Organ Works - Vols 5 & 6 - Organ of Arhus Cathedral, Denmark (2 CD set) | Britain's Premier Church Music Label". www.prioryrecords.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2020.