“VOCALISE, POUR L’ANGE QUI ANNONCE LA FIN DU TEMPS” FROM QUATOR POUR LA FIN DU TEMPS

Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) is a work by French composer Olivier Messiaen composed in the early to mid-20th century in eight movements. It is a composition from the modern era, written during his imprisonment in a German POW camp in the Second World War (1941).The piece has an unusual instrument of clarinet, violin, cello and piano because it was composed by and premiered by Messian and fellow prisoners. The second movement, “Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps” (“Vocalise, for the Angel who announces the End of Time”) was inspired by the 10th chapter of the Book of Revelation, is in ternary form (ABA’ - introduction, main section and postlude), marked Robuste, modéré, and is in triple meter (¾). It is in the style of a vocalise, which is a melody that is sung without words.

The introduction and postlude evokes the image of the strong angel putting one foot on the sea and one foot on the Earth, whereas the central section depicts the “harmonies of heaven” through “the sweet cascades of blue orange, surrounding the quasi-plainchant of the violin and cello.” Lyrical melodies are prominent in this section of the movement, conveying the vocalise quality. The first section features crashing, dissonant chords infused with clarinet fragments and violent string passages. The clarinet trills suggest bird calls, a notable feature in many of Messiaen’s works as it is characteristic of birdsong. The middle section contains a dramatic contrast in mood & atmosphere, now very quiet, tranquil and mysterious. Amidst the ensemble, the cello and violin emerge playing a lyrical melody, two octaves apart, while the piano accompanies them with descending chords in parallel motion, grouped in phrases of eight chords, with the opening sixteenth rest implying syncopation. The continuous sixteenth notes are marked ppp and noted as “gouttes d’eau en arc-en-ciel” (“water droplets in the rainbow”), and the section ends with repeated notes that are played very softly (pppp in piano). The return of the opening section feature the same dissonant crashing chords as heard in the beginning, only that the motives are reversed from the opening section, such that the violins play descending passages. The piano part illustrate a recurrence of the “lightning flash” before an abrupt clarinet motive concludes the movement. The work is an excellent example of Messiaen’s musical style and effectively narrates the story in a musical way.