Lenten Music Journey Day 1: Ash Wednesday, Messiaen's "Le Banquet Celeste"

Today (Yesterday) marks the beginning of Lent; our journey to the Cross. We celebrate today as Ash Wednesday. Many of us went to Ash Wednesday services  and received the mark of the cross on our foreheads. In Christian tradition it is customary to burn the palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday service in order to make the ashes that are put on our foreheads. "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return." ~Genesis 3:19.

I chose Oliver Messiaen's "Le Banquet Celeste" (The Heavenly Banquet) for today's Lenten piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTyvgKdlIZc

Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist (study of birds). He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the young age of 11 and later became professor of harmony and composition. Here's a bit about his incredible background as an organist: Messiaen joined famous French organist, Dupré's organ course. Dupré later wrote that Messiaen, having never seen an organ console, sat quietly for an hour while Dupré explained and demonstrated the instrument, and then came back a week later to play Johann Sebastian Bach's Fantasia in C minor to an impressive standard. This is quite incredible. He was well known for his important position at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris, France. Messiaen's other passion besides music was bird calls which can often be heard in his organ and piano pieces.

The work featured today "Le Banquet Celeste" is one of Messiaen's early organ works. This piece calls for an extremely slow tempo; it is in-fact only two pages long! I think his use of chords and tonal colors create just what it is called--a heavenly sound. About half way through the piece you hear short notes played against the chords. These are supposed to be representative of drops of water (through a very detailed articulation marking on Messiaen's part). The piece kind of just floats in time. I thought this was a good piece to start our Lenten journey. It represents the long journey of 40 days that we have ahead. It's a time to reflect and to really think about what Christ did for us. 


Peace!