Organ Music
Ton musical experience of last week, for the handful gathered there to receive it, was Messiten's Masse de la Pentecote for organ, played by Ralph Downes at a recital of modern organ music presented at the. Festival Hall by the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The programme also, included Schoenberg's Varia- tions on a Recitative and the first performance 11
of specially written works by three English composers—Elisabeth Lutyens, Wilfred Mel- lers and Malcolm Williamson.
This new venture of the ICA's is one that should be repeated. The organ has become a forgotten instrument, almost completely neglected by the real contemporary composers. Such recitals as this, inspired by the enter- prising spirit of Ralph Downes and the fascinating tonal possibilities of the instrument he has designed, could easily provide the neces- sary stimulus to composers, and so restore the organ to musical life. The English composers represented here have made a promising start with three works of some substance which, by their imaginative use of the instrument, made satisfying listening—more satisfying, in fact, than Schoenberg's Variations, which shows no special understanding of the medium and seemed rather dull and uncharacteristic.
The worth-while repertory will increase only very slowly, as composers begin to learn about the nature and possibilities of the organ. For this they cannot do better than look to Messiten. Organist at the Trinit6 in Paris, he is acknowledged as one of the greatest and most imaginative of living players, and he uses his knowledge in his writing to produce sounds and effects undreamt of by those who arc not organists (or for that matter by most of those who are). He is also the most important and original French composer since Milhaud, though this is less readily acknowledged, either in or out of France. When his immense orchestral symphony Turangalilu was played here it was described by one critic, in full accord with the general critical opinion, as an interminable, aimless strumming on a gigantic orchestra. It is a misjudgement easily under- stood. Structurally Messiten's music disregards
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all familiar principles. Most of it is made up of endless repetitions of alternating fragmen- tary thematic groups. The thematic material itself is equally bewildering, combining the complex metrical subtleties of Indian music, and some devices of serial technique, with richly sensuous French harmonies and melodic figures based on bird-songs. The result is something unlike any other music, far newer than The Rite of Spring or Pierrot Lunaire in their day, perhaps the newest, or even the first really new, music since the rise of concerted instrumental music in the seventeenth century.
Most of these elements arc present in the Organ Mass, which combines them and achieves its extraordinary newness without any hint of eccentricity, and with a startling beauty so immediate and convincing as to cause a qualm of guilt in even the most sceptical derider of Turattgalila. Its effect on me was comparable (limiting the comparison to organ music) to that of first hearing one of Bach's Trio-Sonatas. There are many other works by Messiwn of equal beauty—for instance the extended piano piece Canteyodjaya. Unfortu- onately little of this music can easily be studied, even by the professional, except in performance. Even Canteyodjaya, in cold print. is hard to come to grips with, and the printed scores of his organ works are almost unintelli- gible except to an organist, giving only a vague clue, often misleading, to the actual sound. His works must be heard. After the Organ Mass, for all those who experienced it, the accent will be on the must as well as on the heard. Here is one who is ready at any time to give a few hard-scribbled-for guineas to start a subscription to bring over Messiwn himself to play his complete organ works at the Festival Hull. ICA (or LCC) please make the necessary arrangements. coLIN MASON
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