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Home >> Lessons >> Beyond Theory >> Lesson 05 - Messiaen – Canteyodjaya [1949] - Page 1 | 2

Messiaen – Canteyodjaya [1949]
by R. Toscano

Welcome back to Beyond Theory and to what already is column #5! Today we will be talking about Hindu Rhythms as applied by Oliver Messiaen (1908-1992) in his composition titled Canteyodjaya (Solo Piano) – as well as going over a few other compositional techniques employed in this study. This work amounts to what is essentially a short (ca. 12 minutes) piece on Hindu rhythms, which Messiaen finished composing while visiting Tanglewood, MA in August 1949 (and not 1948 – as most sources state).

You will notice that Messiaen will use authentic names for each rhythm in the piece, meaning he will label each rhythmic cell that is being used in a given moment. Messiaen himself (in his book: Technique de Mon Langage Musical) states that he got the names and the rhythmic cells themselves from 13th century Hindu theorist Carngadeva – who produced a table with 120 Hindu rhythms (or Deci-talas).

Here are the names of the rhythmic cells that Messiaen uses in this study (in order of appearance): 

  1. Canteyodjaya (the title of the piece – this motive works as the center of the piece, which is constantly repeated throughout the duration work.)
  2. Djaya
  3. Ragarhanaki
  4. Alba
  5. Lakskmica
  6. Doubleaflorealila (which is labeled 1st refrain)
  7. Mousika (which is labeled 2nd refrain)
  8. Trianguillonouarki (which is labeled 3rd refrain)

Messiaen now initiates what he calls a 1st Couplet, which includes the following:

  1. Plisseghoucorbelina
  2. Boucleadjayaki
  3. Globouladjhamapa (which seem to include the following inside it: Gajajhampa, Simhavikrama, Candrakala, and Ragavardhana.)

Followed by a 2nd Couplet:

  1.  Soufflina
  2. Lineacourbarasa
  3. Piccoulaneki
  4. Collinalaya
  5. Pratapacekhara

Finally, a 3rd and last Couplet (which includes a short 6-part canon):

  1. Colonnoulevalaghou
  2.  Grenoudita
  3. Statoua
  4. Loudjea
  5. Potanciagourou
  6. Sedia


For the sake of time, I will only be showing a few of these Hindu Rhythms. Here are some of the ones I find to be most interesting, both as an actual rhythmic figure, as well as Messiaen’s approach in harmonizing and texturing these said figures.

 

Canteyodjaya – this is the heart of the work, what essentially amounts to the main theme of the piece. This is in essence a 13/16 bar - one subdivision used here is: 3+2+2+2+4.

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Ragarhanaki – Messiaen creates a thick texture of chords, they take the same rhythmic figure in both hands and in fact must be played with hands overlapping. A measure of 14/16 is followed by a measure of 34/32 – subdivided as: 2+3+5+4 (16ths) and 4+7+13+10 (32nds). Notice how dense the chords are – there are only 3 chords in these two measures. Essentially 7 note chords stacked in a variety of intervallic relations, the predominant ones being that of major seconds and minor seconds. The 2nd measure is in reality an additive version of the first, the same material being held for a longer duration.

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Mousika – This figure represents the 2nd refrain, a quick right hand figure that leads way to a high cluster, followed by a very low chord at the depths of the keyboard. Finally, another very high, rather open sounding chord with both hands is sounded. The refrains serve to balance the form of the work, by switching the importance from the Canteyodjaya theme to this new material that is given weight in the latter parts of the piece.

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Boucleadjayaki – This figure shows a device Messiaen uses throughout this work as well as throughout his entire compositional career – Parallel motion and parallel harmonization. Though the figure is not harmonized exactly at a single interval relation, the figure still follows the other close enough to allow us to follow it as a form of parallelism. Notice in the other examples given so far, that Messiaen definitely thinks of parallel motion when harmonizing lines and creating chords. The rhythmic figure here is rather simple, five groups of 32nd notes, which form a line of 20/32nds (4+4+4+4+4). 

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Soufflina – a fast arpeggiated figure starts the 2nd Couplet, this figure subdivides into: 8 32nds+ 6 32nds within its first bar, and then has an even faster 32nd note sextuplet in the right hand which leads to long note (taking 3/8). Messiaen seems to be creating more virtuosi type lines, which include long arpeggios and fast gestures as the piece moves along.

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Notice the sheer amount of material Messiaen inserts into this work! Instead of working off of a few motives and developing them through more common western music techniques, Messiaen instead creates a work in which he superimposes multiple elements – seemingly endlessly. The form of the work is thus organized through repetition and superimposition of its sections, which are given more or less of an aural importance by how many times each section is repeated and where in the work said repetitions occur. 

Both the material that is repeated the most (the Canteyodjaya theme) and the material that is not repeated at all (the Couplets) thus help to stabilize the form of the work. We hear the Canteyodjaya theme as important because of its constant repetition, signaling it as the main cell of the work… we also hear the Refrains and Couplets as transitions to a new section of the work, as they serve to break away from the material that gets repeated and superimposed – which we already know well by the time this new section is introduced.

These 2 main sections are:

  • The Canteyodjaya – which gets repeated 6 times within the first 8 pages of the work - against material (which is comprised of other Hindu rhythms) introduced around it.
  • The Refrains (who do get repeated) and Couplets (which appear only once each).

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