Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité ("Meditations on éditationssurleMystèredelaSainteTrinitéthe Mystery of the Holy Trinity") is a work for organ by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was composed from 1967 to 1969 at Messiaen's house in Pétichet.
Premiere
The first private performance of the piece took place in Paris on November 8, 1971 at the Sainte-Trinité. Messiaen gave the first public performance on March 20, 1972 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Structure
The work comprises nine untitled meditations ranging from 3 to 10 minutes long each. A complete performance of the whole composition is around 75 minutes long. Prior to each movement, Messiaen describes the musical content and its symbolism.
Meditation No. 1
The first piece presented in this composition is sometimes called "Le Père des étoiles" (The Father of Stars). It is long and varied, marked Lent at the beginning of the piece. Its structure can be broken down as follows: Theme: The main melodic line presented is called "le Père des étoiles", played and legato, with both hands in unison. Variation I: The left hand on the Grand orgue and Positif plays the melody from the theme, while the right hand on the Récit plays a melodic counterpoint which is completely disconnected from the main melody. Variation II: Main melody repeated again, this time on the pedal. The counterpoint, which consists of short, rapid chords, is played on the keyboard. Langage communicable: "Par rapport aux Personnes qui procedent de lui, le Père se notifie ainsi: paternité et spiration; en tant que "Principe qui n'a pas de principe", il se notifie ainsi: il n'est pas d'un autre: c'est là précisément la propriete d'innascibilité, désignée par le nom d'Inengendré" (Thus therefore the Father is known both by paternity and by common spiration, as regards the persons proceeding from Himself. But as the principle, not from a principle He is known by the fact that He is not from another; and this belongs to the property of innascibility, signified by the word "Unbegotten.") The langage is played on the Positif and the counterpoint is played on the Grand orgue. The text is taken from Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica, Part I, question 33, article 4, conclusion. The stars start turning. The main theme is presented again ostinato on the pedal, on a 10-note sequence. Meanwhile, the two hands play two different chord ostinatos: the right hand plays an 8-chord ostinato sequence and the left hand plays a 9-chord sequence. Short crescendo sequence based on the rotating chords from the previous section, now contracted and transposed. Langage communicable: the pedal proclaims the main word from the previous langage communicable: "L'inengendré" (the Unbegotten).
Meditation No. 2
The second movement is divided into two parts and a conclusion. It revolves around the holiness of God. The second part repeats the sequence from the first part, although with a different music in all sections except the first. It can be broken down as follows: