| Program notes: | Olivier Messiaen's Fantaisie for violin and piano, written in 1933, was only published by Durand in January of this year. The one-movement work is dedicated, like the Poèmes pour Mi from the same era, to Messiaen's first wife, the violinist Clare Delbos. The Fantaisie is a rarity in Messiaen's output, being one of only three chamber works with a solo violin (its companions being the Théme et variations, 1932; and the Louange à l'immortalit&eacture; de Jésus from the Quatuor pour la fin du temps; 1942). Like the Thème et variations, the Fantaisie bears some of Messiaen's familiar compositional hallmarks, but lacks an explicit theological program.
The Fantaisie appears to be modelled as a first-movement sonata form. An opening declamatory theme in the piano, which Messiaen reused later that year in the second movement of the orchestral work L'Ascension (Alléluias sereins d'une âme qui désire le ciel), leads into the first-subject area. The descending triplet figure in the violin recurs throughout the work. The second-subject area, Un peu moins vif mais très passionné, is a passage of long, lyrical melodies, similar to those in Le Verbe from the organ cycle La Nativité du Seigneur (1935). Messiaen introduces brass-like writing in the piano during the development; the two instruments gradually moving towards a passionate climax before the recapitulation begins. The work concludes with a virtuosic coda. The sonata-movement pattern might leave one wondering if Messiaen had further movements planned; however, even if this were the case, the Fantaisie is more than strong enough to stand as a work its own right. (c) Luke Berryman. |
