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Date of Graduation
Spring 5-5-2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
Department
School of Music
Advisor(s)
Beth E. Chandler
Abstract
When Olivier Messiaen submitted his work Le Merle Noir as the 1952 Paris Conservatoire examination piece for flute, he utilized a number of significant compositional techniques. At the time of its writing, Messiaen was in a phase of his oeuvre which included not only traditional methods of composition, but experimentation with more modern methods, such as dodecaphony, total serialism, and the use of birdsong as important thematic material. In Le Merle Noir, the amalgam of these methods results in a work that seems to have all of the wild and chaotic aspects of nature, but in reality has been painstakingly crafted using sophisticated compositional techniques. This illusion of nature’s anarchy is complete when the work reaches its most carefully composed section, which utilizes the most intricate type of composition: total serialism. This research paper attempts to reveal these methods of composition through both new and established analysis and research, in order to bring to light the structure behind this seemingly chaotic work.
Recommended Citation
Grise, Tiana Lynn, "The illusion of chaos: The compositional structure of Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir" (2012). Dissertations, 2014-2019. 85.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019/85
