Olivier Messiaen's rhythmic writing and it's deployments on other aspects of his compositional practice

Abstract

This project is interested in studying how the technical resources concerning the rhythmic writing of Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) relate to other domains of his compositional practice (e. g. pitch management and formal constitution) in the singular contexts of pieces of different phases of his production. For such purpose, we shall analyze four groups of pieces written by the composer between 1941 and 1970, taking as a base the diversity of materials, procedures and concepts related to rhythm, exposed and discussed in Messiaen's theoretical work. This project aims to continue the scientific initiation "Rhythm as the articulator of musical discourse", funded by FAPESP (process 2008/04871-8) and developed between 2008 and 2011. We have the following main objectives: a) support a further study on the rhythmic writing of composers of the second half of the twentieth century who were influenced by Messiaen and ;b) contribute to the development of the candidate in his compositional activity.