Messiaen, Olivier (1949-1950): Thème d'improvisation pour orgue pour André Marchal — Michael Harding

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Composer: Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (10 December 1908 — 27 April 1992)
Organist: Michael Robert Harding (born 21 December 1994)
Organ: Charles, Jean-Baptiste Nicolas, Louis, et Clement Lefèbvre (1737), Frères Verschneider, Puttelange (1860), Aristide Cavaillé-Coll et Cᶦᵉ, Paris, op. 569 (1885), Maison Renaud-Ménoret, Nantes (1998—1999); Église abbatiale de Saint Étienne-aux-Hommes, Caen, Calvados, Normandy, France [extension of the virtual Hauptwerk sampleset by Sonus paradisi]

We would like to thank and faithfully acknowledge @MichaelHarding12 for sending a world première recording and engraving of this theme.

An unpublished alternative version of a theme from the ninth and final movement 'Dieu parmi nous' of Messiaen's first major organ suite, the 1935 'La Nativité du Seigneur' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX7MglDoNds&t=3202s). The left hand harmonises the melody with chords. Among other things, it is untrilled. Its tempo indication is 'Scherzando'; in the original, it was was 'Vif et joyeux'. It is inspired by the song of a nightingale, with half of it following its contour and rhythmic patterns (but not exactly its precise song, which is adjusted for the sake of modality).
This was a subject presented to the organist André Marchal during a concert, either in 1949 or 1950. There seems to be no surviving recording of this improvisation, which one would surely suppose to be extraordinary. The revision of this melody dates from 1949 through 1950; however, its actual genesis dates to 1935.
Since it lacks registration, the performer devised it.

Any corrections and additional information would gladly be accepted.

(Extracted from the 2024 doctoral dissertation of James William Bruce Forman submitted to Birmingham City University, which, in turn, sourced these from the Fonds Olivier Messiaen in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France.)

Selon la description de cette chaîne, je ne possède rien dans cette vidéo. La musique et ses interprétations ont été téléchargées exclusivement et entièrement à des fins de divulgation et de diffusion de l'intérêt pour la musique et les arts.
As per the description of this channel, I do not own anything within this video. The music and performances have been uploaded for exclusively and entirely for the purposes of divulgation and spreading interest in music and the arts.