Tuesday, January 11, 2005
"SYMPHONIE LITURGIQUE"
Symphony No. 3 by Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)
That was the first segment of last Saturday's Cleveland Orchestra concert at Severence. The three movements are titled "Dies irae", "De profundis clamavi", and "Dona nobis pacem." If you are familiar with Latin, you will recognize the words as portions of Catholic liturgy. Richard E. Rodda describes this symphony with the following words:
The depth of Honegger's feelings incited by the War were inevitably given voice in an orchestral work that he began soon after the hostilities ended. "My Symphony is a drama," he said, "in which three characters–real or symbolic–play: misery, happiness and man. It is an eternal problem. I have tried to face it anew." He titled this new Symphony, his third, Liturgique, and headed each of its movements with a phrase from the Roman Catholic liturgy: "Dies irae" ("Day of Wrath," the terrifying depiction of the Judgment day in the Requiem Mass); "De profundis clamavi" ("Out of the depths Have I Cried," Psalm 130, used in the Office for the Dead); and "Dona nobis pacem" ("Grant us peace," the last section of the Mass Ordinary). Honegger did not quote the chant melodies associated with these words, but used the movement titles instead to indicate the general expressive progression of the Symphony as it reflected his experience of the War. The opening of "Dies irae" suggests chaos, barbarity and destruction, and "De profundis clamavi," anxiety and exhaustion made bearable only by hope; the two-part "Dona nobis pacem" begins with a stern march reflecting mankind's struggle against violence, and ends with a hymnal apotheosis of peace. Though Honegger never gave a more detailed program for the piece than that implied by its titles, Charles Munch, the conductor for whom it was written, thought that the Symphony "poses the problem of humanity vis-à-vis God" in broaching the subject of man's revolt against, and final submission to, a higher will. The Belgian critic Arthur Hoéreé found the Liturgique to be the expression of "a spirit in search of serenity amid all the unrest which is our present state," a comment as appropriate today as it was upon the Symphony's premiere in 1946. That Honegger could find a positive, life-giving and hopeful close to the War-impelled Symphonie Liturgique shows not only of his renewal of the expressive tradition of the Romantic symphonic apotheosis in distinctly modern terms, but also of his belief in the inextinguishable spirit of mankind.
I was looking forward to hearing the symphonie, foolishly expecting something liturgical. What a shock! Dies irae, especially, is simply jarring. It presents the kind of cacophony that one would expect on the streets of New York City at rush hour. But the longer I listened, the more fascinated I became. I had to keep reminding myself these were musical instruments making this noise, not cars and busses and people shouting at each other. But why the liturgical reference? Why not call it by a name that reflected what it sounded like, the noise of destruction?
In any case, it's interesting the sorts of artistic endeavor inspired by Catholicism.
