TWENTIETH- - Synapse Music

128 Developments in Rhythm
ADDED VALUES AND NONRETROGRADABLE RHYTHMS
Two techniques from the fertile imagination of Olivier Messiaen will be discussed here.
The first one, called added values, involves complicating an otherwise simple rhythmic
pattern by the addition of a short duration in the form of a dot, a note, or a rest. In Example
6-11 each added value is identified by a "+". The first three measures would clearl y be in l
without the added values; with them, the effect is still of quadruple meter, but with one or
two longer beats in each measure. The rest of the example is more complicated rhythmically
and would probably be perceived as ametric.
EXAMPLE 6-11 Messiaen: The Techniqu e of My Musicol Language, Example 13, mm. 1- 6
(© Editions Alphonse Leduc. Used by permission of the publisher.)
Decide, vigoureux, granitique, un peu vif
ff non legato, marteM
+ +
A nonretrogradable rhythm is simply a rhythmic pattern that sounds the same
whether played forward or backward (in retrograde). A trivial example would be a group of
four eighth-notes, but Messiaen is interested in more complicated patterns. The rhythm of
each measure in Example 6--12 is nonretrogradable, and each measure also contains added
values. Notice that the rhythmic activity builds gradually to a climax in the seventh measure.
fo llowed by an immediate relaxation through longer note values. Both of the Messiaen
examples are drawn from the sixth movement of his Quartet/or the End a/Time ( 1941).