Litanies
Litanies (JA 119) is a made up part for Orgue by Jehan Alain (1911 - 1940) in 1937. At the head of this one, one reads “When the Christian heart does not find any more words new in the distress to beseech the mercy of God, it unceasingly repeats the same invocation with a vehement faith. The reason reaches its limit. Only the faith continues its rise. ” These sentences were written by Alain following the death of his Marie-Odile sister in a climbing accident.
History
The Litanie S are one of the Prière S liturgical S of intercession, of use in the Catholicisme. The choice of Jehan Alain to compose a part on this topic is not particularly original taking into consideration work of contemporaries of Alain. For example, the pianist Francis Poulenc wrote in 1936 his Litanies with the black Vierge of Rocamadour , created in May 1937, and before him, the organist Marcel Dupre, professor de Jehan Alain with the Academy, composed Cortège and Litanie opus 19 n°2 (transcription of the version for piano, 1921).Alain finished the composition of the Litanies on August 15th, 1937, and he assumes itself of it creation with Paris, with the church of the Trinity, on February 17th 1938. The dedicatee, Virginia Schildge-Bianchini, create the part with the the United States in May of the same year.
The part is published at Leduc in 1939. Olivier Alain, brother of the type-setter and he also organist transcribed the piece for two pianos; this version (JA 119 A) was also published at Leduc, in 1995. Marie-Claire Alain, sister of the type-setter, has the manuscript. (enclave subito più lento E intimo , measurements 28-29), or with a the major strong (agreements with the handbooks and melody with the pedals, measurements 52-53).
Two main themes
First topic
The first topic is stated only, of unison, with the handbooks, measurement 1. Although the initial armor can suggest (in a purely theoretical way) the use of the tonality of D major flat or if minor flat, it of it is nothing. The first topic uses in fact the mode of D transposed on semi flat, which returns well to a range of semi minor flat in which the C is Bécarre and the D is Bémol.This original mode does not make it possible to establish a tonality clearly and gives to the topic a Gregorian aspect clean to evoke from the start the concept of litany.
The fact of pointing out the Gregorian one in the music of organ already took place before, inter alia under the influence of Joseph Pothier: one can quote for example the Sixty interludes in the Gregorian tonality of Guilmant (1837 - 1911), the Gregorian Album (1895) of Gigout (1844 - 1925), or, nearer to the Litanies , the Fantaisie on Gregorian topics opus 1 (1927) of Duruflé (1902 - 1986)…
Ambiguity relating to the tonality of the first topic is maintained by the many modulations and modifications harmonization which he knows, and it is not raised by the final agreement: its low is semi flat, it comprises ground and if flat, which would make a triad of it of semi minor flat, but to it the flat and C are added, which them forms with low Accord of quad and sixth of the major flat.
Second topic
The second topic is usually called “reason for the railroad”. Resulting from a preceding part of Alain, Phantasmagorias (JA 63), made up in 1935, it imitates the repetitive noise of a travelling coach on rails, and constitutes a feature of humor of Alain. He however recognized for certain passages that “with the true tempo, it is unplayable”. An example among others of the difficulty of the piece is in measurements 42 to 44: double notes with the pedals support an accompaniment in agreements of three notes to the left hand, however that the melody (right hand) is supported by held notes, with the right hand too; however, it is in this context already charged (and whereas there is no silences) that Alain requires of the organist to handle the ties of the console so as to add the trumpet of positive successively, the bugle of the large organ, then the trumpet of the large organ!