Louange à l’eternité de Jesus is a little gem by Oliver Messiaen. Today we know it as part of the Quatuor pour la fin du temps, written for piano and cello. In reality, this piece had another name, Oraison, and was intended for very special instruments: a Martenot wave ensemble, an analogue synthesiser invented by Martenot. This instrument is characterised by a sound that seems to come from another reality: there is no attack in the sound, the end is only a nuance, the sound consistency is constant, it never falls and never ends; for a piece whose title means prayer, it is just the perfect instrument. In the Quatuor, Messiaen wanted to include this piece without any changes in the score, but with two different instruments. While the cello can imitate and be a great substitute for the onde martenot, the piano on the other hand creates a completely different ambience: instead of long, timeless notes, it plays slow, repeated chords. This creates a kind of relentless rhythm, which requires great skill and concentration on the part of the performer. The harp can be perfectly introduced into this transformation. The entire piece, in fact, can be performed using enharmonics in the low strings, so instead of the piano’s rebates, where the attack of the sound is unavoidable, we will have a succession of different strings that nevertheless generate the same sound.

Each string will hide its attack in the sound of the previous one and cover that of the next, imitating an inescapable soundtrack. The harp becomes a bridge to the martenot wave, thanks to the powerful and long sound of the low notes and the ability to never strike the same string again, creating with the cello a sublime combination in the service of the introspection and meditation that this piece arouses.

I worked from the score for piano and cello, using enharmonics both to create that link with the sound of the martenot wave I mentioned, and to strengthen certain chords in the crescendos that needed more sonic power.