Offrande au Saint-Sacrement

Offrande au Saint-Sacrement (French: Offering to the Blessed Sacrament) is a composition for organ by French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was posthumously published in 2001.

Offrande au Saint-Sacrement
by Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
ComposedUnknown, probably 1928 (1928): Paris
Published2001 (2001): Paris
ScoringOrgan

Background

The Offrande was one of the works discovered by Yvonne Messiaen after the composer's death, together with his Prélude.[1] Since the piece was not meant to be published and was discarded, there are very few details available about its origin. Organist Olivier Latry has suggested that the work may be contemporary with Le banquet céleste (1928), since the second theme from the Offrande shows some common elements. A part of this composition was rearranged for the orchestral piece Le banquet eucharistique, which was presumably written in 1928 and is now considered to be lost.[2] The piece was published by Éditions Alphonse Leduc in 2001.[3]

Structure

This short piece for solo pipe organ has a total duration of 5 minutes and 34 bars. It is in the key of A major and is marked "Lent" (Slow) in the score. The piece is structured into two sections, the second one being a more developed repetition of the first one. In each section, there is an introductory subsection that is followed by a second one, which displays features of Baroque chorale preludes.[4][3]

Recordings

Since this piece was not initially intended for publication, it has been performed rarely and remains one of the lesser known works by Messiaen. Here is a list of notable recordings of the piece:

Organ Record company Year of recording Format
Olivier Latry Deutsche Grammophon 2002 CD[5]

References
  1. Shenton, Andrew. Olivier Messiaen's System of Signs: Notes Towards Understanding His Music. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-6168-9.
  2. Hill, Peter and Simeone, Nigel (2005). Messiaen. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 0-300-10907-5.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Messiaen, Olivier (2001). Offrande au Saint Sacrement: pour orgue. Paris: A. Leduc. ISMN 9790046293573. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. Benitez, Vincent. Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-58913-0. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. "MESSIAEN Complete Organ Works Latry". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
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