L'ascension ("The Ascension") is a piece for orchestra, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1932–33. Messiaen described it as "4 meditations for orchestra".
Contents
The orchestral piece is in four brief sections:
- Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père ("The majesty of Christ demanding its glory of the Father")
- Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel ("Serene alleluias of a soul that longs for heaven")
- Alleluia sur la trompette, alleluia sur la cymbale ("Alleluia on the trumpet, alleluia on the cymbal")
- Prière du Christ montant vers son Père ("Prayer of Christ ascending towards his Father")
A complete performance takes around 27 minutes.
Instrumentation
The work is orchestrated as follows:
Organ version
In 1933–34, Messiaen made a version for solo organ. The first, second and fourth movements are arrangements of the orchestral pieces, but Messiaen composed a new third movement, Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne ("Outbursts of joy from a soul before the glory of Christ which is its own glory"), usually just known as Transports de joie. ( listen ).
References
L'ascension Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA