In this study I examine three early works of Olivier Messiaen: the motet O sacrum convivium (1937), \"La colombe\" from the eight piano preludes (1928-9), and the closing passage of \"La fiancée perdue\" from the song cycle Trois méodies (1930). All three works exhibit varying degrees of tonal behavior in combination with a foreground focus on harmonic sonority. As such, I approach each of them with two contrasting analytic methods: modified Schenkerian linear-reductive analysis, informed by the interaction of diatonic and octatonic collections, and set-class analysis. The latter approach incorporates the harmonic complexity index (HCI) as an innovative harmonic measure calculated from the interval-class vector of each set-class. Informed by established and recent scholarly work, the introduction to the thesis provides a background for the application of these analytic techniques to this repertoire, while the thesis itself demonstrates that form is revealed powerfully through the combination of these two separate perspectives.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this study I examine three early works of Olivier Messiaen: the motet <em>O sacrum convivium</em> (1937), "La colombe" from the eight piano preludes (1928-9), and the closing passage of "La fiancée perdue" from the song cycle <em>Trois méodies</em> (1930). All three works exhibit varying degrees of tonal behavior in combination with a foreground focus on harmonic sonority. As such, I approach each of them with two contrasting analytic methods: modified Schenkerian linear-reductive analysis, informed by the interaction of diatonic and octatonic collections, and set-class analysis. The latter approach incorporates the harmonic complexity index (HCI) as an innovative harmonic measure calculated from the interval-class vector of each set-class. Informed by established and recent scholarly work, the introduction to the thesis provides a background for the application of these analytic techniques to this repertoire, while the thesis itself demonstrates that form is revealed powerfully through the combination of these two separate perspectives.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Beckman, Krista Lenore"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kristin Taavola, Ph.D.","Jonathan Leathwood","Gregory Robbins"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:45Z","subjects":["Choral music","Harmonic complexity","Linear analysis","Olivier Messiaen","Post-tonal music","Set theory","Music"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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"],"dc:subject":["Choral music","Harmonic complexity","Linear analysis","Olivier Messiaen","Post-tonal music","Set theory","Music"],"dc:title":["Sonority and Linear Structure in Three Early Works of Olivier Messiaen"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:45Z"}