ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with some observations about the artistic context of Olivier Messiaen's work and of 'Premiere communion de la Vierge' in particular. Amongst Messiaen's immediate French predecessors, Debussy is often regarded as the former's most important mentor. Messiaen's performance directions attempt the fine control of the colouristic and sensuous effects of a performance, and it would be worth briefly comparing these directions with those typically supplied by Debussy. With regard to music by a composer as recently alive as Messiaen, perhaps authorship and era become practically indistinguishable in the interpretative tower construct. The dhenki rhythm appears in a number of the composer's works before and after 1944, such as Les Corps Glorieux (1939) for organ. The ear schooled in Western art music may detect a suggestion of compound time in the left-hand rhythms. A dotted rhythm in compound time is associated with dance music in a number of topics, notably the siciliano, the forlana and the loure.
