The major choral works of Frank Martin

Abstract

The name of Arthur Honegger is immediately recognized as that of the most distinguished twentieth century Swiss composer. Another Swiss composer, however, whose depth of creative musical thought is consistently being acclaimed in ever-widening circles of influence is that of Frank Martin. Part of the reason for Martin's delayed recognition can be attributed to the slow evolution of what can be termed his mature style. Among choral musicians Frank Martin's music is unexplored for several other reasons. First, except for Mass for double chorus written in 1926, his works are of such a large compass that they require the forces of soloists, large choruses, frequently double choruses, and an orchestra of no small means. This automatically relegates the performances of his works to a symphony orchestra and chorus or to the combined efforts of musical organizations on a college campus. A second reason for Martin's low profile in the choral world is the relative inaccessibility of scores. Attempts to familiarize oneself with the choral works of Martin and thus to ascertain their musical worth is met with continual delays in the request for examination copies, the necessity of returning them soon once they finally do arrive or of paying a substantial monthly rental for examination privileges. Such time-consuming activities and expenses definitely serve as a deterrent to research. The choral director is also led to conclude that if the obtaining of examination copies requires such an effort and time-lapse, the decision to schedule a performance would carry with it the unpredictability of obtaining multiple scores. It is unfortunate that the business procedures within the American company that is distributing the scores for the European-based publishing company create such barriers to the promulgation of Martin's choral music. A third factor contributing to Martin's relative obscurity in the United States is the realization by choral directors, even before they begin their hopeless flirtation with the publishing and distributing companies, that the works are in French. The performance of large-scale works in a foreign language by a relatively unknown composer and the necessity of imported scores creates a risk and expense that leads to the shelving of works of genuine musical worth. A final reason for the indifference to Martin's choral works could be the review given various area-premiere performances, causing conductors attempting to keep abreast with the inundation of new works to dismiss any tendency to examine them. Requiem (1972) represents a period of eight years since Pilaté (1964) and one of thirteen years since the last major oratorio, Le Mystère de la Nativité (1959). Regardless of the fact that it became Martin's last choral work, it deserves an extended analysis because of its proximity to the culmination of the career of a significant twentieth century Swiss composer. This document represents an attempt to fulfill the need for a careful consideration of the compositional traits revealed in Requiem as well as an examination of the earlier major choral works. It will also examine the feasibility of presenting the French works in English by demonstrating that choruses, recitatives and arioso solos do translate well within the rhythmic framework of each phrase. Whenever a translation is used within the document, it can be compared with the original version that is in the Appendices. The bibliography of the document will include entries of the scant literature in which Martin's works are discussed. Except for one dissertation in which selected works are analyzed (Tupper, 1960), no significant scholarly attempt has been made to analyze Martin's choral works, and Tupper's paper concentrated on the instrumental compositions except for Le vin herbe which is an early secular choral work. Most of the literature is of a superficial nature and represents the music critics' reviews of premiere performances. Since this is a document rather than a dissertation, it does not fulfill the need either for a major consideration of Martin's choral music, but it does begin to scratch the surface of his stylistic traits and perhaps open up vistas for some later in -depth study of this composer.