Jehan Alain: Trois Danses et Sarabande

Program notes for the Alain Sarabande

These program notes were written for a concert in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the pipe organ at St. Rita Catholic Church. The program included the Sarabande by Jehan Alain, Requiem Fragments by Alfred Calabrese, and the Concerto in G Minor by Francis Poulenc. Links to the performance and program can be found on this website.

The second World War undoubtedly changed human history; from art and literature to technology and weapons, the path of humanity had taken a sharp jagged angle. The course of music history at that time undoubtedly shows a massive shift in artistic output. From composers like Ralph Vaughan-Williams and Francis Poulenc who both lived through two World Wars, we see a shift from pieces about the beautifully serene English countryside and fun-loving French cities, to pieces painting horrific scenes of battles, death, funeral marches, and desperate screams to the heavens pleading for answers that don’t exist. Unfortunately, there are those composers who did not live long enough to have the substantial impact on the world that their surviving body of works might have foretold.

Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (1911 ̶ 1940) was born into a family of musicians. His father was an organist, composer, and organ builder who built an instrument in the living room of their home. With connections to famous organists such as Alexandre Guilmant and Louis Vierne, the Alain family was surrounded by all forms of music of the time. This seems to have had a profound impact on the children, three of whom (Jehan, Olivier, and youngest daughter Marie-Claire) became organists and composers, the later of the three to international fame. Jehan Alain was certainly on the right track when it came to musical study in Paris at that time; studying organ with renown organist Marcel Dupré and composition with Paul Dukas and Jean Roger-Ducasse set him up for a life of success, which was ended far too soon while engaging with German Soldiers in The Battle of Saumur.

In his short but prolific life, Jehan Alain wrote many unique pieces that suggested a compositional output that would have changed music history to equal extent as his friend and contemporary, Olivier Messiaen. From works for orchestra, choir, piano, organ, solo instrument, etc., his use of rhythm and harmonies have not been heard before or after his life. A perfect example of his distinctive musical voice is Trois Danses (1937), a large-scale work for orchestra. The second movement in this work, Deuils (mourning) is the only movement that can be used as a standalone piece, of which is given the subtitle Danse funèbre pour honorer une mémoire héroïque (Funeral dance in honor of a heroic memory) after the death of his sister Odile. Trois Danses has had many different iterations, beginning with orchestra (1937), the second movement (performed tonight) was given the title Sarabande and arranged for string quintet, organ, and timpani (1938), solo organ (1940), two pianos (1944), and then re-orchestrated in (1945). Needless to say, this work was very important to Jehan Alain, and is a prime representation of this compositional style.

‘You must create an impression of passionate incantation. Prayer is not a lament but a devastating tornado, flattening everything is its way. It is also an obsession. You must fill men’s ears with it, and God’s ears too! If you get to the end without feeling exhausted you have neither understood nor played it as I would want it.’ – Jehan Alain

Lets promote the organ and orchestra medium

While this piece is underperformed, I do hope this performance and article inspire future projects to include this magnificent work of art. Please feel free to use these program notes as long as the author is credited.

Cheers,

JB