Ex. 3: Three voices in “Midrash” of the Passion (mm. 200–202)
rhythm that expressed human distress in the first Invitatoire. The third voice is the pedal theme in parallel augmented fourths, which is an invocation by Mary: “Lord, have pity on us, Oh Christ!” (“Seigneur, aie pitié de nous, ô Christ!”). It is very ineresting that these threemeanings of music are overlapped at the same time. According toFlorentz, the three voices
Ex. 4: TheMorse code “Tazakkar!” and its corresponding rhythm
of the “Toccata” summarize the account of the Passion of Christ: (1) torture in the court (scourging), (2) the execution (cries of Jesus on the cross), and (3) the burial (Mary at the bottom of the cross collecting the body of Jesus). The death of Jesus on the cross is an extreme ex- pression of God’s love forman. Florentz emphasizes this love of God by arrang- ing this “Midrash” of the Passion in the center of Debout sur le soleil.
Morse Code Florentz uses Morse code to trans-
Ex. 5: The right-hand part in the first Invitatoire (mm. 10–13)
form the liturgical words into musical rhythm. In Ethiopian liturgy, “Sou- viens-toi!” (“Remember!”) can be trans- lated into “Tazakkar!” in Ge’ez, which can then be changed into Morse code (see Ex. 4). Florentz translates the original Morse
code into a palindromic rhythm by combining the two dashes from KK into one dash (Ex. 4). This redoubling of K is typical in Semitic languages. Florentz uses this palindrome in several places, such as mm. 12–13, 24, 45, 49, and 66. For instance, this theme “Tazakkar!” (“Souviens-toi!”) appears in the first In- vitatoire (Ex. 5), in which human dis- tress is expressed by the rhythm of “Tazakkar” (“Souviens-toi”), and the palindromic rhythm indicates the dou- bling of K.
Triple Ascending Transposition This method was introduced in the
Ex. 6: Triple ascending transposition in the third refrain (mm. 145–148)
third refrain (mm. 145–148), represent- ing the triple singing of Lumen Christi9 in the liturgy of Easter Saturday (Ex. 6). This transposition starts on G, ascends to A, and finally rests on B at m. 148. The use of a triple ascending transposi- tion appears in several places: as quin- tuplets chord play in mm. 39–41 (G–A–C), and in mm. 68–74 and 242 (D to E inmm. 68–74, then E inm. 242).
Quintuplets, Sextuplets, and Triplets One of the most important elements
found in Florentz’s works is the fre- quent use of regular and irregular triplets, quintuplets. and sextuplets. The use of irregular quintuplets is found in Laudes (third movement), where there is a dotted note in the group that is slightly longer than other notes. In Debout sur le soleil, regular quintup- lets in a pentatonic chord become irreg- ular quintuplets by attaching a tenuto to the fourth note (Ex. 7). A stunning use of quintuplets is found inmm. 271–311,
36 THE AMERICAN ORGANIST
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