Boston University Messiaen Project [BUMP] International Conference: Messiaen the Theologian
Friday 12 October in the Marshall Room at CFA
8:30 a.m. Coffee and donuts / registration
9:00 a.m. Welcome and introductions
9:15 a.m. Session 1 – Messiaen the Catholic. Andrew Shenton (Boston University), Chair
• "A portrait of Messiaen the Catholic, from Messiaen the reader of Catholic literature." Yves Balmer.
• "The music of Messiaen: an inspiration for Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger’s renewal of liturgy in the wake of the Second Vatican Council." Karin Heller.
• "Divine Intimacy: Olivier Messiaen and a Theology of Joyous Relationality Between God and Humanity." Stephen Butler Murray.
11:00 a.m. Refreshment break
11:30 a.m. Session 2 – Theory and Theology. Mark DeVoto (Tufts University), Chair
• "Complexity within Simplicity: Modes and Color Chords in the First Movement of Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’au-delà ... " Martin Lee.
• "The ‘invisible temple’ of Sept Haïkaï." Wai Ling Cheong.
• "The Changing Touch: Olivier Messiaen’s Toccatas." Luke Berryman.
1:00 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m. Session 3 – Modernism and the Avant-Garde. Thomas Peattie (Boston University), Chair
• "Messiaen as preacher and evangelist in the context of European modernism." Peter Bannister.
• "The Fusion of the Philosophies of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Henri Bergson in Olivier Messiaen’s Theology of Time." Vincent Benitez.
• "Olivier Messiaen and the Avant-Garde." Robert Sholl.
5:00 p.m. Social Hour (with light refreshment)
6:00 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. Evening performance in Marsh Chapel
• Paul Festa’s award-winning film ‘Apparition of the Eternal Church’
• Messiaen: Apparition de l’Eglise Eternelle, Andrew Shenton, organ.
• Round-table discussion hosted by Victor Coelho (BU) with Paul Festa, and David Weininger (Boston Globe).
Saturday 13 October in the Marshall Room at CFA
8:30 a.m. Coffee and donuts
9:00 a.m. Session 4 – Spirituality, Dogmatism and Neo-Scholasticism. Alexandre Abdoulaev (Boston University), Chair
• "Dante as Guide to Messiaen’s Gothic Spirituality." Robert Fallon.
• "Messiaen the Dogmatic." Adam Gustafson.
• "Messiaen’s Relationship to Jacques Maritain’s Musical Circle and Neo-Scholasticism." Douglas Shadle.
11:00 a.m. Refreshment break
11:30 a.m. Key-note address: Rev. Dr. Stephen Schloesser, SJ (Boston College) - "The Charm of Impossibilities: Mystic Surrealism as Contemplative Voluptuousness."
12:30 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m. Session 5 – Naïveté, Immanence and Christology. Alexander Rehding (Harvard University), Chair
• "On Messiaen’s ‘Saintly Naïveté’." Sander van Maas.
• "The Thrilling Romance of Orthodoxy: Theological Immanence and Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise." Ryan W. Dohoney.
• "Messiaen reads the Infancy Gospels: The Vingt Regards as Christology." David Cannata.
5:00 p.m. Conference round up and discussion of oliviermessiaen.net
5:30 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. Concert in CFA Concert Hall
• Messiaen: Fantaisie pour violon et piano (1933)
Paul Festa, violin; Luke Berryman, piano
• Messiaen: La colombe
• Debussy: . . . Brouillards
• Debussy: . . . Feuilles mortes
• Debussy: . . . “Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses”
• Debussy: . . . Ondine
• Messiaen: Un reflet dans le vent
Ketty Nez, piano
• Debussy: Deux romances de Paul Bourget: Romance, Les cloches• Debussy: Deux morceaux de soir: Beau soir, Nuit d’étoiles
• Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (selections): Action de grâce, La maison, L'épouse, Ta voix, Les deux guerriers
Janna Baty, soprano; Andrew Shenton, piano