The Technique of My Musical Language: A Modern Companion

About This Digital Edition

This is a scholarly companion to Olivier Messiaen's La technique de mon langage musical (1944), in the English translation by John Satterfield (1956).

Messiaen's treatise is among the most significant documents of twentieth-century compositional thought. In it, he systematically explains the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic techniques that define his unique musical language—including his celebrated modes of limited transposition, added values, nonretrogradable rhythms, and their interrelationships.

Purpose

This digital edition provides:

1. Orientation to the structure of Messiaen's original text
2. Modern scholarly summaries of each chapter, using contemporary music-theoretical terminology
3. Reference tools for quick lookup during composition or analysis

It is designed to make Messiaen's ideas accessible and practically useful, particularly for composers who wish to have his techniques "ready-to-hand."

What This Is Not

This is not a transcription or reproduction of Messiaen's text. The original remains under copyright (held by Éditions Alphonse Leduc, Paris). Readers seeking Messiaen's own words—his distinctive prose style, his theological reflections, his poetic formulations—should obtain the original publication.

Structure

Part I: The Original Text

Structural orientation only: table of contents, chapter outlines, and information about obtaining the original.

Part II: Modern Summary & Analysis

Each of the nineteen chapters summarized in formal academic English, using contemporary music-theoretical vocabulary. Where Messiaen's 1944 terminology differs from current usage, equivalences are noted. Musical examples are referenced by number; readers should consult Volume 2 of the original publication.

Part III: Reference Apparatus

Cross-indexed reference tools organized for practical use: concept index, technique summaries, quick-reference tables, and multiple pathways into the material.

Part IV: Technique of Your Musical Language

A composer's workbook for developing your own systematic self-knowledge. Messiaen's treatise is not merely a catalog of his techniques—it is a demonstration of rigorous compositional self-observation. Part IV provides templates and prompts for documenting your own rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and formal vocabulary, following Messiaen's method of identifying sources, extracting principles, and tracking evolution. The goal is not to imitate Messiaen's language but to develop the same depth of understanding about your own.

A Note on Terminology

Messiaen wrote before the widespread adoption of pitch-class set theory, before the standardization of metric theory terminology, and within a specifically French pedagogical tradition. This companion translates his ideas into the vocabulary of contemporary English-language music theory where appropriate, while preserving the distinctiveness of his concepts. For example:

• His "modes of limited transpositions" relate to what set theorists call symmetric scales or sets with transpositional symmetry
• His "added values" connect to concepts of metric displacement and asymmetric grouping
• His "nonretrogradable rhythms" are palindromic or temporally symmetric structures

Such bridging is offered not to reduce Messiaen's thought to other frameworks, but to help readers situate his innovations within the broader landscape of music theory.

Obtaining the Original

Messiaen, Olivier. La technique de mon langage musical. 2 vols. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1944.

English translation: Satterfield, John. The Technique of My Musical Language. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1956.

Available from music retailers and academic libraries. Éditions Alphonse Leduc is now part of Hal Leonard Europe.

Use the search function (🔍) or the sidebar to navigate.