Chapter XVIII: Relation of These Modes to Modal, Atonal, Polytonal, and Quarter-Tone Music

Original: Page 67 in Satterfield translation

Musical Examples: References to Examples 182, 310 from previous chapters

Overview

Chapter XVIII positions Messiaen's modes of limited transpositions within the landscape of early twentieth-century compositional approaches, distinguishing his system from traditional modal music, atonality, polytonality, and quarter-tone systems. The chapter is brief but conceptually significant, clarifying what the modes are not while affirming what they uniquely accomplish. Messiaen argues that his modes differ fundamentally from historical modal systems (Indian, Chinese, Greek, plainchant) in their basis on symmetrical structure rather than scalar tradition. He distinguishes his approach from atonality by demonstrating how modes can suggest tonal centers while maintaining their distinctive character. He differentiates his practice from polytonality by emphasizing that modes create "the atmosphere of several tonalities at once, without polytonality"—a subtle but important distinction where the modal force absorbs potential polytonal implications. Finally, he acknowledges the theoretical possibility of modes of limited transpositions in quarter-tone systems while declining to explore this territory, noting it would require extensive separate treatment.