Les Weekends à l’Oasis Musicale présentent: 

Patrick Wedd organ / orgue 

La Nativité du Seigneur (1935)  

Neuf Méditations pour Orgue  

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 92) 

I La Vierge et l’Enfant 

Conçu par une Vierge un Enfant nous et né, un Fils nous a été donné. Sois transportée d’allégresse, fille de Sion! Voici que ton roi vient à toi, juste et humble. 

Conceived of a virgin, a child is born to us, a son has been given to us. Rejoice with elation, O daughter of Sion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and humble. (Isaiah 9:5, Zachariah 9:9) 

II Les Bergers 

Ayant vu l’Enfant couché dans la crèche, les bergers s'en retournèrent, glorifiant et louant Dieu. 

Having seen the child lying in the manger, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God. (Luke 2:20) 

III Desseins éternels 

Dieu, dans son amour, nous a prédestinés à être ses fils adoptifs, par Jésus-Christ, à la louange de la gloire de sa grâce.  

God, in his love, has predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, for the praise of the glory of his grace. (Ephesians 1:5,6) 

IV Le Verbe 

Le Seigneur m’a dit: Tu es mon Fils. De son sein, avant que l’aurore existât, il m’a engendré. Je suis l’Image de la bonté de Dieu, je suis le Verbe de vie, dès le commencement. 

The Lord hath said unto me: Thou art my Son. In His bosom, before the dawn existed, He begat me. I am the image of the goodness of God, I am the Word of life, that which was from the beginning. (Psalms 2:7, 109:3) 

V Les Enfants de Dieu 

A tous ceux qui l’ont reçu, le Verbe a donné le pouvoir de devenir enfants de Dieu. Et Dieu a envoyé dans leur coeur l’Esprit de son Fils, lequel crie: Père! Père! 

To all those who receive him the word gives the power to become children of God. And God has sent into their hearts the spirit of his son crying: Father! Father! (John 1:12, Galatians 4:6) 

VI Les Anges 

L’armée céleste louait Dieu et disait: Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux! The celestial army praised God saying: Glory to God in the highest heavens! (Luke 2:13,14) 

VII Jésus accepte la souffrance 

Le Christ dit à son Père en entrant dans le monde: «Vous n’avez agréé ni holocaustes, ni sacrifices pour le péché, mais vous m’avez formé un corps. Me voici!» 

On entering the world, Christ says to his father: You have accepted neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices for sin, but you have made for me a body. Here I am! (Hebrews 10:5-7) 

VIII Les Mages 

Les Mages partirent, et l'étoile allait devant eux.  

The wise men set out, and the star went before them. (Matthew 2:9) 

IX Dieu parmi nous 

Paroles du communiant, de la Vierge, de l’Eglise toute entière: «Celui qui m’a créé a reposé dans ma tente, le Verbe s’est fait chair et il a habité en moi. Mon âme glorifie le Seigneur, mon esprit a tressailli d’allégresse en Dieu mon Sauveur.» 

Words of the communicant, of the virgin, of the whole Church: He who created me dwells in my tent, the word was made flesh and lived in me. My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour. (John 1:14, Luke 1:46,47) 

Olivier Messiaen (French: [ɔlivje mɛsjɑ̃]; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically and melodically it often uses modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations. Messiaen also drew on his Roman Catholic faith for his pieces. 

He travelled widely and wrote works inspired by diverse influences such as Japanese music, the landscape of Bryce Canyon in Utah and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He said he perceived colours when he heard certain musical chords (a phenomenon known as synaesthesia in its literal manifestation); combinations of these colours, he said, were important in his compositional process. For a short period Messiaen experimented with the parametrisation associated with "total serialism", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. His style absorbed many exotic musical influences such as Indonesian gamelan (tuned percussion often features prominently in his orchestral works). 

Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and was taught by Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, among others. He was appointed organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post held until his death. He taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris during the 1930s. On the fall of France in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four available instruments—piano, violin, cello and clarinet. The piece was first performed by Messiaen and fellow prisoners for an audience of inmates and prison guards. He was appointed professor of harmony soon after his release in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His many distinguished pupils included Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Yvonne Loriod, who became his second wife. 

He found birdsong fascinating, notating bird songs worldwide and incorporating birdsong transcriptions into his music. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, and his use of birdsong are among the features that make Messiaen's music distinctive. 

Born in Simcoe, ON, Patrick Wedd directed his first church choir at the age of 12, Mr. Wedd has composed and arranged extensively, and has received an honorary doctorate in divinity from the Montreal Diocesan Theological College (Anglican) in recognition of his contribution to the life and work of the Church. He has played cycles of the complete organ works of Messiaen, Alain, de Grigny, Buxtehude, Ligeti and Leighton, and appears on two NAXOS discs, one with trombonist Alain Trudel, the other featuring the music of Healy Willan. 

Since September 1996 he has been Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, and since 1992 Artistic Director of the choral ensemble Musica Orbium. Patrick Wedd recently performed at the national convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists held in Kingston Ontario, where he was granted an honorary Fellowship of the College. 

Né à Simcoe, Ontario, Patrick Wedd était maître de chapelle à l’âge de douze ans. Il a composé et adapté une grande quantité de musique et a reçu docteur honoris causa ès théologie du « Montreal Diocesan Theological College » (anglican) en reconnaissance de sa contribution à la vie de l’Église. Il a interprété l’ensemble des œuvres pour orgue de Messiaen, Alain, de Grigny, Buxtehude, Ligeti et Leighton. Il a contribué à deux disques NAXOS, un premier en compagnie du tromboniste Alain Trudel, et un second mettant en vedette la musique de Healy Willan. 

Monsieur Wedd est maître de chapelle à la Cathédral Christ Church, Montréal depuis septembre 1996, et directeur artistique de l’ensemble choral Musica Orbium depuis 1992. 

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