Franciscanism in the Music of Charles Tournemire – Sei Fioretti Pages D’orgue op. 60

Abstract

On the basis of source research author analyzes the Franciscan topos in Sei fioretti op. 60 of Charles Tournemire. The Composer is one of the most important and still little known musician of French modernism, great predecessor of Olivier Messiaen. The structural and semiotic analysis allow to capture the deep dependencies between the inspiration of the life and charisms of Saint Francis and the technical-compositional sphere of the work. In the light of Tournemire’s symbolic method of integrating literary texts with music, with their simultaneous free paraphrasing and source dispersion, the interpretation carried out in the article gives the opportunity to fully understand the work for the first time. Furthermore, it offers the key to solving the mystery of interpretation of his other works and to deeper understanding of the relationship between Tournemire and Messiaen.