Along with Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin is one of the most prestigious Swiss composers of the last century. Among his best-known works are the Little Symphony Concertante and the oratorio Golgotha. The son of a Calvinist pastor, faith often pierced his artistic production. He died at the age of eighty-four in 1974. The year before, he had premiered two works of great impact that reflect this influence – the Requiem and the Polyptych.
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We call Polyptych an altarpiece composed of several panels that come together in a coherent whole. Frank Martin happened to be in the Italian city of Siena when he had already received an invitation to compose a concerto for violin and string orchestra. There he had the opportunity to see the famous polyptych painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna in the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Maestà, at the beginning of the 14th century. He was particularly impressed by the panels at the back of the altarpiece, composed of small paintings illustrating the Passion and Death of Jesus, which almost double the number of the fourteen stations. He then chose six of these images as the creative stimulus for a concert with six movements for violin and two small string orchestras, which are arranged on stage slightly apart from each other. The premiere took place on September 9, 1973 with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra conducted by conductor Edmond de Stoutz. It was the 25th anniversary of the International Music Council, whose president at the time was the soloist himself, Yehudi Menuhin.
This is music inspired by paintings from the late Middle Ages that refer to those passages in the biblical texts. However, the composer did not set out to make a small suite of symphonic poems, as if they were sound portraits of a narrative. Instead, he sought to transpose into music the emotions that these images aroused in himself. The criterion for his choice may have been their contrasting nature, so as to provide diversity between the movements. Thus, the “dialogue” between the violin and the two orchestras takes on various nuances. In the first movement the association of the violin with the figure of Jesus is relatively evident, while the orchestras mirror the hubbub of the crowd. In the second movement, the voice of Jesus also resounds in the soloist’s serenity. In the third movement, the orchestras are the protagonists, with the dynamism of a busy theatrical scene. Many also recognize in the fourth movement affinities with J. S. Bach’s Chaconne for violin. The fifth movement has an expressionistic style that one could associate without difficulty with a horror film. Finally, the chanting of a congregation of the faithful and the celestial phrasing of the soloist seem to be heard.
The composer himself left us a few words about what he felt before each of the paintings, and also about what he wanted to express through the music. We can add them to our listening today in ways that add readings and allusions that the score does not represent.
I. Palm Sunday Image
“In the Palm Sunday Image, I saw a noisy crowd advancing to witness Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, surrounding and acclaiming him; I also felt the presence of Christ, whose higher consciousness rises above the tumult and knows how human and fragile momentary glory is. I entrusted his expression to the solo violin.”
II. Image of the Upper Room
“In the Image of the Upper Room we have the farewell Christ addresses to His disciples, the anguished questions they ask Him, and the kindness of His answers.”
III. Image of Judas
“The Image of Judas portrays a being full of anguish, with a tormented heart; it is the image, above all, of a soul afflicted by obsession and despair.”
IV. Image of Gethsemane
“The Image of Gethsemane is the anguish of loneliness, the fervent prayer ‘Father, take this cup away from me!’ and finally the total acceptance, ‘Thy will be done.'”
V. Image of Judgment
“The Trial Image shows the full horror of a rampaging mob, the sadistic joy in the contemplation of suffering.”
VI. Image of Glorification
“And then, it is the way of the Cross. Having reached this point, I felt that there was no other possible ending than the Image of Glorification.”
Rui Campos Leitão