Synaesthesia and the colours of Marc Chagall: composer Deborah Pritchard

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The French-Russian artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) said: ‘A stained glass window is a transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world,’ words that encapsulate the embrace of sublime light that cascades through his stained glass windows at All Saints’ Church, Tudeley in Kent. Chagall was commissioned to create these windows in 1963, in memory of Sarah d’Avigdor-Goldsmid - making it the only church in the world to be wholly glazed in his work. When I first visited the church in 2008 I was immediately moved by the emotional intensity of his windows and returned there earlier this year when my string duet Couleurs Céleste was performed during Tom Kemp’s Music@Malling Festival. I then had the idea to make a series of films that combined my music with Chagall’s stained glass, engaging with my synaesthesia. So I visited the church once again in September along with the violinist Greta Mutlu, cellist Richard Harwood, harpist Gabriella Jones, film maker Theresa Thomas and sound engineer Adaq Khan.

The series of four films is called Chagall’s Light, since it quotes my recent piece for solo violin and orchestra premiered by Greta Mutlu at the Music@Malling Festival. Each film has a unique subtitle linked to the various window themes: 1. Golden, 2. Celestial, 3. Memorial and 4. Serene. The first film Golden is scored for violin and harp, beginning with undulating harp glissandi played freely by Gabriella to create an effervescent landscape that glistens with colour. Against this, Greta plays a floating melody of 4ths on the violin, marked sul tasto, flautando with opulent, sweeping bow strokes to evoke the richness of hues. The visual narrative concludes in the light, garnished with frames that celebrate the natural sunlight. This is further enhanced by Theresa’s exquisite filming style: moving the camera in and out, as if the windows are breathing, with the film cut around the music to align image with sound.

Watch Golden here:

Synaesthesia is a condition where one sense can influence another and in my case it’s a link between colour and intervals, though there are may other functional musical parameters such as rhythmic intensity, timbre, texture and register. There have been many other colour-influenced composers throughout history such as Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) with his work Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, and Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) where colour was integral to the creation of his work Couleurs de la cité céleste (Colours of the celestial city). The power of colour also resonated with numerous artists too, such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) who, in his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art said: ’…colour is a power that directly influences the soul. Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.’

The second film Celestial features heavenly spheres and celestial images from the mainly blue and purple windows, this time scored for violin and cello. The music is taken from my duet Couleurs Céleste and is much faster, moving like light. It begins with an elegiac melody in the cello juxtaposed against shimmering sul ponticello bariolage in the violin to create dazzling overtones, resonating with the glowing blue light.

Watch Celestial here:

During his lifetime Marc Chagall was known as the last surviving master of European modernism. Having lived through two world wars, his work speaks of both abstraction and the expression of the inner life, with sacred themes and universal symbolism. André Malraux said that ‘Chagall was the greatest image-maker of this century. He has looked at our world with the light of freedom, and seen it with the colours of love.’ Chagall’s message of hope is most visceral in the central memorial window, the subject of the third film. The memorial window reaches into the waters of grief before ascending up Jacob’s ladder to the empyrean. The music reflects this journey with a mysterious opening melody played by Greta in the violin’s lower register, decorated with filagree-like ornamentation, played sul tasto, flautando. It is then passed to the cello where Richard plays in 6ths, and builds in chromaticism. At the height of the piece, the violin and cello come together with blazing tremolo, double-stopped against open strings for maximum resonance before descending and concluding in a triad, combing cello harmonics with sul tasto violin.

Watch Memorial here:

Greta and Richard play my music with a compelling expressivity and beauty. Being recorded amongst Chagall’s awesome windows gave further inspiration to the performance. Greta says:

‘Playing Deborah’s music is a great privilege - her writing is nuanced and expressive, full of colours both subtle and vivid. She uses a rich tapestry of instrumental techniques and sound-colours to convey profound meaning. Working directly with the composer helped me to transcend string technique and share a deeper message. A ponticello or senza vibrato can mean very different things depending on the artistic intention behind each musical moment. In truly grasping the composer’s ideas, I aim to transcend string technique and share a deeper message.

’Recording these pieces among Chagall’s extraordinary stained glass windows made me feel completely immersed in the inspiration behind the music. With beautiful and ever-changing light pouring into the space throughout the day, I felt connected to the music in a new way.’

While Richard adds: ‘Deborah’s music for Coleurs Céleste beautifully embraces and intertwines the violin and cello with a melodic soul that can’t fail to capture performer and listener alike. Performing in Tudeley surrounded by the Chagall glass is a truly spiritual and mesmerising experience made all the more poignant when reflecting on the tragic events surrounding Sarah d’Avigdor-Goldsmid that led to their creation, works of art now imbued within Deborah’s music.’

The final film of the series is called Serene, giving a sense of peace and tranquility. It explores all the windows in a colour-journey from colder blues and purples to the warmth of the golden windows. In the music I quote a canon from my previous work for two violas entitled The Heart, using flowing counterpoint to evoke the eternal passage of light played with a dolce, singing tone enhanced by vibrato and quality of sound. 

All four films were premiered in November 2023 at the Renaissance Conference in East London.

Watch Serene here:

The vast range of colours and timbres on the violin, cello and harp, the expressive interpretation of the musicians and the exceptionally creative filming have all played an integral part in my synaesthetic evocation of Chagall’s radiant light. As we journey through the season of Advent towards Christmas I am reminded of Chagall’s words ’In our life there is a single colour, as on an artist palette which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.’

All photos courtesy of Deborah Pritchard