The material of the middle section completely differs from the slow and eternal-sounding A section. However, similarly to the first movement, Messiaen wants the clarinet to imitate sounds of blackbirds flying over the abyss. Most of the passages written in the clarinet part are technically challenging. In addition, it is required that the performer to be equipped with a variety of dynamics and an overall control throughout all the registers, and to have crisp articulations that add extra pose and direction throughout the middle
The material of the middle section completely differs from the slow and eternal-sounding A section. However, similarly to the first movement, Messiaen wants the clarinet to imitate sounds of blackbirds flying over the abyss. Most of the passages written in the clarinet part are technically challenging. In addition, it is required that the performer to be equipped with a variety of dynamics and an overall control throughout all the registers, and to have crisp articulations that add extra pose and direction throughout the middle