Olivier Messiaen was a French composer,
organistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and
ornithologistOrnithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex (he was interested in rhythms from
ancient GreekAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and from
HinduHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
sources); harmonically and
melodicallyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
it is based on
modes of limited transpositionModes of limited transposition are musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups...
, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations. Many of his compositions depict what he termed "the marvellous aspects of the faith", and drew on his deeply held Roman Catholicism.
He travelled widely and wrote works inspired by diverse influences such as Japanese music, the landscape of
Bryce CanyonBryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau...
in Utah and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He said he perceived colours when he heard certain
musical chordsA chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
, particularly those built from his
modesIn the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
(a phenomenon known as
synaesthesiaSynesthesia , from the ancient Greek , "together," and , "sensation," is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway...
); combinations of these colours, he said, were important in his compositional process. For a short period Messiaen experimented with the
parametrisationParameter from Ancient Greek παρά also “para” meaning “beside, subsidiary” and μέτρον also “metron” meaning “measure”, can be interpreted in mathematics, logic, linguistics, environmental science and other disciplines....
associated with "total
serialismIn music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. His style absorbed many exotic musical influences such as Indonesian
gamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
(tuned percussion often features prominently in his orchestral works). He was one of the first composers to use an electronic keyboard—in this case, the
ondes MartenotThe ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
—in an orchestral work.
Messiaen entered the
Paris ConservatoireThe Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
at the age of 11 and was taught by
Paul DukasPaul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
,
Maurice EmmanuelMaurice Emmanuel was a French composer of classical music.Brought up in Dijon, Marie François Maurice Emmanuel became a chorister at Beaune cathedral after his family moved to the city in 1869. Subsequently he went to Paris, and he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where his composition teacher...
,
Charles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
and
Marcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
, 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 FranceIn the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his ("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
harmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
soon after his release in 1941, and professor of
compositionMusical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His
many distinguished pupils included
Pierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and
Yvonne LoriodYvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
, who became his second wife.
He found
birdsongBird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
fascinating, believed birds to be the greatest musicians, and considered himself as much an ornithologist as a composer. He notated bird songs worldwide and incorporated birdsong
transcriptionsIn music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
into most of his music. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, his use of birdsong and his desire to express religious ideas are among features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.
Youth and studies
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was born in
AvignonAvignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, France, into a literary family. He was the elder of two sons of Cécile Sauvage, a poet, and Pierre Messiaen, a teacher of English who translated the plays of
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
into French. Messiaen's mother published a sequence of poems, ("The Budding Soul"), the last chapter of ("As the Earth Turns"), which address her unborn son. Messiaen later said this sequence of poems influenced him deeply and he cited it as prophetic of his future artistic career.
At the outbreak of World War I, Pierre Messiaen enlisted and Cécile took their two boys to live with her brother in
GrenobleGrenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
. There Messiaen became fascinated with drama, reciting Shakespeare to his brother with the help of a home-made toy theatre with translucent backdrops made from old
cellophaneCellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria and water makes it useful for food packaging...
wrappers. At this time he also adopted the Roman Catholic faith. Later, Messiaen felt most at home in the Alps of the
DauphinéThe Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
, where he had a house built south of Grenoble where he composed most of his music.
He took piano lessons having already taught himself to play. His interest included the recent music of French composers
Claude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and
Maurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, and he asked for opera vocal
scoresSheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
for Christmas presents. Around this time he began to compose. In 1918 his father returned from the war and the family moved to
NantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
. He continued music lessons; one of his teachers, Jehan de Gibon, gave him a score of Debussy's opera , which Messiaen described as "a thunderbolt" and "probably the most decisive influence on me". The following year Pierre Messiaen gained a teaching post in Paris. Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1919, aged 11.
At the Conservatoire, Messiaen made excellent academic progress. In 1924, aged 15, he was awarded second prize in harmony, having been taught in that subject by professor
Jean GallonJean Gallon was a French composer, choir conductor, and music educator. His compositional output consists of six antiphons for strings and organ, one mass, one ballet, and several art songs....
. In 1926, he gained first prize in
counterpointIn music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
and
fugueIn music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
, and in 1927 he won first prize in piano
accompanimentIn music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
. After studying with
Maurice EmmanuelMaurice Emmanuel was a French composer of classical music.Brought up in Dijon, Marie François Maurice Emmanuel became a chorister at Beaune cathedral after his family moved to the city in 1869. Subsequently he went to Paris, and he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where his composition teacher...
, he was awarded first prize for the history of music in 1928. Emmanuel's example engendered an interest in ancient Greek rhythms and exotic modes. After showing
improvisationImprovisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
skills on the piano Messiaen studied
organThe organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
with
Marcel DupréMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
and inherited the tradition of great French organists (Dupré had studied with Charles-Marie Widor and
Louis VierneLouis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer.-Life:Louis Vierne was born in Poitiers, Vienne, nearly blind due to congenital cataracts, but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French...
, Vierne in turn was a pupil of
César FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
). Messiaen gained first prize in organ playing and improvisation in 1929. After a year studying composition with
Charles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
, in the autumn of 1927 he entered the class of the newly appointed
Paul DukasPaul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
, who instilled in Messiaen a mastery of
orchestrationOrchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
. In 1930 Messiaen won first prize in composition.
While a student he composed his first published works—his eight
Préludes for piano (the earlier
Le banquet céleste was published subsequently). These exhibit Messiaen's use of his
modes of limited transpositionModes of limited transposition are musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups...
and
palindromicA palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
rhythms (Messiaen called these
non-retrogradable rhythmIn music or music theory, a non-retrogradable rhythm is a pattern of note durations that is read or performed the same either forwards or backwards, i.e., it is a rhythmic palindrome. The term is used most frequently in the context of the music of Olivier Messiaen...
s). His public début came in 1931 with his orchestral suite
Les offrandes oubliées. That year he first heard a
gamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
group, sparking his interest in the use of tuned percussion.
La Trinité, La jeune France, and Messiaen's war
In the autumn of 1927, Messiaen joined
Dupré'sMarcel Dupré , was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.-Biography:Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen . Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when...
organ course. Dupré later wrote that Messiaen, having never seen an organ console, sat quietly for an hour while Dupré explained and demonstrated the instrument, and then came back a week later to play
Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's
Fantasia in C minorThe Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562 is a relatively short piece written for the organ by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach began the composition during his time in Weimar, and an unfinished fugue, probably by Bach, was added in his later life...
to an impressive standard. From 1929, Messiaen regularly deputised at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris, for the organist
Charles QuefCharles Paul Florimond Quef was a French organist and composer.He studied at the conservatory in Lille and after absolving it, he attended Paris Conservatory, where he studied together with Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne and Alexandre Guilmant...
, who was ill at the time. The post became vacant in 1931 when Quef died, and Dupré,
Charles TournemireCharles Tournemire was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant...
and Widor among others supported Messiaen's candidacy. His formal application included a letter of recommendation from Widor. The appointment was confirmed in 1931, and he remained the organist at la Sainte-Trinité for more than sixty years.
He married the violinist and composer
Claire DelbosClaire Delbos was a French violinist and composer, and first wife of the composer Olivier Messiaen.-Biography:...
in 1932. Their marriage inspired him to both compose works for her to play (
Thème et variations for violin and piano in the year they were married) and to write pieces to celebrate their domestic happiness, including the
song cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
Poèmes pour Mi in 1936, which he orchestrated in 1937.
Mi was Messiaen's affectionate nickname for his wife. In 1937 their son Pascal was born. The marriage turned to tragedy when Delbos lost her memory after an operation and spent the rest of her life in mental institutions.
In 1936, along with
André JolivetAndré Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet's music draws on his interest in acoustics and atonality as well as both ancient and modern influences in music, particularly on instruments used in ancient times...
, Daniel-Lesur and Yves Baudrier, Messiaen formed the group
La jeune FranceLa jeune France was the name of two related French societies in the 1930s and 1940s.- Musical organization :Jeune France was founded in 1936 by André Jolivet along with composers Olivier Messiaen, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, Pierre Schaeffer and Yves Baudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a...
("Young France"). Their manifesto implicitly attacked the frivolity predominant in contemporary Parisian music and rejected
Jean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
's 1918
Le coq et l'arlequin manifesto in favour of a "living music, having the impetus of sincerity, generosity and artistic conscientiousness". Messiaen's career soon departed from this polemical phase.
In response to a commission for a piece to accompany light-and water-shows on the Seine during the
Paris ExpositionThe Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937 in Paris, France...
, in 1937 Messiaen demonstrated his interest in using the
ondes MartenotThe ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
, an electronic instrument, by composing
Fêtes des belles eaux for an ensemble of six. He included a part for the instrument in several of his subsequent compositions. During this period he composed several multi-movement organ works. He arranged his orchestral suite
L'ascensionL'ascension is a piece for orchestra, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1932-33. Messiaen described it as "4 meditations for orchestra".The orchestral piece is in four brief sections:...
("The Ascension") for organ, replacing the orchestral version's third movement with an entirely new movement,
Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne ("Ecstasies of a soul before the glory of Christ, which is its own glory"). This movement became one of Messiaen's most popular pieces. He also wrote the extensive cycles
La Nativité du SeigneurLa Nativité du Seigneur is a work for organ, written by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1935....
("The Nativity of the Lord") and
Les corps glorieux ("The glorious bodies"). The final
toccataToccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
of
La Nativité,
Dieu parmi nous ("God among us"), has become another favourite recital piece.
At the outbreak of World War II, Messiaen was drafted into the French army. Due to poor eyesight, he was enlisted as a medical auxiliary rather than an active combatant. He was captured at Verdun and taken to
GörlitzGörlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
in May 1940, and was imprisoned at
Stalag VIII-AStalag VIII-A was a World War II German POW camp just east of Görlitz, Germany Prior to the outbreak of war it was a Hitlerjugend camp.-Timeline:...
. He met a violinist, a cellist and a clarinettist among his fellow prisoners. He wrote a trio for them, which he gradually incorporated into his
Quatuor pour la fin du tempsQuatuor pour la fin du temps, also known by its English title Quartet for the End of Time, is a piece of chamber music by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was premiered in 1941...
("Quartet for the End of Time"). The quartet was first performed in January 1941 to an audience of prisoners and prison guards, with the composer playing a poorly maintained upright piano in freezing conditions. Thus the enforced introspection and reflection of camp life bore fruit in one of 20th-century European classical music's acknowledged masterpieces. The title's "end of time" alludes to the
ApocalypseAn Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
, and also to the way in which Messiaen, through rhythm and harmony, used time in a manner completely different from his predecessors and contemporaries.
Tristan and serialism
Shortly after his release from
GörlitzGörlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
in May 1941, Messiaen was appointed a professor of harmony at the
Paris ConservatoireThe Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
, where he taught until his retirement in 1978. He compiled his
Technique de mon langage musical ("Technique of my musical language") published in 1944, in which he quotes many examples from his music, particularly the Quartet. Although only in his mid-thirties, his students described him as an outstanding teacher, who, rather than imposing his own ideas, encouraged his pupils to find their own voice. Among his early students were the composers
Pierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and
Karel GoeyvaertsKarel Goeyvaerts was a Belgian composer.-Life:After studies at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, Goeyvaerts studied composition in Paris with Darius Milhaud and analysis with Olivier Messiaen...
and the pianist
Yvonne LoriodYvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
. Other pupils included
Karlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
in 1952,
Alexander GoehrAlexander Goehr is an English composer and academic.Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and Schoenberg pupil Walter Goehr. In his early twenties he emerged as a central figure in the Manchester School of post-war British composers. In 1955–56 he joined Oliver Messiaen's...
in 1956–57,
György KurtágGyörgy Kurtág is a Hungarian composer of contemporary music.- Biography :György Kurtág was born in Lugoj in the Banat region, Romania.In 1946, he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where he met his wife, Márta, and also György Ligeti, who became a close friend...
in 1957,
Tristan MurailTristan Murail is a French composer. His father, Gérard Murail, is a poet and his mother, Marie-Thérèse Barrois, a journalist. One of his brothers, Lorris Murail, and his younger sister Elvire Murail, aka Moka, also write, and his younger sister Marie-Aude Murail is a French children's writer...
in 1967–72 and
George BenjaminGeorge William John Benjamin, CBE is a British composer of classical music. He is also a conductor, pianist and teacher....
during the late 1970s. The Greek composer
Iannis XenakisIannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
was referred to him in 1951; Messiaen urged Xenakis to take advantage of his background in mathematics and architecture in his music.
In 1943, Messiaen wrote
Visions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen") for two pianos for Loriod and himself to perform. Shortly thereafter he composed the enormous solo piano cycle
Vingt regards sur l'enfant-JésusVingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus is a collection of pieces by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for solo piano. The French title translates into English roughly as "Twenty gazes/contemplations on the infant Jesus"...
("Twenty gazes on the child Jesus") for her. Again for Loriod, he wrote
Trois petites liturgies de la présence divineTrois petites liturgies de la présence divine is a piece by Olivier Messiaen for women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot, and orchestra , in three movements...
("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence") for female chorus and orchestra which includes a difficult solo piano part. In this way, Messiaen continued to bring liturgical subjects to the piano recital and concert hall.
Two years after
Visions de l'Amen, Messiaen composed the song cycle Harawi, the first of three works inspired by the legend of
Tristan Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
and Isolde. The second of these works about human (as opposed to divine) love was the result of a commission from Serge Koussevitsky. Messiaen stated that the commission did not specify the length of the work or the size of the orchestra. This was the ten-movement
Turangalîla-SymphonieThe Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen. It was written from 1946 to 1948, on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The premiere was given by that orchestra on December 2, 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein in Boston...
. It is not a conventional
symphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, but rather an extended meditation on the joy of human union and love. It does not contain the sexual guilt inherent in
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's
Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
because Messiaen believed that sexual love is a divine gift. The third piece inspired by the
Tristan myth was
Cinq rechants for twelve unaccompanied singers, described by Messiaen as influenced by the
albaThe alba is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry. It describes the longing of lovers who, having passed a night together, must separate for fear of being discovered by their respective spouses....
of the
troubadourA troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s. Messiaen visited the United States in 1947, where his music was conducted by Koussevitsky and
Leopold StokowskiLeopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. His
Turangalîla-Symphonie was first performed in America in 1949, conducted by
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
.
Messiaen taught an
analysisMusical analysis is the attempt to answer the question how does this music work?. The method employed to answer this question, and indeed exactly what is meant by the question, differs from analyst to analyst, and according to the purpose of the analysis. According to Ian Bent , analysis is "an...
class at the Paris Conservatoire, and in 1947 he taught in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and in 1949 at
TanglewoodTanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
. During the summers of 1949 and 1950 he taught in the
new music summer schoolInitiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt , held annually until 1970 and subsequently every two years, encompass both the teaching of composition and interpretation and include premières of new works...
classes at
DarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. While he did not employ the
twelve-tone techniqueTwelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, after three years teaching analysis of twelve-tone scores, including works by
Arnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, he experimented with ways of making scales of other elements (including duration, articulation and dynamics) analogous to the chromatic pitch scale. The results of these innovations was the "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" for piano (from the
Quatre études de rhythme) which has been misleadingly described as the first work of
total serialismIn music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
. It had a large influence on the earliest European serial composers including
Pierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
,
Karel GoeyvaertsKarel Goeyvaerts was a Belgian composer.-Life:After studies at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, Goeyvaerts studied composition in Paris with Darius Milhaud and analysis with Olivier Messiaen...
, and
Karlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
. During this period he also experimented with
musique concrèteMusique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, music for recorded sounds.
Birdsong and the 1960s
When in 1952 Messiaen was asked to provide a test piece for
flautistA flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
s wishing to enter the Paris Conservatoire, he composed the piece
Le merle noir for flute and piano. While he had long been fascinated by birdsong, and birds had made appearances in several of his earlier works (for example
La Nativité,
Quatuor and
Vingt regards), the flute piece was based entirely on the song of the blackbird.
He took this development to a new level with his 1953 orchestral work
Réveil des oiseaux—its material consists almost entirely of the birdsong one might hear between midnight and noon in the
JuraThe Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
. From this period onwards, Messiaen incorporated birdsong into all of his compositions and composed several works for which birds provide both the title and subject matter (for example the collection of thirteen pieces for piano
Catalogue d'oiseaux completed in 1958, and
La fauvette des jardins of 1971). Far from being simple transcriptions of birdsong, these works are sophisticated tone poems evoking both place and atmosphere.
Paul Griffiths Paul Griffiths is a British music critic, novelist and librettist. He is particularly noted for his writings on modern classical music and for having written the libretti for two 20th century operas, Tan Dun's Marco Polo and Elliott Carter's What Next?.-Biography and career:Paul Griffiths was...
observed that Messiaen was a more conscientious ornithologist than any previous composer, and a more musical observer of birdsong than any previous ornithologist.
Messiaen's first wife died in 1959 after a long illness, and in 1961 he married pianist
Yvonne LoriodYvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
. He began to travel widely, to attend musical events and to seek out and transcribe the songs of more exotic birds in the wild. Loriod frequently assisted her husband's detailed studies of birdsong while walking with him, by making tape recordings for later reference. In 1962 he visited Japan, where
GagakuGagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. It consists of three primary repertoires:#Native Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, called kuniburi no utamai...
music and
Noh, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...
theatre inspired the orchestral "Japanese sketches",
Sept haïkaï, which contain stylised imitations of traditional Japanese instruments.
Messiaen's music was by this time championed by, among others, Pierre Boulez, who programmed first performances at his
Domaine musicalThe Domaine musical was a concert society established by Pierre Boulez in Paris, which was active from 1954 to 1973. Composers represented at its concerts included Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, John Cage, Sylvano Bussotti, Mauricio Kagel, Hans Werner Henze, Henri Pousseur, Ernst...
concerts and the
DonaueschingenDonaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....
festival. Works performed included
Réveil des oiseaux,
ChronochromieChronochromie is an orchestral work by French composer Olivier Messiaen, completed in 1960. It consists of seven movements: Introduction, Strophe I, Antistrophe I, Strophe II, Antistrophe II, Epode and Coda. The sixth movement consists of 18 string instruments playing different birdsong...
(commissioned for the 1960 festival) and
Couleurs de la cité céleste. The latter piece was the result of a commission for a composition for three
tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s and three
xylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
s; Messiaen added to this more brass, wind, percussion and piano, and specified a xylophone,
xylorimbaThe xylorimba is a pitched percussion instrument corresponding to a xylophone with an extended range ....
and
marimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
rather than three xylophones. Another work of this period,
Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorem, was commissioned as a commemoration of the dead of the two World Wars and was performed first semi-privately in the
Sainte-ChapelleLa Sainte-Chapelle is the only surviving building of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris, France. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval...
, then publicly in
Chartres CathedralThe French medieval Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres is a Latin Rite Catholic cathedral located in Chartres, about southwest of Paris, is considered one of the finest examples of the French High Gothic style...
with
Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
in the audience.
His reputation as a composer continued to grow and in 1959, he was nominated as an
Officier of the
Légion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. In 1966 he was officially appointed professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire, although he had in effect been teaching composition for years. Further honours included election to the
Institut de FranceThe Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
in 1967, the
Erasmus PrizeThe Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, a Dutch non-profit organization, to individuals or institutions that have made notable contributions to European culture, society, or social science. The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation was founded on 23 June 1958 by...
in 1971, the award of the
Royal Philharmonic SocietyThe Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
Gold Medal and the
Ernst von Siemens Music PrizeThe international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung , established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens...
in 1975, the Sonning Award (Denmark's highest musical honour) in 1977, and the presentation of the
Croix de Commander of the
BelgianBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Order of the CrownThe Order of the Crown is an Order of Belgium which was created on 15 October 1897 by King Leopold II in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The order was first intended to recognize heroic deeds and distinguished service achieved from service in the Congo Free State - many of which acts...
in 1980.
Transfiguration, Canyons, St. Francis, and the Beyond
Messiaen's next work was the enormous
La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-ChristLa Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ is a work written between 1965 and 1969 by Olivier Messiaen. It is based on the Jesus transfiguring on a mountain according to the report of the Synoptic Gospels. The writing is on a very large scale; the work requires around 200 performers...
. The composition occupied him from 1965 to 1969 and the musicians employed include a 100-voice ten-part choir, seven solo instruments and large orchestra. Its fourteen movements are a meditation on the story of Christ's
TransfigurationThe Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
. Shortly after its completion, Messiaen received a commission from
Alice TullyAlice Bigelow Tully was a U.S. singer, music promoter and philanthropist.Alice Tully was born in Corning, New York. She spent her high school years at the famous Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut. Tully began her career as a mezzo-soprano, then became a soprano. She studied in Paris and...
for a work to celebrate the
U.S. bicentennialThe United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...
. He arranged a visit to the USA in spring 1972, and was inspired by
Bryce CanyonBryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau...
in
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, where he observed the canyon's distinctive colours and birdsong. The twelve-movement orchestral piece
Des canyons aux étoiles…Des canyons aux étoiles… is a large twelve-movement work by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was written to a 1971 commission by the American Alice Tully for a work to celebrate the bicentenary of the United States Declaration of Independence...
was the result, which was first performed in 1974 in New York.
In 1971, he was asked to compose a piece for the
Paris OpéraThe Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
. While reluctant to undertake such a major project, he was persuaded in 1975 to accept the commission and began work on his
Saint-François d'AssiseSaint François d'Assise is an opera in three acts and eight scenes by French composer and librettist Olivier Messiaen, written from 1975 to 1983. It concerns Saint Francis of Assisi, the title character, and displays the composer's devout Catholicism...
. The composition was intensive (he also wrote his own
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
) and occupied him from 1975 to 1979; the orchestration was carried out from 1979 until 1983. Messiaen preferred to describe the final work as a "spectacle" rather than an opera. It was first performed in 1983. Some commentators at the time thought that the opera would be his valediction (at times Messiaen himself believed so), but he continued to compose. In 1984 he published a major collection of organ pieces,
Livre du Saint Sacrement; other works include birdsong pieces for solo piano, and works for piano with orchestra.
In the summer of 1978, Messiaen retired from teaching at the Conservatoire. He was promoted to the highest rank of the
Légion d'honneur, the
Grand-Croix, in 1987. An operation prevented his participation in the celebration of his 70th birthday in 1978, but in 1988 tributes for Messiaen's 80th included a complete performance in London's
Royal Festival HallThe Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
of
St. François, which the composer attended, and Erato's publication of a seventeen-CD collection of Messiaen's music including recordings by Loriod and a disc of the composer in conversation with Claude Samuel.
Although in considerable pain near the end of his life (requiring repeated surgery on his back) he was able to fulfil a commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra,
Éclairs sur l'au-delà…Éclairs sur l'au-delà… is an orchestral piece by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. Composed in 1987–91, it was his last completed work, his very last work being Concert à quatre...
, which was premièred six months after his death. He died in Clichy-la-Garenne.
On going through his papers, Messiaen's widow discovered that he had been composing a
concertoConcert à quatre is one of the final works of the French composer Olivier Messiaen.Written between 1990 and 1991, Messiaen originally intended the piece to have five movements. However, work on another large-scale piece, Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, prevented him from completing it before his death...
for four musicians he felt particularly grateful to, namely Loriod, the cellist
Mstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, the
oboistThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
Heinz HolligerHeinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
and the flautist Catherine Cantin (hence the title
Concert à quatreConcert à quatre is one of the final works of the French composer Olivier Messiaen.Written between 1990 and 1991, Messiaen originally intended the piece to have five movements. However, work on another large-scale piece, Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, prevented him from completing it before his death...
). Four of the five intended movements were substantially complete; Yvonne Loriod undertook the orchestration of the second half of the first movement and of the whole of the fourth with advice from
George BenjaminGeorge Benjamin may refer to:* George Benjamin , Canadian political figure* George Benjamin , English composer...
. It was premiered by the dedicatees in September 1994.
Music
Messiaen's music has been described as outside the western musical tradition, although growing out of that tradition and being influenced by it. Much of his output denies the western conventions of forward motion,
developmentIn European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same...
and
diatonicIn music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
harmonic resolution. This is partly due to the symmetries of his technique—for instance the modes of limited transposition do not admit the conventional
cadencesIn Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
found in western classical music.
His youthful love for the fairy-tale element in Shakespeare prefigured his later expressions of what he called "the marvellous aspects of the Roman Catholic Faith"—among which may be numbered Christ's
NativityThe Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
,
CrucifixionCrucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
,
ResurrectionThe Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, Ascension,
TransfigurationThe Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
, the
ApocalypseAn Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
and the
hereafterThe afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
. Messiaen was not interested in depicting aspects of theology such as
sinIn religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
; rather he concentrated on the theology of joy,
divine loveAgape is one of the Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term...
and
redemptionWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
.
Messiaen continually evolved new composition techniques, always integrating them into his existing musical style; his final work still retains the use of modes of limited transposition. For many commentators this continual development made every
major work from the
Quatuor onwards a conscious summation of all that Messiaen had composed up to that time. However, very few of these major works lack new technical ideas—simple examples being the introduction of communicable language in
Meditations, the invention of a new percussion instrument (the
geophoneThe geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled Des canyons aux étoiles…...
) for
Des canyons aux etoiles..., and the freedom from any synchronisation with the main pulse of individual parts in certain birdsong episodes of
St. François d'Assise.
As well as discovering new techniques, Messiaen found and absorbed exotic music, including Ancient Greek rhythms,
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
rhythms (he encountered Śārṅgadeva's list of 120 rhythmic units, the deçî-tâlas), Balinese and Javanese
GamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
, birdsong and Japanese music (see
Example 1 for an instance of his use of ancient Greek and Hindu rhythms).
While he was instrumental in the academic exploration of his techniques (he compiled two
treatiseA treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
s: the later one in five volumes was substantially complete when he died and was published posthumously), and was himself a master of music analysis, he considered the development and study of techniques to be a means to intellectual,
aestheticAesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
and emotional ends. Thus Messiaen maintained that a musical composition must be measured against three separate criteria: it must be interesting, beautiful to listen to, and it must touch the listener.
Messiaen wrote a large body of music for the piano. Although a considerable pianist himself, he was undoubtedly assisted by Yvonne Loriod's formidable piano technique and ability to convey complex rhythms and rhythmic combinations; in his piano writing from
Visions de l'Amen onwards he had her in mind. Messiaen said, "I am able to allow myself the greatest eccentricities because to her anything is possible."
Western artistic influences
Developments in modern French music were a major influence on Messiaen, particularly the music of
Claude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and his use of the whole-tone scale (which Messiaen called
Mode 1 in his modes of limited transposition). Messiaen very rarely used the whole-tone scale in his compositions because, he said, after Debussy and Dukas there was "nothing to add", but the modes he did use are all similarly symmetrical.
Messiaen had a great admiration for the music of
Igor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, particularly the use of rhythm in earlier works such as
The Rite of SpringThe Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
, and his use of colour. He was further influenced by the orchestral brilliance of
Heitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
, who lived in Paris in the 1920s and gave acclaimed concerts there. Among composers for the keyboard, Messiaen singled out
Jean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
,
Domenico ScarlattiGiuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
,
Frédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Debussy and
Isaac AlbénizIsaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music idioms .-Life:Born in Camprodon, province of Girona, to Ángel Albéniz and his wife Dolors Pascual, Albéniz...
. He loved the music of
Modest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
and incorporated varied modifications of what he called the "M-shaped" melodic motif from Mussorgsky's
Boris GodunovBoris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
, although he characteristically modified the final interval in this motif from a
perfect fourthIn classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...
to a
tritoneIn classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
(
Example 3).
Messiaen was further influenced by
SurrealismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, as may be seen from the titles of some of the piano
Préludes (
Un reflet dans le vent…, "A reflection in the wind") and in some of the imagery of his poetry (he published poems as prefaces to certain works, for example
Les offrandes oubliées).
Colour
Colour lies at the heart of Messiaen's music. He believed that terms such as "
tonalTonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
", "
modalIn the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
" and "
serialIn music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
" are misleading analytical conveniences. For him there were no modal, tonal or serial compositions, only music with or without colour. He said that
Claudio MonteverdiClaudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
,
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
,
ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
,
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
,
MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
and
StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
all wrote strongly coloured music.
In certain of Messiaen's scores, he notated the colours in the music (notably in
Couleurs de la cité céleste and
Des canyons aux étoiles...)— the purpose being to aid the conductor in interpretation rather than to specify which colours the listener should experience. The importance of colour is linked to Messiaen's synaesthesia, which he said caused him to experience colours when he heard or imagined music (he said that he did not perceive the colours visually). In his multi-volume music theory treatise
Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d'ornithologie ("Treatise of Rhythm, Colour and Birdsong"), Messiaen wrote descriptions of the colours of certain chords. His descriptions range from the simple ("gold and brown") to the highly detailed ("blue-violet rocks, speckled with little grey cubes, cobalt blue, deep Prussian blue, highlighted by a bit of violet-purple, gold, red, ruby, and stars of mauve, black and white. Blue-violet is dominant").
When asked what Messiaen's main influence had been on composers, George Benjamin said, "I think the sheer [...] colour has been so influential, [...] rather than being a decorative element, [Messiaen showed that colour] could be a structural, a fundamental element, [...] the fundamental material of the music itself."
Symmetry
Many of Messiaen's composition techniques made use of symmetries of time and
pitchPitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
.
Time
From his earliest works, Messiaen used non-retrogradable (
palindromicA palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....
) rhythms (
Example 2). He sometimes combined rhythms with harmonic sequences in such a way that if the process were allowed to proceed indefinitely the music would eventually run through all the possible permutations and return to its starting point. For Messiaen, this represented the "charm of impossibilities" of these processes. He only ever presented a portion of any such process, as if allowing the informed listener a glimpse of something eternal. In the first movement of
Quatuor pour la fin du temps the piano and cello together provide an early example.
Pitch
Messiaen used modes which he called
modes of limited transpositionModes of limited transposition are musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups...
. They are distinguished as groups of notes which can only be
transposedIn music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval.For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key...
by a semitone a limited number of times. For example the whole-tone scale (Messiaen's Mode 1) only exists in two transpositions: namely C–D–E–F♯–G♯–A♯ and D♭–E♭–F–G–A–B. Messiaen abstracted these modes from the harmony of his improvisations and early works. Music written using the modes avoids conventional diatonic harmonic progressions, since for example Messiaen's Mode 2 (identical to the
octatonic scaleAn octatonic scale is any eight-note musical scale. Among the most famous of these is a scale in which the notes ascend in alternating intervals of a whole step and a half step, creating a symmetric scale...
used also by other composers) permits precisely the
dominant seventhA seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with an added minor seventh...
chords whose tonic the mode does not contain. For Messiaen the modes possessed colours.
Time and rhythm
Messiaen considered his rhythmic contribution to music to be his distinguishing mark among modern composers. As well as making use of non-retrogradable rhythms, and the Hindu decî-tâlas, Messiaen also made use of "additive" rhythms. This involves lengthening individual notes slightly or interpolating a short note into an otherwise regular rhythm (see
Example 3), or shortening or lengthening every note of a rhythm by the same duration (adding a semiquaver to every note in a rhythm on its repeat, for example). This led Messiaen to use rhythmic cells that irregularly alternate between two and three units, a process which also occurs in
Stravinsky'sIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
The Rite of SpringThe Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
, which Messiaen admired.
A factor that contributes to Messiaen's suspension of the conventional perception of time in his music is the extremely slow tempos he often specifies (the fifth movement
Louange à l'eternité de Jésus of
Quatuor is actually given the tempo marking
infiniment lent); and even in his quick music he often uses repeated phrases and harmonies to make the speed seem static.
Messiaen also used the concept of "chromatic durations", for example in his
Soixante-quatre durées from
Livre d'orgue , which is built from, in Messiaen's words, "64 chromatic durations from 1 to 64 demisemiquavers [thirty-second notes] – invested in groups of 4, from the ends to the centre, forwards and backwards alternately – treated as a retrograde canon. The whole peopled with birdsong."
Harmony
In addition to making harmonic use of the modes of limited transposition, he cited the
harmonic seriesPitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
as a physical phenomenon which provides chords with a context which he felt to be missing in purely serial music. An example of Messiaen's harmonic use of this phenomenon, which he called "resonance", is the last two bars of his first piano
Prélude,
La colombe ("The dove"): the chord is built from harmonics of the fundamental base note E.
Related to this use of resonance, Messiaen also composed music in which the lowest, or fundamental, note is combined with higher notes or chords played much more quietly. These higher notes, far from being perceived as conventional harmony, function as harmonics that alter the timbre of the fundamental note like
mixture stopsA mixture is an organ stop, usually of principal tone quality, that contains multiple ranks of pipes. It is designed to be drawn with a combination of stops that forms a complete chorus . The mixture sounds the upper harmonics of each note of the keyboard...
on a
pipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
. An example is the song of the
golden orioleThe Eurasian Golden Oriole or simply Golden Oriole is the only member of the oriole family of passerine birds breeding in northern hemisphere temperate regions...
in
Le loriot of the
Catalogue d'oiseaux for solo piano (
Example 4).
In his use of conventional diatonic chords, Messiaen often transcended their historically banal connotations (for example, his frequent use of the
added sixth chordAn added tone chord is a non-tertian chord composed of a tertian triad and an extra "added" note. The added note is not a seventh , but typically a non-tertian note, which cannot be defined by a sequence of thirds from the root, such as the added sixth or fourth...
as a
resolutionResolution in western tonal music theory is the move of a note or chord from dissonance to a consonance .Dissonance, resolution, and suspense can be used to create musical interest...
).
Birdsong
Birdsong fascinated Messiaen from an early age, and in this he found encouragement from his teacher Dukas, who reportedly urged his pupils to "listen to the birds". Messiaen included stylised birdsong in some of his early compositions (including
L'abîme d'oiseaux from the
Quatuor pour la fin du temps), integrating it into his sound-world by techniques like the modes of limited transposition and chord colouration. His evocations of birdsong became increasingly sophisticated, and with
Le réveil des oiseaux this process reached maturity, the whole piece being built from birdsong: in effect it is a
dawn chorusThe dawn chorus occurs when songbirds sing at the start of a new day. In temperate countries, this is most noticeable in spring, when the birds are either defending a breeding territory or trying to attract a mate. In a given location, it is common for different species to do their dawn singing at...
for orchestra. The same can be said for "Epode", the five-minute sixth movement of "Chronochromie", which is scored for eighteen violins, each one playing a different birdsong. Messiaen notated the bird species with the music in the score (
Examples 1 and 4). The pieces are not simple transcriptions; even the works with purely bird-inspired titles, such as
Catalogue d'oiseaux and
Fauvette des jardins, are tone poems evoking the landscape, its colours and atmosphere.
Serialism
For some compositions, Messiaen created scales for duration, attack and timbre analogous to the chromatic pitch scale. He expressed annoyance at the historical importance given to one of these works,
Mode de valeurs et d'intensités, by musicologists intent on crediting him with the invention of "total serialism".
Messiaen later introduced what he called a "communicable language", a "musical alphabet" to encode sentences. He first used this technique in his
Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité for organ; where the "alphabet" includes motifs for the concepts
to have,
to be and
God, while the sentences encoded feature sections from the writings of
St. Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
.
Compositions
Published
- Le banquet céleste ("The heavenly banquet"), organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece Le banquet eucharistique)
- Préludes, piano (1928–29)
- Diptyque ("Diptych"), organ (1930)
- La mort du nombre ("The death of numbers"), soprano, tenor, violin and piano (1930)
- Les offrandes oubliées ("The forgotten offerings"), orchestra (1930)
- Trois mélodies, song cycle (1930)
- Le Tombeau Resplendissant, orchestra (1931)
- Apparition de l'église éternelle ("Apparition of the eternal church"), organ (1932)
- Fantaisie burlesque, piano (1932)
- Hymne au Saint Sacrement ("Hymn to the Holy Sacrament"), orchestra (1932, lost 1943, reconstructed from memory 1946)
- Thème et variations
Thème et variations is a composition by Olivier Messiaen for solo violin and piano, and lasts around ten minutes. It is considered as equally characteristic as his Quatuor pour la fin du temps and is as immediately accessible as that work...
, ("Theme and Variations") violin and piano (1932)
- L'ascension
L'ascension is a piece for orchestra, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1932-33. Messiaen described it as "4 meditations for orchestra".The orchestral piece is in four brief sections:...
("The Ascension"), orchestra (1932–33; organ version including replacement movement, 1933–34)
- La Nativité du Seigneur
La Nativité du Seigneur is a work for organ, written by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1935....
("The Lord's nativity"), organ (1935)
- Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas ("Piece written as a memorial of Paul Dukas"), piano, (1935)
- Vocalise, voice and piano (1935)
- Poèmes pour Mi ("Poems for Mi"), song cycle (1936, orchestral version 1937)
- O sacrum convivium!, choral motet (1937)
- Chants de terre et de ciel ("Songs of earth and heaven"), song cycle (1938)
- Les corps glorieux ("Glorious bodies"), organ (1939)
- Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Quatuor pour la fin du temps, also known by its English title Quartet for the End of Time, is a piece of chamber music by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was premiered in 1941...
("Quartet for the end of time"), violin, cello, clarinet, piano (1940–41)
- Rondeau, piano (1943)
- Visions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen"), two pianos (1943)
- Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine
Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine is a piece by Olivier Messiaen for women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot, and orchestra , in three movements...
("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence"), women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1943–44)
- Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus
Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus is a collection of pieces by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for solo piano. The French title translates into English roughly as "Twenty gazes/contemplations on the infant Jesus"...
("Twenty gazes on the Christ-child"), piano (1944)
- Harawi: Chants d'amour et de mort, ("Harawi: Songs of love and death") song cycle (1944)
- Turangalîla-Symphonie
The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen. It was written from 1946 to 1948, on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The premiere was given by that orchestra on December 2, 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein in Boston...
, piano soloThe piano is often used to provide harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument. However, solo parts for the piano are common in many musical styles...
, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1946–48)
- Cinq rechants, 12 singers (1948)
- Cantéyodjayâ
Cantéyodjayâ is a work for piano by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, written in 1949. The form of the work's single movement exhibits aspects of sonata-form and rondo, but progresses by superimposition and repetition rather than conventional development.The work's compositional bases are the...
, piano (1949)
- Messe de la Pentecôte
Messe de la Pentecôte is an organ mass composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1949–50. According to the composer, it is based on twenty years of improvising at Église de la Sainte-Trinité, where Messiaen was organist since 1931....
("PentecostPentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
mass"), organ (1949–50)
- Quatre études de rythme ("Four studies in rhythm"), piano (1949–50)
- Île de feu 1
- Mode de valeurs et d'intensités
- Neumes rhythmiques
- Île de feu 2
- Le merle noir
Le merle noir is a chamber work by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for flute and piano. It was written and first performed in 1952 and is the composer's shortest independently-published work, lasting just over five minutes. This work has become a staple of the French flute and piano...
("Blackbird"), flute and piano (1952)
- Livre d'orgue, organ (1951–2)
- Réveil des oiseaux ("Dawn chorus"), solo piano and orchestra (1953)
- Oiseaux exotiques ("Exotic birds"), solo piano and orchestra (1955–56)
- Catalogue d'oiseaux ("Bird catalogue"), piano (1956–58)
- Book 1
- i Le chocard des alpes ("Alpine chough
The Alpine Chough , or Yellow-billed Chough, is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain east through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia, India and China, and it may nest at a higher altitude...
")
- ii Le loriot ("Golden oriole
The Eurasian Golden Oriole or simply Golden Oriole is the only member of the oriole family of passerine birds breeding in northern hemisphere temperate regions...
") (loriot and Loriod are homophonesIn linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
)
- iii Le merle bleu ("Blue rock thrush
The Blue Rock Thrush is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae....
")
- Book 2
- iv Le traquet stapazin ("Black-eared wheatear
The Black-eared Wheatear is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae....
")
- Book 3
- v La chouette hulotte ("Tawny owl
The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...
")
- vi L'alouette lulu ("Woodlark
The Woodlark is the only lark in the genus Lullula. It breeds across most of Europe, the Middle East Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter...
")
- Book 4
- vii La rousserolle effarvatte ("Reed warbler
The Eurasian Reed Warbler, or just Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds across Europe into temperate western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa....
")
- Book 5
- viii L'alouette calandrelle ("Short-toed lark")
- ix La bouscarle ("Cetti's warbler
Cetti's Warbler , Cettia cetti, is an Old World warbler which breeds in Europe, northwest Africa and east southern temperate Asia as far as Afghanistan and NW Pakistan. It is the only bush warbler to occur outside Asia...
")
- Book 6
- x Le merle de roche ("Rufous-tailed rock thrush
The Common Rock Thrush , formerly Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush or Rock Thrush, is a chat belonging to the Muscicapidae family. It was formerly placed in the Turdidae family....
")
- Book 7
- xi La buse variable ("Buzzard
The Common Buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.-Description:...
")
- xii Le traquet rieur ("Black wheatear
The Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucura, is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae....
")
- xiii Le courlis cendré ("Curlew
The Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia...
")
- Chronochromie
Chronochromie is an orchestral work by French composer Olivier Messiaen, completed in 1960. It consists of seven movements: Introduction, Strophe I, Antistrophe I, Strophe II, Antistrophe II, Epode and Coda. The sixth movement consists of 18 string instruments playing different birdsong...
("Time-colour"), orchestra (1959–60)
- Verset pour la fête de la dédicace ("Verse for the festival of dedication"), organ (1960)
- Sept haïkaï ("Seven haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
s"), solo piano and orchestra (1962)
- Couleurs de la cité céleste ("Colours of the Celestial City"), solo piano and ensemble (1963)
- Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum ("And I look forward to the resurrection of the dead"), wind, brass and percussion (1964)
- La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ
La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ is a work written between 1965 and 1969 by Olivier Messiaen. It is based on the Jesus transfiguring on a mountain according to the report of the Synoptic Gospels. The writing is on a very large scale; the work requires around 200 performers...
("The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ"), large 10-part chorus, piano solo, cello solo, flute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimbaThe xylorimba is a pitched percussion instrument corresponding to a xylophone with an extended range ....
solo, vibraphone solo, large orchestra (1965–69)
- Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité ("Meditations on the mystery of the Holy Trinity"), organ (1969)
- La fauvette des jardins ("Garden warbler
The Garden Warbler, Sylvia borin, is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe into western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in central and southern Africa...
"), piano (1970)
- Des canyons aux étoiles…
Des canyons aux étoiles… is a large twelve-movement work by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was written to a 1971 commission by the American Alice Tully for a work to celebrate the bicentenary of the United States Declaration of Independence...
("From the canyons to the stars..."), solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players (1971–74)
- Saint-François d'Assise
Saint François d'Assise is an opera in three acts and eight scenes by French composer and librettist Olivier Messiaen, written from 1975 to 1983. It concerns Saint Francis of Assisi, the title character, and displays the composer's devout Catholicism...
("St Francis of Assisi"), opera (1975–1983)
- Livre du Saint Sacrement ("Book of the Holy Sacrament"), organ (1984)
- Petites esquisses d'oiseaux ("Small sketches of birds"), piano (1985)
- Un vitrail et des oiseaux ("Stained-glass window and birds"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1986)
- La ville d'en-haut ("The city on high"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1987)
- Un sourire ("A smile"), orchestra (1989)
- Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes ("Piece for piano and string quartet") (1991)
- Éclairs sur l'au-delà…
Éclairs sur l'au-delà… is an orchestral piece by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. Composed in 1987–91, it was his last completed work, his very last work being Concert à quatre...
("Illuminations on the beyond..."), orchestra (1988–92)
Unpublished, posthumously published, or lost
A number of Messiaen's compositions were not sanctioned by the composer for publication. They include the following, some of which have been published posthumously, and some of which are lost.
- La dame de Shallott, for piano (1917)
- La banquet eucharistique, for orchestra (1928)
- Variations écossaises, for organ (1928)
- Mass, 8 sopranos and 4 violins (1933)
- Fantaisie, for violin and piano (1933; published 2007)
- Fêtes des belles eaux, for six ondes Martenots (1937)
- Musique de scène pour un Œdipe, electronic (1942)
- Chant des déportés, chorus and orchestra (1945, then lost, rediscovered 1991)
- Timbres-durées, musique concrète (1952), realised by Pierre Henry in the radiophonic workshop of French radio
The Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1974, with providing public radio and television in France.-Post World War II:...
, an experiment which Messiaen later deemed a failure
- Feuillets inedits
Feuillets inedits is a piece of music by Olivier Messiaen for piano and ondes martenot. It is not known when the work was composed but it was put together by the composer's second wife Yvonne Loriod and published in 2001. The manuscript of the fourth part of the work was entitled "Déchiffrage" ....
for piano and ondes martenot (published 2001)
- Concert à quatre
Concert à quatre is one of the final works of the French composer Olivier Messiaen.Written between 1990 and 1991, Messiaen originally intended the piece to have five movements. However, work on another large-scale piece, Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, prevented him from completing it before his death...
("Quadruple concerto"), piano, flute, oboe, cello and orchestra (1990–91, almost finished at the time of his death, completed by Loriod and Benjamin)
Treatises
- Technique de mon langage musical ("The technique of my musical language"). Paris: Leduc, 1944.
- Vingt leçons d'harmonie ("20 harmony lessons"). Paris: Leduc, 1944.
- Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d’ornithologie (1949–1992) ("Treatise on rhythm, colour and ornithology"), completed by Yvonne Loriod. 7 parts bound in 8 volumes. Paris: Leduc, 1994–2002.
- Analyses of the Piano Works of Maurice Ravel, edited by Yvonne Loriod, translated by Paul Griffiths. [Paris]: Durand, 2005.
General references
- Bruhn, Siglind
Siglind Bruhn is a German musicologist and concert pianist.-Biographical Sketch:Siglind Bruhn was born in Hamburg. Her father was the engineer Ernst Bruhn, her mother the interpreter Leonore Bruhn née Kieberger...
(2007). Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-129-6.
- Bruhn, Siglind (2008). Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musico-poetic Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three Related Song Cycles. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-136-4.
- Bruhn, Siglind (2008). Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity. Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations, and Opera. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-139-5. Winner of the 2009 Max B Miller Award from the American Guild of Organists.
Films
- Apparition of the Eternal Church – Paul Festa's 2006 film about responses of 31 artists to Messiaen's music.
- Messiaen at 80 (1988). Directed by Sue Knussen. BFI database entry.
- Olivier Messiaen – The Crystal Liturgy (2007 [DVD release date]). Directed by Olivier Mille.
- Olivier Messiaen: Works (1991). DVD on which Messiaen performs "Improvisations" on the organ at the Paris Trinity Church.
- The South Bank Show: Olivier Messiaen: The Music of Faith (1985). Directed by Alan Benson. BFI database entry.
Other references
- Anderson, Christine Lynn (1982). A Singer's Examination of Olivier Messiaen's "Harawi: Chant d'Amour et de Mort". D.M.A. diss. Cincinatti: University of Cincinnati.
- Anderson, Shane Dewayne (1999). "Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus" by Olivier Messiaen: An Analysis of Its Content, Spiritual Significance and Performance Practice. D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
- Aston, Stephanie Lynn (2011). "Journeys of Expression: An Examination of Four Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Vocal Works". D.M.A. diss. San Diego: University of California, San Diego.
- Baggech, Melody Ann (1998). An English Translation of Olivier Messiaen's "Traite de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'Ornithologie". Norman: The University of Oklahoma.
- Barash, Amari Pepper (2002). "Cadential Gestures in Post-Tonal Music: The Constitution of Cadences in Messiaen's "Ile de feu I" and Boulez' "Premiere Sonate", First Movement". D.M.A. diss. New York: City University of New York.
- Barber, Charles (1991). "Messiaen and his Turangalila-symphonie". D.M.A. diss. Stanford: Stanford University.
- Benitez, Vincent Perez, Jr (2001). "Pitch Organization and Dramatic Design in "Saint Francois d'Assise" of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Bloomington: Indiana University.
- Benitez, Vincent P. (2004). "Aspects of Harmony in Messiaen's Later Music: An Examination of the Chords of Transposed Inversions on the Same Bass Note." Journal of Musicological Research 23/2:187–226.
- Bernard, Jonathan W. (1986). "Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound Structure in His Music." Music Perception 4:41–68.
- Boden, Ruth Adair (2008). "Performance Strategies for "Serenade" from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, and "Praise for the Eternity of Jesus" from Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time". D.M.A. diss. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama.
- Boivin, Jean (1993). "La Classe de Messiaen: Historique, reconstitution, impact". Ph.D. diss. Montreal: Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal.
- Boswell-Kurc, Lilise (2001). "Olivier Messiaen's Religious War-Time Works and Their Controversial Reception in France (1941–1946) ". Ph.D. diss. New York: New York University.
- Bowlby, Christopher S. (2005). "Vingt régards sur l'enfant-Jesus: Messiaen's Means of Conveying Extra-Musical Subtext". D.M.A. diss. Seattle: University of Washington.
- Bradbury, William C, II (1991). "Huracan for Wind Ensemble (Original Composition); and 'Messiaen and Gamelan: An Analysis of Gamelan in the Turangalila-symphonie". D.M.A. diss. Ithaca: Cornell University.
- Burger, Cole Philip (2009). "Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Régards sur l'enfant-Jesus: Analytical, Religious, and Literary Considerations". D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
- Burns, Jeffrey Phillips (1995). "Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition Reconsidered". M.M. thesis, Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Carroll, Kenneth Don (1992). "The Influence of Olivier Messiaen on Brillance and the Concerto pour Saxophone-alto et Orchestre by Ida Gotkovsky: An Analytical Study". D.M.A. diss. Athens, GA: University of Georgia
- Case, Del Williams (1973). "A Study and Performance of Three Organ Works by Langlais, Dupre, and Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
- Chen, Jo-Yu (2005). "A Curricular Prototype to Enhance Compositional Skills Through Improvisation Based on Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps". Ed.D. diss. New York: Columbia University Teachers College.
- Conrad, Bridget F. (1994). "The Sources of Jolivet's Musical Language and His Relationships with Varese and Messiaen". 2 volumes. Ph.D. diss. New York: City University of New York.
- Derfler, Barbara Joan (1999). "Claude Debussy's Influence on Olivier Messiaen: An Analysis and Comparison of Two Preludes". M.Mus. thesis. Edmondton: University of Alberta.
- Donelson, Jennifer (2008). "Musical Technique and Symbolism in 'Noel' from Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus": A Defense of Messiaen's Words and Music". D.M.A. diss. Lincoln: The University of Nebraska - Lincoln,
- Dukes, Leslie Dianne (1998). "An Exploration of Olivier Messiaen's Piano Style and Application of Color in Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jesus and Le courlis cendre". Tucson: The University of Arizona.
- Fallon, Robert Joseph (2005). "Messiaen's Mimesis: The Language and Culture of The Bird Styles". Ph.D. diss. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley.
- Fancher, Joseph Eugene (2003). "Pitch Organization in the Turangalila-Symphonie of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Eugene: University of Oregon.
- Gillock, Jon (2009). Performing Messiaen's Organ Music: 66 Masterclasses. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 978-0-253-35373-3
- Hardink, Jason M. (2007). "Messiaen and Plainchant". D.M.A. diss. Houston: Rice University.
- Harris, Joseph Edward (2004). "Musique coloree: Synesthetic Correspondence in the Works of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Ames: The University of Iowa.
- Hickman, Melinda Lee (2001). "Meaning in Piano Music with a Religious Theme: A Philosophical and Historical Approach". D.M.A. diss. Cincinatti: University of Cincinnati
- Hill, Camille Crunelle (1996). "The Synthesis of Messiaen's Musical Language in His Opera Saint Francois d'Assise". Ph.D. diss. Lexington: University of Kentucky.
- Hill, Matthew Richard (1995). "Messiaen's Regard du silence as an Expression of Catholic Faith". D.M.A. diss. Madison: The University of Wisconsin, Madison.
- Hopkins, Stephen O'Bryan (1993). "A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Alexander Scriabin and Olivier Messiaen for Solo Piano". Ph.D. diss. Tallahasse: The Florida State University.
- Hwang, Hyun Jung (2006). "Incorporating Spiritual Symbolism in Musical Composition: Olivier Messiaen's Orchestral Works, 1963—1969, and 'The Scripture Was Fulfilled', Choral Setting for Mixed Choir and orchestra". 2 vols. Ph.D. diss. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.
- Irvine, Catherine Anne (1999). "The Interrelations of Formal Structure, Harmony, Register, and Instrumentation in Messiaen's Un sourire". M.Mus. thesis. London, ONT: The University of Western Ontario.
- Jancarz, Christine Louise (2007). "Symphonic Imagery, An Original Composition and an Examination of Three Similar Programmatic Compositions". D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami
- Kraft, David (2000). "Birdsong in the Music of Olivier Messiaen". PhD diss., University of Middlesex.
- Laycock, Gary Eng Yeow (2010). "Re-evaluating Olivier Messiaen's Musical Language from 1917 to 1935". Ph.D. diss. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2010
- Lee, Chi-Kuen (Martin) (2011). "The Charm of Impossibilities: Musical Language, Theology and Narrative Discourse in Olivier Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum" Ph.D. diss. Buffalo: State University of New York at Buffalo.
- Lee, Hyeweon (1992). "Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus: A Study of Sonority, Color, and Symbol". D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.
- Lee, Hye-Young (2006). "Tracing Messiaen in Naji Hakim's Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Denton: University of North Texas.
- Lee, Yun (2009). "Symmetry and Symbolic Language in Olivier Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi: A Musical Reflection on Divine and Conjugal Love". D.M.A. diss. Boston: Boston University
- Leigh, Jeff (2010). "A Hidden Theology: Pitch Association and Symbolism in Olivier Messiaen's Meditations sur le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite" Ph.D. diss. New York: City University of New York.
- Leonard, Jill (2007). "Three Solos de Concours from the Paris Conservatoire". M.M. thesis. Long Beach: California State University, Long Beach.
- Lin, Yi-Ting (1999). "A Comparison of Scriabin's Last Five Piano Sonatas and Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus: Analyses of Sonata No. 7, and Contemplations I, IV, and XX". D.M.A. diss. Fort Worth: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
- Luchese, Diane (1998). "Olivier Messiaen's Slow Music: Glimpses of Eternity in Time". Ph.D. diss. Evanston: Northwestern University
- McGinnis, Margaret Elizabeth (2003). "Playing the Fields: Messiaen, Music, and the Extramusical". Ph.D. diss. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Matossian, Nouritza
Nouritza Matossian is a British Cypriot writer, actress, broadcaster and human rights activist. She writes on the arts, contemporary music, history and Armenia....
. 1986. Xenakis. London: Kahn and Averill. ISBN 1-871082-17-X
- Ming, Christina Tio (2000). "The Avant Garde and Its 'Others': Orientalism in Contemporary Art Music". Ph.D. diss. Southampton: University of Southampton.
- Nelson, David Lowell (1992). "An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen's Chant Paraphrases". 2 vols. Ph.D. diss. Evanston: Northwestern University
- Ngim, Alan Gerald (1997). "Olivier Messiaen as a Pianist: A Study of Tempo and Rhythm Based on His Recordings of Visions de l'amen". D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami.
- Nguyen, Quynh T. (2009). "An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen's Last Piano Solo Work: Les Petites Esquisses d'oiseaux". D.M.A. diss. New York: City University of New York.
- Oh, Seung-Ah (2005). "Olivier Messiaen's Composition Techniques in Reveil des Oiseaux". Ph.D. diss. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University * Puspita, Amelia (2008). "The Influence of Balinese Gamelan on the Music of Olivier Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Cincinatti: University of Cincinnati
- Peterson, Larry Wayne (1973). "Messiaen and Rhythm: Theory and Practice". Ph.D. diss. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Randles, Kathleen Martha (1992). "Exoticism in the Melodie: The Evolution of Exotic Techniques as Used in Songs by David, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Roussel, Delage, Milhaud, and Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Columbus: The Ohio State University.
- Rogers Reeves, Janice Elaine (1997). "Theological Symbolism in Olivier Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi: An Interpretive and Set Theoretic Analysis". D.M.A. diss. Kansas City: University of Missouri, Kansas City.
- Rogosin, David (1996). "Aspects of Structure in Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus". D.M.A. diss. Vancouver: The University of British Columbia.
- Romza, Patricia-Andrea (1997). "Female-Choir Music by French Composers: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works". D.M.A. diss. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
- Savli, Peter (1999). "Harmonic Density in Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Ithaca: Cornell University.
- Shenton, Andrew David James (1998). "The Unspoken Word: Olivier Messiaen's 'langage communicable'". Ph.D. diss. Cambridge: Harvard University.
- Snavely, Andrea L. (2004). "The Role of Statistical Cues in the Segmentation of Post-Tonal Music". Ph.D. diss. Madison: The University of Wisconsin.
- Stephens, Michael (2007). "Two Ways of Looking at Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus, with, Baptism (An Original Composition for Chamber Orchestra)". Ph.D. diss. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh
- Stimson, Ann Michelle (1996). "Musical Time in the Avant-Garde: The Japanese Connection". Ph.D. diss. Santa Barbara: University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Sun, Shu-Wen (1995). Birdsong and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen's "L'Alouette Calandrelle". D.M.A. diss. Eugene: University of Oregon.
- Toop, Richard (1974). “Messiaen / Goeyvaerts, Fano / Stockhausen, Boulez.” Perspectives of New Music 13, no. 1 (Fall-Winter): 141–69.
- Wardell, Xiaoman Zhang (1996). An Examination of Selected Contemporary Works Composed by Means of Numbers. D.M.A. diss. Claremont: The Claremont Graduate University.
- Welsh Ibanez, Deborah (2005). Color, Timbre, and Resonance: Developments in Olivier Messiaen's Use of Percussion Between 1956—1965. D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami
- White Luckow, Heather (2011). La Marque du maitre: Messiaen's Influence on Quebecois Composers Serge Garant, Clermont Pepin and Andre Prevost. Ph.D. diss. Montreal: McGill University.
- Whitmore, Brooks Blaine (2000). Rhythmic Techniques in Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus". D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
- Wong, Ren-Liang (1992). Volume I. A Brief Analysis of the "Turangalila" movements of Olivier Messiaen's "Turangalila" Symphony. Volume II. Tone poem for full orchestra. (Original composition). Ph.D. diss. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.
- Zheng, Zhong (2004). A Study of Messiaen's Solo Piano Works. Ph.D. diss. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
External links
- BBC Messiaen Profile
- Online Messiaen resource by Malcolm Ball
- Infography about Olivier Messiaen
- oliviermessiaen.net, hosted by the Boston University Messiaen Project [BUMP]. Includes detailed information on the composer's life and works, events, and links to other Messiaen websites.
- www.philharmonia.co.uk/messiaen, the Philharmonia Orchestra's Messiaen website. The site contains articles, unseen images, programme notes and films to go alongside the orchestra's series of concerts celebrating the Centenary of Olivier Messiaen's birth.
- David Schiff, Music for the End of Time, The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, posted January 25, 2006 (February 13, 2006 issue). Formally a review of Messiaen by Peter HillThe British pianist and musicologist Peter Hill is a world-renowned authority on the works of French composer Olivier Messiaen, with whom he was acquainted...
and Nigel Simeone, but provides an overview of Messiaen's life and works.
- "Couleurs de la Cité Céleste d’Olivier Messiaen" by Philippe Lalitte (Multimedia Analysis).
- Nigel Simeone, Olivier Messiaen: A Biographical Sketch from the Messiaen Music Festival 2008 website
- Music and the Holocaust – Olivier Messiaen
- My Messiaen Modes - A visual representation of Messiaen's modes of limited transposition
Listening