OLIVIER MESSIAEN

Born: December 10, 1908, Avignon, France
Died, April 27, 1992, Clichy, France

French composer, organist, and writer. Messiaen was one of the most original composers of the century and had a strong influence on the next generation of composers.

The music of Olivier Messiaen stands out for the depth of spirituality that lies behind it. He was a highly original composer whose style embraced a markedly wide range of influences and reflects his own unique synthesis of these ideas.

Messiaen was born in the southern part of France, but he began his studies at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 10. As a student he received the highest honors, and eventually returned to the conservatory to teach from 1941 to 1978. He also served as organist at the Church of the Trinity in Paris. Along with his compositional work, he wrote theoretical works in which he explained the principles of his complex and original musical style.

Messiaen's music seems at first very abstract, yet underneath the often difficult surface there are many personal and emotional elements. First and foremost is the strength of his highly mystical Catholic faith. Many of his works amount to personal meditations on the mysteries of this faith. This can be seen in such works as his orchestral Hymne au Saint Sacrament (Hymn to the Holy Sacrament), and works such as Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus (Twenty Glances at the Infant Jesus) for piano and Le nativité du Seigneur (The Lord's Nativity) for organ. His one opera tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi.

Technically, his music is an individual blend of various influences. From his earliest works he showed an interest in nontraditional modal scales, and in some of his works adopted principles of twelve-tone and serial writing. At the same time, he adopted and adapted techniques from non-Western music (such as the Indian raga system) and medieval music (isorhythm). These were freely combined and exploited in pieces such as his massive Turangalîla-Symphony. He was also intensely interested in tone colors, and incorporated new instruments such as the ondes martenot (an early electronic instrument) in his works. As well, he turned to the natural world for inspiration, especially to bird song. His immense Catalogue d'oiseaux for solo piano (written for his wife, who was a virtuoso pianist) uses these bird songs as the basis for the melodic materials.

Messiaen's most famous work, his Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), illustrates these aspects of his life. The piece was written under the most difficult of circumstances, when Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Germany. The piece begins with the sound of birds and explores one of the most potent images of the Christian faith, the end of the world as prophesied in the Book of Revelations. The work was written for fellow prisoners, and performed before the entire camp. The quartet is a rich blend of moods and styles, and in many ways serves as a fitting summary of Messiaen's personal and musical personality.

Musical Examples:

Sound IconTurangalila-Symphonie, I: Introduction
Sound IconTurangalila-Symphonie, VI: Jardin du sommiel d'amour

Works: