Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen ({{IPA2|m?sj??}} or {{IPA|/m?sj??/}}; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. He lived in Grenoble in the French Alps during World War I, and returned there during his summers, and in his retirement, to compose. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11, and numbered Marcel Dupré, Maurice Emmanuel and Paul Dukas among his teachers. He was appointed organist at the church of La Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post he held until his death.

Related Topics:
December 10 - 1908 - April 27 - 1992 - French - Composer - Organ - Ornithologist - Grenoble - Alps - World War I - Paris Conservatoire - Marcel Dupré - Maurice Emmanuel - Paul Dukas - Paris

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In 1940 Messiaen was captured as prisoner of war, and while incarcerated he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four instruments available. The piece was first performed by Messiaen and fellow prisoners to an audience of inmates and prison guards.

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Messiaen taught at the Paris Conservatory for many years, being appointed professor of harmony there in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966. In his classes there and abroad he taught many distinguished pupils, including Pierre Boulez, Yvonne Loriod (who later became Messiaen's second wife), Karlheinz Stockhausen, and George Benjamin.

Related Topics:
Harmony - Composition - Pierre Boulez - Yvonne Loriod - Karlheinz Stockhausen - George Benjamin

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Messiaen's music is rhythmically complex (he was interested in rhythms from ancient Greek and from Hindu sources), and is harmonically and melodically based on modes of limited transposition. Many of his compositions depict what he termed "the marvellous aspects of the faith", drawing on his unshakeable Roman Catholicism. Messiaen experienced a mild form of synaesthesia manifested as a perception of colours when he heard certain harmonies, particularly harmonies built from his modes, and he used combinations of these colours in his compositions. For a short period Messiaen experimented with "total serialism", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. He absorbed many exotic musical influences such as Indonesian gamelan (he made much use of tuned percussion), and he also championed the ondes Martenot, of which his sister-in-law Jeanne Loriod was a leading exponent.

Related Topics:
Rhythm - Ancient Greek - Hindu - Melodically - Modes of limited transposition - Roman Catholic - Synaesthesia - Serialism - Gamelan - Percussion - Ondes Martenot

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Messiaen was fascinated by birdsong; he considered birds to be the greatest musicians, and considered himself as much an ornithologist as a composer. He notated birdsongs worldwide, and incorporated birdsong transcriptions into a majority of his music.

Related Topics:
Birdsong - Transcriptions

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He travelled widely, and wrote works inspired by such diverse influences as Japanese music, the landscape of Bryce Canyon in Utah, and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. His final work, Eclairs sur l'au delà ("Illuminations of the beyond"), which depicts many of his ideas about the experience of the afterlife, was first performed after his death.

Related Topics:
Japan - Bryce Canyon - Utah - St. Francis of Assisi - Afterlife

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