Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen ( or ; 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 Dupr?, Maurice Emmanuel and Paul Dukas among his teachers. He was appointed organist at the church of La Trinit? in Paris in 1931, a post he held until his death.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 del? ("Illuminations of the beyond"), which depicts many of his ideas about the experience of the afterlife, was first performed after his death.

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December 10: December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 21 days remaining in the year....

1908: 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar)....

1992: 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday....

Olivier Messiaen related Images and Photos (experimental)

Olivier Messiaen French Musician	Olivier de Provence	The Olivier Plantation 1861	Portrait of Olivier de Serres
La Fleur d'Olivier	La Fleur d'Olivier	Rebecca Laurence Olivier Joan Fontaine on Belgian Poster Art 1940	Pride and Prejudice Laurence Olivier Greer Garson 1940
The Invaders (Aka 49th Parallel) Laurence Olivier Glynis Johns 1941	Fire over England Laurence Olivier 1937	That Hamilton Woman Vivien Leigh Laurence Olivier Vivien Leigh 1941	Wuthering Heights Merle Oberon Laurence Olivier 1939