Messiaen perceived colours when he heard certainmusical chords (a phenomenon known aschromesthesia); according to him, combinations of these colours were important in his compositional process. He travelled widely and wrote works inspired by diverse influences, includingJapanese music, the landscape ofBryce Canyon in Utah, and the life ofSt. Francis of Assisi. His style absorbed many global musical influences, such as Indonesiangamelan (tuned percussion often features prominently in his orchestral works). He foundbirdsong fascinating, notating bird songs worldwide and incorporating birdsongtranscriptions into his music.
Messiaen's music isrhythmically complex.Harmonically andmelodically, he employed a system he calledmodes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from the systems of material his early compositions and improvisations generated. He wrote music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, voice, solo organ, and piano, and experimented with the use of novel electronic instruments developed in Europe during his lifetime. For a short period he experimented with theparametrisation associated with "total serialism", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, and his use of birdsong are among the features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen[6] was born on 10 December 1908 at 20 Boulevard Sixte-Isnard inAvignon, France, into a literary family.[7] He was the elder of two sons ofCécile Anne Marie Antoinette Sauvage, a poet, andPierre Léon Joseph Messiaen [es;fr], a scholar and teacher of English from a farm nearWervicq-Sud[8] who also translatedWilliam Shakespeare's plays into French.[9] Messiaen's mother published a sequence of poems,L'âme en bourgeon (The Budding Soul), the last chapter ofTandis que la terre tourne (As the Earth Turns), which address her unborn son. Messiaen later said this sequence of poems influenced him deeply and cited it as prophetic of his future artistic career.[10] His brotherAlain André Prosper Messiaen [fr], four years his junior, became a poet.
At the outbreak ofWorld War I, Pierre enlisted and Cécile took their two boys to live with her brother inGrenoble. There Messiaen became fascinated with drama, reciting Shakespeare to his brother. Their homemade toy theatre had translucent backdrops made of cellophane wrappers.[11] At this time he also adopted theRoman Catholic faith. Later, Messiaen felt most at home in the Alps of theDauphiné, where he had a house built south of Grenoble. He composed most of his music there.[12]
Messiaen took piano lessons, having already taught himself to play. His interests included the recent music of French composersClaude Debussy andMaurice Ravel, and he asked for opera vocal scores for Christmas presents.[13] He also saved to buy scores, includingEdvard Grieg'sPeer Gynt, whose "beautiful Norwegian melodic lines with the taste of folk song ... gave me a love of melody".[14] Around this time he began to compose.
In 1918 his father returned from the war and the family moved toNantes. Messiaen continued music lessons; one of his teachers, Jehan de Gibon, gave him a score of Debussy's operaPelléas et Mélisande, which Messiaen called "a thunderbolt" and "probably the most decisive influence on me".[15] The next year, his father gained a teaching post atSorbonne University in Paris. Olivier entered theParis Conservatoire in 1919, aged 11.[16]
Paul Dukas's composition class at the Paris Conservatoire, 1929. Messiaen sits at the far right; Dukas stands at the centre.
Messiaen made excellent academic progress at the Conservatoire. In 1924, aged 15, he was awarded second prize inharmony, having been taught in that subject by professorJean Gallon. In 1925, he won first prize in pianoaccompaniment, and in 1926 he gained first prize infugue. After studying with Maurice Emmanuel, he was awarded second prize for the history of music in 1928.[17] Emmanuel's example engendered an interest in ancient Greek rhythms and exotic modes.[18] After showing improvisational skills on the piano, Messiaen studied organ with Marcel Dupré.[19] He won first prize in organ playing and improvisation in 1929.[18] After a year studying composition with Charles-Marie Widor, in autumn 1927 he entered the class of the newly appointed Paul Dukas. Messiaen's mother died of tuberculosis shortly before the class began.[20] Despite his grief, he resumed his studies, and in 1930 Messiaen won first prize in composition.[18]
While a student he composed his first published works—his eightPréludes for piano (the earlierLe banquet céleste was published subsequently). These exhibit Messiaen's use of his modes of limited transposition andpalindromic rhythms (Messiaen called thesenon-retrogradable rhythms). His official début came in 1931 with his orchestral suiteLes offrandes oubliées. That year he first heard agamelan group, sparking his interest in the use of tuned percussion.[21]
In the autumn of 1927, Messiaen joined Dupré's 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 playJohann Sebastian Bach'sFantasia in C minor to an impressive standard.[22] From 1929, Messiaen regularly deputised at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité for the ailingCharles Quef. The post became vacant in 1931 when Quef died, and Dupré,Charles Tournemire and Widor among others supported Messiaen's candidacy. His formal application included a letter of recommendation from Widor. The appointment was confirmed in 1931,[23] and he remained the organist at the church for more than 60 years.[24] He also assumed a post at the Schola Cantorum de Paris in the early 1930s.[25] In 1932, he composed theApparition de l'église éternelle for organ.[26]
With Claire Delbos
He also married the violinist and composerClaire Delbos (daughter ofVictor Delbos) that year. Their marriage inspired him both to 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 cyclePoèmes pour Mi in 1936, which he orchestrated in 1937.Mi was Messiaen's affectionate nickname for his wife.[27] On 14 July 1937, the Messiaens' son, Pascal Emmanuel, was born; Messiaen celebrated the occasion by writingChants de Terre et de Ciel.[28] The marriage turned tragic when Delbos lost her memory after an operation toward the end of World War II. She spent the rest of her life in mental institutions.[29]
During this period he composed several multi-movement organ works. He arranged his orchestral suiteL'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 the soul's own).[30] He also wrote the extensive cyclesLa Nativité du Seigneur (The Nativity of the Lord) andLes Corps glorieux (The glorious bodies).[31]
In 1936, along withAndré Jolivet,Daniel Lesur andYves Baudrier, Messiaen formed the groupLa jeune France ("Young France"). Their manifesto implicitly attacked the frivolity predominant in contemporary Parisian music and rejectedJean Cocteau's 1918Le coq et l'arlequin in favour of a "living music, having the impetus of sincerity, generosity and artistic conscientiousness".[32] Messiaen's career soon departed from this polemical phase.
In response to a commission for a piece to accompany light-and-water shows onthe Seine during theParis Exposition, in 1937 Messiaen demonstrated his interest in using theondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, by composingFête des belles eaux for an ensemble of six.[33] He included a part for the instrument in several of his subsequent compositions.[34]
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.[35] He was captured atVerdun, where he befriended clarinettistHenri Akoka; they were taken toGörlitz in May 1940, and imprisoned atStalag VIII-A. He met a cellist (Étienne Pasquier) and a violinist (Jean le Boulaire [fr]) among his fellow prisoners. He wrote a trio for them, which he gradually incorporated into a more expansive new work,Quatuor pour la fin du Temps ("Quartet for the End of Time").[5] With the help of a friendly German guard,Carl-Albert Brüll [de;es], he acquired manuscript paper and pencils.[36] The work 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 and the trio playing third-hand unkempt instruments.[37] The enforced introspection and reflection of camp life bore fruit in one of 20th-century classical music's acknowledged masterpieces. The title's "end of time" alludes to theApocalypse, and also to the way that Messiaen, through rhythm and harmony, used time in a manner completely different from his predecessors and contemporaries.[38]
The idea of a European Centre of Education and Culture "Meeting Point Music Messiaen" on the site of Stalag VIII-A, for children and youth, artists, musicians and everyone in the region emerged in December 2004, was developed with the involvement of Messiaen's widow as a joint project between the council districts in Germany and Poland, and was completed in 2014.[39]
Shortly after his release from Görlitz in May 1941 in large part due to the persuasions of his friend and teacherMarcel Dupré, Messiaen, who was now a household name, was appointed a professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire, where he taught until retiring in 1978.[40] He compiled hisTechnique de mon langage musical ("Technique of my musical language") published in 1944, in which he quotes many examples from his music, particularly the Quartet.[41] Although only in his mid-thirties, his students described him as an outstanding teacher.[42] Among his early students were the composersPierre Boulez andKarel Goeyvaerts. Other pupils includedKarlheinz Stockhausen in 1952,Alexander Goehr in 1956–57,Jacques Hétu in 1962-63,Tristan Murail in 1967–72 andGeorge Benjamin during the late 1970s.[43] The Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was referred to him in 1951; Messiaen urged Xenakis to take advantage of his background in mathematics and architecture in his music.[44]
In 1943, Messiaen wroteVisions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen") for two pianos forYvonne Loriod and himself to perform. Shortly thereafter he composed the enormous solo piano cycleVingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus ("Twenty gazes upon the child Jesus") for her.[45] Again for Loriod, he wroteTrois petites liturgies de la présence divine ("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence") for female chorus and orchestra, which includes a difficult solo piano part.[46]
Two years afterVisions de l'Amen, Messiaen composed the song cycleHarawi, the first of three works inspired by the legend ofTristan andIsolde. The second of these works about human (as opposed to divine) love was the result of a commission fromSerge Koussevitzky. Messiaen said the commission did not specify the length of the work or the size of the orchestra. This was the ten-movementTurangalîla-Symphonie. It is not a conventionalsymphony, but rather an extended meditation on the joy of human union and love. It does not contain the sexual guilt inherent inRichard Wagner'sTristan und Isolde because Messiaen believed sexual love to be a divine gift.[35] The third piece inspired by theTristan myth wasCinq rechants for 12 unaccompanied singers, described by Messiaen as influenced by thealba of thetroubadours.[47] Messiaen visited the United States in 1949, where his music was conducted by Koussevitsky andLeopold Stokowski. HisTurangalîla-Symphonie was first performed in the US the same year, conducted byLeonard Bernstein.[48]
Messiaen taught ananalysis class at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1947 he taught (and performed with Loriod) for two weeks inBudapest.[49] In 1949 he taught atTanglewood[50] and presented his work at theDarmstadt new music summer school.[51] While he did not employ thetwelve-tone technique, after three years teaching analysis of twelve-tone scores, including works byArnold Schoenberg, he experimented with ways of making scales of other elements (including duration, articulation and dynamics) analogous to thechromatic pitch scale. The results of these innovations was the "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" for piano (from theQuatre études de rythme)[52] which has been misleadingly described as the first work of "total serialism". It had a large influence on the earliest European serial composers, including Boulez and Stockhausen.[53] During this period he also experimented withmusique concrète, music for recorded sounds.[54]
When in 1952 Messiaen was asked to provide a test piece for flautists at the Paris Conservatoire, he composed the pieceLe 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 exampleLa Nativité,Quatuor andVingt regards), the flute piece was based entirely on the song of theblackbird.[55]
He took this development to a new level with his 1953 orchestral workRéveil des oiseaux—its material consists almost entirely of the birdsong one might hear between midnight and noon in theJura.[56] From this period onward, Messiaen incorporated birdsong into his compositions and composed several works for which birds provide both the title and subject matter (for example the collection of 13 piano piecesCatalogue d'oiseaux completed in 1958, andLa fauvette des jardins of 1971).[57]Paul Griffiths observed that Messiaen was a more conscientious ornithologist than any previous composer, and a more musical observer of birdsong than any previous ornithologist.[58]
Yvonne Loriod teaching piano (1982)
Messiaen's first wife died in 1959 after a long illness, and in 1961 he married Loriod.[59] He began to travel widely, to attend musical events and to seek out and transcribe the songs of more exotic birds in the wild. Despite this, he spoke only French. Loriod frequently assisted her husband's detailed studies of birdsong while walking with him, by making tape recordings for later reference.[60] In 1962 he visited Japan, whereGagaku music andNoh theatre inspired the orchestral "Japanese sketches",Sept haïkaï, which contain stylised imitations of traditional Japanese instruments.[61]
Messiaen's music was by this time championed by, among others, Boulez, who programmed first performances at hisDomaine musical concerts and theDonaueschingen festival.[62] Works performed includedRéveil des oiseaux,Chronochromie (commissioned for the 1960 festival), andCouleurs de la cité céleste. The latter piece was the result of a commission for a composition for three trombones and threexylophones; Messiaen added to this more brass, wind, percussion and piano, and specified a xylophone,xylorimba andmarimba rather than three xylophones.[63] Another work of this period,Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, was commissioned as a commemoration of the dead of the two World Wars and was performed first semi-privately in theSainte-Chapelle, then publicly inChartres Cathedral withCharles de Gaulle in the audience.[64]
Messiaen's next work was the large-scaleLa Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ. 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'sTransfiguration.[68] Shortly after its completion, Messiaen received a commission fromAlice Tully for a work to celebrate theU.S. bicentennial. He arranged a visit to the U.S. in spring 1972, and was inspired byBryce Canyon inUtah, where he observed the canyon's distinctive colours and birdsong.[69] The 12-movement orchestral pieceDes canyons aux étoiles... was the result, first performed in 1974 in New York.[70]
Anondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, for which Messiaen included a part in several of his compositions: the orchestra for his operaSaint François d'Assise includes three of them
In 1971, he was asked to compose a piece for theParis Opéra. Reluctant to take on such a major project, he was persuaded by French presidentGeorges Pompidou to accept the commission and began work onSaint-François d'Assise in 1975 after two years of preparation. The composition was intensive (he also wrote his ownlibretto) and occupied him from 1975 to 1979; the orchestration was carried out from 1979 until 1983.[71] 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),[72] 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.[73]
In the summer of 1978, Messiaen was forced to retire from teaching at the Paris Conservatoire due to French law. He was promoted to the highest rank of theLégion d'honneur, theGrand-Croix, in 1987, and was awarded the decoration in London by his old friendJean Langlais.[74] An operation prevented his participation in the celebration of his 70th birthday in 1978,[75] but in 1988 tributes for Messiaen's 80th included a complete performance in London'sRoyal Festival Hall ofSt. François, which the composer attended,[76] andErato's publication of a 17-CD collection of his music, including a disc of Messiaen in conversation withClaude Samuel.[77]
Although in considerable pain near the end of his life (requiring repeated surgery on his back),[78] he was able to fulfil a commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra,Éclairs sur l'au-delà..., which premièred six months after his death. He died in theBeaujon Hospital inClichy on 27 April 1992, aged 83.[79]
On going through his papers, Loriod discovered that, in the last months of his life, he had been composing aconcerto for four musicians he felt particularly grateful to: herself, the cellistMstislav Rostropovich, theoboistHeinz Holliger and the flautist Catherine Cantin[80] (hence the titleConcert à quatre). Four of the five intended movements were substantially complete; Loriod undertook the orchestration of the second half of the first movement and of the whole of the fourth with advice from George Benjamin. It was premiered by the dedicatees in September 1994.[81]
Example 1. A page fromOiseaux exotiques. It illustrates Messiaen's use of ancient and exotic rhythms (in the percussion near the bottom of the score "Asclepiad" and "Sapphic" are ancient Greek rhythms, and Nibçankalîla is a decî-tâla from Śārṅgadeva). It also illustrates Messiaen's precision in notating birdsong: the birds identified here are thewhite-crested laughing thrush (garralaxe à huppe blanche) in thebrass andwind instruments, and theorchard oriole (troupiale des vergers) played on the xylophone.
Messiaen's music has been described as outside the western musical tradition, although growing out of that tradition and being influenced by it.[82] Much of his output denies the western conventions of forward motion,development anddiatonic harmonic resolution. This is partly due to the symmetries of his technique—for instance the modes of limited transposition do not admit the conventionalcadences found in western classical music.[83]
"[Messiaen's youthful] fascination with Shakespeare's depiction of human passion and with his magical world also influenced the composer's later works."[84] Messiaen was not interested in depicting aspects of theology such assin;[85] rather he concentrated on the theology of joy,divine love andredemption.[86]
Messiaen continually evolved new composition techniques, always integrating them into his existing musical style; his final works still retain the use of modes of limited transposition.[83] For many commentators this continual development made everymajor work from theQuatuor onwards a conscious summation of all that Messiaen had composed up to that time. But very few of these works lack new technical ideas—simple examples being the introduction of communicable language inMeditations, the invention of a new percussion instrument (thegeophone) forDes canyons aux etoiles..., and the freedom from any synchronisation with the main pulse of individual parts in certain birdsong episodes ofSt. François d'Assise.[87]
As well as discovering new techniques, Messiaen studied and absorbed foreign music, including Ancient Greek rhythms,[18]Hindu rhythms (he encounteredŚārṅgadeva's list of 120rhythmic units, the deçî-tâlas),[88] Balinese and Javanese Gamelan, birdsong, and Japanese music (seeExample 1 for an instance of his use of ancient Greek and Hindu rhythms).[89]
While he was instrumental in the academic exploration of his techniques (he compiled two treatises; the second, in five volumes, was substantially complete when he died and was published posthumously), and was a master of music analysis, he considered the development and study of techniques a means to intellectual, aesthetic, 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 touch the listener.[90]
Messiaen wrote a large body of music for the piano. Although a considerable pianist himself, he was undoubtedly assisted by Loriod's formidable technique and ability to convey complex rhythms and rhythmic combinations; in his piano writing fromVisions de l'Amen onward he had her in mind. Messiaen said, "I am able to allow myself the greatest eccentricities because to her anything is possible."[91]
Developments in modern French music were a major influence on Messiaen, particularly the music of Debussy and his use of thewhole-tone scale (which Messiaen calledMode 1 in his modes of limited transposition). Messiaen rarely used the whole-tone scale in his compositions because, he said, after Debussy and Dukas there was "nothing to add",[92] but the modes he did use are similarly symmetrical.
Messiaen was further influenced bySurrealism, as seen in the titles of some of the pianoPréludes (Un reflet dans le vent..., "A reflection in the wind")[94] and in some of the imagery of his poetry (he published poems as prefaces to certain works, for exampleLes offrandes oubliées).[95]
Colour lies at the heart of Messiaen's music. He believed that terms such as "tonal", "modal" and "serial" are misleading analytical conveniences.[96] For him there were no modal, tonal or serial compositions, only music with or without colour.[97] He said thatMonteverdi,Mozart,Chopin,Wagner,Mussorgsky, andStravinsky all wrote strongly coloured music.[98]
In some of Messiaen's scores, he notated the colours in the music (notably inCouleurs de la cité céleste andDes 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'ssynaesthesia, which caused him to experience colours when he heard or imagined music (his form of synaesthesia, the most common form, involved experiencing the associated colours in a non-visual form rather than perceiving them visually). In his multi-volume music theory treatiseTraité 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, deepPrussian blue, highlighted by a bit of violet-purple, gold, red, ruby, and stars of mauve, black and white. Blue-violet is dominant").[99][100]
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."[101]
Example 2. The first bar of the pianoPrélude,Instants défunts. An early example of Messiaen's use of palindromic rhythms (which he callednon-retrogradable rhythms).
From his earliest works, Messiaen used non-retrogradable (palindromic) rhythms (Example 2). He sometimes combined rhythms with harmonic sequences in such a way that, if the process were repeated indefinitely, the music would eventually run through all 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 ofQuatuor pour la fin du temps the piano and cello together provide an early example.[103]
Messiaen used modes he calledmodes of limited transposition.[83] They are distinguished as groups of notes that can only betransposed by a semitone a limited number of times. For example, the whole-tone scale (Messiaen's Mode 1) exists in only two transpositions: 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.[104] Music written using the modes avoids conventional diatonic harmonic progressions, since for example Messiaen's Mode 2 (identical to theoctatonic scale used by other composers) permits precisely thedominant seventh chords whose tonic the mode does not contain.[105]
Example 3. An excerpt fromDanse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes fromQuatuor pour la fin du temps. It illustrates Messiaen's use ofadditive rhythms—in this example the addition of unpaired semiquavers (sixteenth notes) to an underlying quaver (eighth note) pulse and the lengthening of the final quaver by addition of adot. It illustrates the use of what Messiaen called theBoris M-shaped motif (the last five notes of the excerpt).
As well as making use of non-retrogradable rhythms and the Hindu decî-tâlas, Messiaen also composed with "additive" rhythms. This involves lengthening individual notes slightly or interpolating a short note into an otherwise regular rhythm (seeExample 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).[106] This led Messiaen to userhythmic cells that irregularly alternate between two and three units, a process that also occurs in Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Spring, which Messiaen admired.[107]
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 movementLouange à l'eternité de Jésus ofQuatuor is actually given the tempo markinginfiniment lent).[108] Messiaen also used the concept of "chromatic durations", for example in hisSoixante-quatre durées fromLivre d'orgue (listenⓘ), 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."[109]
Example 4. The song of thegolden oriole fromLe loriot, part ofCatalogue d'oiseaux. The birdsong played by the pianist's left hand (notated on the lower staff) provides the fundamental notes, and the quieter harmonies played by the right hand alter their timbre.
In addition to making harmonic use of the modes of limited transposition, Messiaen cited theharmonic series as a physical phenomenon that gives chords a context he felt was missing in purely serial music.[110] An example of Messiaen's use of this phenomenon, which he called "resonance", is the last two bars of his first pianoPrélude,La colombe ("The dove"): the chord is built from harmonics of the fundamental note E.[111]
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 likemixture stops on apipe organ.[112] An example is the song of the golden oriole inLe loriot of theCatalogue d'oiseaux for solo piano (Example 4).
In his use of conventional diatonic chords, Messiaen often transcended their historical connotations (for example, with his frequent use of theadded sixth chord as aresolution).[113]
Birdsong fascinated Messiaen from an early age, and in this he found encouragement from Dukas, who reportedly urged his pupils to "listen to the birds". Messiaen included stylised birdsong in some of his early compositions (includingL'abîme d'oiseaux from theQuatuor 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 withLe réveil des oiseaux this process reached maturity, the whole piece being built from birdsong: in effect it is adawn chorus for orchestra. The same can be said for "Epode", the five-minute sixth movement ofChronochromie, which is scored for 18 violins, each 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 asCatalogue d'oiseaux andFauvette des jardins, are tone poems evoking the landscape, its colours and atmosphere.[114]
For a few 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".[90]
Messiaen later introduced what he called a "communicable language", a "musical alphabet" to encode sentences. He first used this technique in hisMéditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité for organ; where the "alphabet" includes motifs for the conceptsto have,to be andGod, while the sentences encoded feature sections from the writings ofSt. Thomas Aquinas.[115]
^abBrown, Kellie D. (2020).The sound of hope: Music as solace, resistance and salvation during the holocaust and world war II. McFarland. pp. 168–175.ISBN978-1-4766-7056-0.
^Messiaen's visit to Japan is documented in Hill & Simeone (2005), pp. 245–251, and there is a more technical discussion in Griffiths (1985), pp. 197–200.Malcolm Troup, writing in Hill (1995), additionally notes the direct influence of Noh theatre on aspects of Messiaen's operaSt François d'Assise.
^Programme for Opéra de la Bastille production ofSt. François d'Assise, p. 18.
^The composer in conversation with Jean-Cristophe Marti in 1992, see p. 29 of booklet accompanying the recording ofSaint-François d'Assise conducted byKent Nagano on Deutsche Grammophon/PolyGram 445 176; see also Hill & Simeone (2005), pp. 340 and 342.
^See for instance Griffiths (1985), p. 233, "[Des canyons aux étoiles...] is therefore not so much a synthesis, as has sometimes been suggested, but more a step into the future that also joins the circle with the composer's past."
^See Messiaen, OlivierTraité de rythme, de couleur, et d'ornithologie. See also Bernard, Jonathan W. (1986). "Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound Structure in His Music".Music Perception4: 41–68.
^Fink, Monika (2003). "Farb-Klänge und Klang-Farben im Werk von Olivier Messiaen".Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography.28 (1–2):163–172.ISSN1522-7464.
^George Benjamin, speaking in interview with Tommy Pearson, broadcast on BBC4 in the interval ofProm concert in 2004 at which Benjamin conducted a performance ofDes canyons aux étoiles... Asked what made Messiaen so influential he said, "I think the sheer—the word he loved—colour has been so influential. People, composers, have found that colour, rather than being a decorative element, could be a structural, a fundamental element. And not colour just in a surface way, not just in the way you orchestrate it—no—the fundamental material of the music itself. More than that I can't say except that for my own small world he was incredibly important, and an exceptionally special and indeed wonderful person. I met him when I was very young (I was 16) and stayed closely in touch with him until he died in 1992, and was immensely fond of him..."
^Benitez, Vincent (April 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.doi:10.1080/01411890490449781.S2CID191492252.
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Benitez, Vincent P. (2008).Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide. New York and London: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-97372-4.
Benitez, Vincent P. (2018).Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide, 2nd ed. New York and London: Routledge.ISBN978-0-367-87354-7.
Dingle, Christopher (2007).The Life of Messiaen. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-63547-9.
Dingle, Christopher (2013).Messiaen's final works. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-0633-8.
Dingle, Christopher; Simeone, Nigel, eds. (2007).Olivier Messiaen: Music, Art and Literature. Aldershot: Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-5297-7.
Gillock, Jon (2009).Performing Messiaen's Organ Music: 66 Masterclasses. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0-253-35373-3.
Heller, Karin (2010). "Olivier Messiaen and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger". In Shenton, Andrew (ed.).Messiaen the theologian. Farnham: Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-6640-0.
Iddon, Martin (2013).New Music at Darmstadt: Nono, Stockhausen, Cage, and Boulez. Music since 1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-107-03329-0.
Kraft, David (2013).Birdsong in the Music of Olivier Messiaen. London: Arosa Press.ISBN978-1-4775-1779-6.
Baggech, Melody Ann (1998). An English translation of Olivier Messiaen's "Traite de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'Ornithologie". Norman: The University of Oklahoma.
Bauer, Dorothee (2023). Olivier Messiaen'sLivre du Saint Sacrement Mystery of the Eucharistic Presence. Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, edited and translated by David Vogels
Benitez, Vincent P. (2000). "A Creative Legacy: Messiaen as Teacher of Analysis".College Music Symposium 40: 117–139.
Benitez, Vincent P. (2001).Pitch Organization and Dramatic Design inSaint François d'Assise of Olivier Messiaen. PhD diss., Bloomington: Indiana University.
Benitez, Vincent P. (2002). "Simultaneous Contrast and Additive Designs in Olivier Messiaen's OperaSaint François d'Assise"Music Theory Online 8.2 (August 2002).
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, no. 2: 187–226.
Benitez, Vincent P. (2004). "Narrating Saint Francis's Spiritual Journey: Referential Pitch Structures and Symbolic Images in Olivier Messiaen'sSaint François d'Assise". InPoznan Studies on Opera, edited by Maciej Jablonski, 363–411.
Benitez, Vincent P. (2009). "Reconsidering Messiaen as Serialist".Music Analysis 28, nos. 2–3 (2009): 267–299 (published 21 April 2011).
Benitez, Vincent P. (2010). "Messiaen and Aquinas". InMessiaen the Theologian, edited by Andrew Shenton, 101–126. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Benítez, Vincent Pérez (2019).Olivier Messiaen's Opera, Saint François d'Assise. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0-253-04287-3.
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.
Bruhn, Siglind (2007).Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s. Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press.ISBN978-1-57647-129-6.
Burns, Jeffrey Phillips (1995).Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition Reconsidered. M.M. thesis, Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Cheong Wai-Ling (2008). "Neumes and Greek Rhythms: The Breakthrough in Messiaen's Birdsong".Acta Musicologica 80, no. 1:1–32.
Dingle, Christopher (2013).Messiaen's Final Works. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-0633-8.
Fallon, Robert Joseph (2005).Messiaen's Mimesis: The Language and Culture of the Bird Styles. Ph.D. diss. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley.
Fallon, Robert (2008). "Birds, Beasts, and Bombs in Messiaen's Cold War Mass".The Journal of Musicology 26, no. 2 (Spring): 175–204.
Festa, Paul (2008).Oh My God: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever. San Francisco: Bar Nothing Books.
Goléa, Antoine (1960).Rencontres avec Olivier Messiaen. Paris: Julliard.
Hardink, Jason M. (2007).Messiaen and Plainchant. D.M.A. diss. Houston: Rice University.
Harris, Joseph Edward (2004).Musique colorée: Synesthetic Correspondence in the Works of Olivier Messiaen. Ph.D. diss. Ames: The University of Iowa.
Hill, Matthew Richard (1995).Messiaen'sRegard du silence as an Expression of Catholic Faith. D.M.A. diss. Madison: University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Laycock, Gary Eng Yeow (2010).Re-evaluating Olivier Messiaen's Musical Language from 1917 to 1935. Ph.D. diss. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2010.
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.
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 ofVisions de l'amen. D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami.
Peterson, Larry Wayne (1973).Messiaen and Rhythm: Theory and Practice. Ph.D. diss. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Puspita, Amelia (2008).The Influence of Balinese Gamelan on the Music of Olivier Messiaen. D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati
Schultz, Rob (2008). "Melodic Contour and Nonretrogradable Structure in the Birdsong of Olivier Messiaen".Music Theory Spectrum 30, no. 1 (Spring): 89–137.
Schloesser, Stephen (2014).Visions of Amen: The Early Life and Music of Olivier Messiaen. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.ISBN9780802807625.
Simeone, Nigel (2004). "'Chez Messiaen, tout est priére': Messiaen's Appointment at the Trinité".The Musical Times 145, no. 1889 (Winter): 36–53.
Simeone, Nigel (2008). "Messiaen, Koussevitzky and the USA".The Musical Times 149, no. 1905 (Winter): 25–44.
Waumsley, Stuart (1975).The Organ Music of Olivier Messiaen (new ed.). Paris: Alphonse Leduc.LCCN77-457244.OCLC2911308.
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
Zheng, Zhong (2004).A Study of Messiaen's Solo Piano Works. Ph.D. diss. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
oliviermessiaen.org Up to date website by Malcolm Ball, includes the latest recordings and concerts, a comprehensive bibliography, photos, analyses and reviews, a very extensive bio of Yvonne Loriod with discography, and more.
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.
Music for the End of TimeArchived 3 December 2019 at theWayback Machine, David Schiff article inThe Nation, posted 25 January 2006 (13 February 2006 issue). Formally a review ofMessiaen by Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone, but provides an overview of Messiaen's life and works.
