Born in Avignon on 10 December 1908, died in Clichy on 27 April 1992; Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist. From 1919 he studied at the Paris Conservatoire, among other subjects organ with Marcel Dupre and composition with Paul Dukas. In 1931 he became titular organist at the church of La Trinite in Paris and remained so for more than sixty years. In German captivity he wrote the Quatuor pour la fin du temps in 1940/41, which was premiered in the Görlitz camp. From 1941 he taught at the Conservatoire, from 1966 as professor of composition; his pupils included Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis and George Benjamin. His work rests on modes of limited transposition, additive rhythms, Catholicism and the notation of birdsong; it includes the Turangalila Symphony, the piano cycle Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus, the Catalogue d’oiseaux and the opera Saint Francois d’Assise. Two albums connect him with Cybele: on the audiobook Mirjam Wiesemann: Auf Flügeln in die Tiefe – Geschichten vom Aufwachsen (2010) his music is heard beside that of other composers, and the Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal recorded him under Julia Jones for Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal LIVE (Vol. 3, 2021).
Olivier Messiaen
Composer
