# Oliver Messien?



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

This is a composer I've been interested in for awhile, but really haven't seen many posts on here about his music, so I was wondering what the general consensus was?


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

http://www.talkclassical.com/17227-oliver-messiaen.html


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Interesting that both thread titles have the wrong spelling....

Messiaen is on the line Debussy -> Takemitsu in terms of style, and as much as I like these two, so much difficulty do I have to really appreciate Messiaen's oeuvre. Even the most famous works, like the Quartet for the end of time, and the Turangalila symphony, I appreciate but not more than that.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

MESSIA-EN

Virgil Thomson wrote a very canny 'early' assessment of Messiaen in 1945. Well worth reading, both for content and Thomson's justifiably famous plain and clear style of writing.
http://books.google.com/books?id=R6aFuR24I-IC&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=virgil+thomson+on+Olivier+Messiaen&source=bl&ots=rQ5Xp-15tg&sig=eUi1UTTTwH8rbU7Qime61Xe2epU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d4gGUIvtFILtqAHcpcW5CA&ved=0CEsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=virgil%20thomson%20on%20Olivier%20Messiaen&f=false

This opens the bottom of page 157. the first few paragraphs about Weill and 'Mahagony.' Scroll down a little for the Messiaen article.


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

I am still trying to get into his opera Saint-François d'Assise. 

But I do like his other famous works such as the symphony and the quartet.


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

neoshredder said:


> http://www.talkclassical.com/17227-oliver-messiaen.html


As someone has mentioned, that thread is also incorrect. It's Olivier Messiaen, as in Laurence. 

I view Messiaen as being very unique among composers. I enjoy the Turangalila, though I need to listen to it more. I am also a fan of his organ works and am intrigued by his birdsong inspired piano works. Another orchestral work of interest is Des Canyons aux Etoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars). The Quartet is part of my listening this week.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I'd like to explore his works more. I only really know Turangalîla-Symphonie well.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Messiaen is one of those composers (those of the Second Viennese School - Berg, Schoenberg, Webern - are three others) where approaching his music chronologically yields best understanding and great rewards. The works of the 1960s are probably the hardest to grasp (especially _Chronochromie_, _Couleurs de la cité céleste_ and the _Sept haïkaï_).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I haven't any of his solo piano works, so I'll probably consider buying the epic 'Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jesus' - I've heard that the even longer 'Catalogue d'oiseaux is the daddy of his piano output but I've already got another of his bird-inspired works (the 90-odd minute-long 'Des canyons aux etoiles' for piano and orchestra) so I'll pass on that this time.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I thought threads about God weren't allowed on TC anymore.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have a handful of CDs. I'm not a big fan. Eclairs... recorded by Simon Rattle is probably my favorite piece.

Maybe some consider him a god? He was certainly a good Catholic.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

I have too many CDs composed by him, I'd really enjoy getting rid of them

Martin
Curtain


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

Martin, I would be delighted to take them off your hands.


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## BenthicCorvid (Jul 18, 2012)

The Vingt Regards is immense. One of the most moving things I ever hear in all music was Russian pianist Ilya Itin's Le Baiser de l'enfant Jesus (the fifteenth movement of the Vingt Regards) at the 1996 Leeds Piano Competition. Beats Aimard hands down.


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